Jerry Falwell is Dead!

AUGUST 11, 1933 – MAY 15, 2007

And good riddance. If Evil Men exist, Jerry Falwell was one of them. He embodied what it meant to be an unimaginative thug swollen with bile and hatred, and he made himself the perfect poster boy for an entire demographic of dimwitted sociopaths hellbent on marginalizing anyone who didn’t support Puritan morality and ritual castration of Jews, Muslims, queers, and racial minorities.

In many ways, Falwell became almost singlehandedly responsible for this sordid concoction we call Modern American Politics when he made the infusion of religion in public policy acceptable, if not fashionable. Due to his efforts and
theo-political evangelism, we have a situation in this country today where good, honest secular (and other non-Christian) folks are increasingly bound to a Christian code of ethics applied via governing bodies in Washington, who have been all too willing to accommodate Falwell and his ilk for thirty years now because they, like he was, are afraid to cede influence to any individual who actually grasps the concept of a Free Society.

Moral Majority, indeed.

Let’s give the man some credit, though. Anyone who manages to peddle hatred and societal regression for as long as Falwell did without eating the Big Bullet deserves respect, if only for their ruthless efficiency. We are talking, remember, about a man who blamed the September 11 attacks on abortionists and gays among others. We are talking about a man who spent almost his entire life dehumanizing decent people in the name of God. In his own way, Jerry Falwell was the American version of Al-Qaeda.

He specialized in Holy Wars that utilized violence of the mind over violence of the body. Moral torture. Ethical sadism. These were the cornerstones of Falwell’s assault on the American public, and those who like to cite his “charity work” as proof of his undying compassion and empathetic approach toward people would do well to note that charity and missionary work are two vastly different things. Our Good Reverend was, above all else, an evangelist, a perspective merchant, which puts him two or three rungs below a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman.

Nonetheless, he has done a good job of ensuring that his legacy lives on and must have thought at least momentarily about this as he lay slumped in his office this morning. Falwell’s Liberty University carries the zygote of his utterly foolish belief in the superiority of uniformity over randomness, and we can be fairly certain that at least one mutant child or another will emerge from the institution with the same wild-eyed fervor with which Jerry paraded around selling swaths of people on stagnancy and vigilante fascism during the latter years of the Twentieth Century and beyond.

With a bit of luck, he will be remembered as a wicked, infantile boob with a mind as sinister and manipulative as Josef Stalin’s and a heart as reptilian as Cardinal Richelieu’s. And that is, mind you, if he is remembered at all.

Jason is an amateur writer based in the Midwest. He is worried he will one day be sued for libel. He can be reached at: kingpharmacist@gmail.com Read other articles by Jason, or visit Jason's website.

9 comments on this article so far ...

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  1. Terry Kellenberger said on May 16th, 2007 at 12:40pm #

    Thank you Jason for you comments on Falwell which are sadly all too true. If I hear one more newcaster refer to him as ‘somewhat controversial’ I think I will puke. There was nothing controversial about the man. He was an evil, hate-filled bigot. Unfortunately his flock lives on to continue waging their war against racionality and human decency.

  2. Janet said on May 16th, 2007 at 8:42pm #

    The commentaries on this website regarding the death of Rev. Jerry Falwell truly illustrate the accuracy of God’s word. Rev. Falwell has been persecuted in our culture for preaching God’s word. The Bible, which is God’s word, tells us that homosexuality is a sin. Don’t get upset with Rev. Falwell for stating what the Bible says. It is God’s law that homosexuals and all sinners are breaking – not Jerry Falwell’s.

    Maybe the liberal masses, aka (law breakers) should take their complaints to God, who is the absolute authority and law maker rather than criticizing God’s messengers.

  3. stephen said on May 17th, 2007 at 1:19am #

    falwell is entitled to his own opinions. the problem comes when these folks want to code their beliefs into the law, so that the rest of us are subjected to them. it becomes ridiculous when they then spout forth nonsense about “freedom”.

    you have to be a real maniac to not see the level of nonsense involved. these people are the exact opposite of the word “freedom”.

  4. Jeremy said on May 17th, 2007 at 1:43pm #

    “God’s messengers”? I have noticed a strangely disturbing historical pattern regarding policy makers and those who influence them calling themselves “God’s messengers.” Thanks to “God’s messengers”, we have seen eruptions of conflict in places like Northern Ireland and Israel for hundreds of years, the attempted genocide of Jews in Europe and American Indians in North America, atrocities like those committed during the Spanish Inquisition, and the defense of inconscionable practices like slavery and persecution based on sexual preference. Perhaps we have good reason to be wary of those who come to us calling themselves “God’s messengers.” The Bible warns us about people like Jerry Falwell. They are called false prophets.

  5. Janet said on May 17th, 2007 at 4:38pm #

    The atrocities committed by people throughout history in the name of a “god” has nothing to do with the one true God. The standard used to judge morality should never be man but God. How do fallible human beings determine the standard by which to judge immoral behavior? The answer is found in God’s word. That is why Jerry Falwell was such a hated figure by liberals. He told people what God said in His word regarding immoralilty and the sinful nature of man. That message, regardless of the messenger, is hard to swallow for humans who want to create their own “moral” guidelines that allow them to live anyway they wish with no moral authority to answer to.

  6. lastdregs said on May 17th, 2007 at 5:02pm #

    Hey Janet, How are your coco-puffs tasting? I bet it tastes great with cool-aid. You say god should be the judge, not man, then go on to use the rest of your space judging. Assuming that you are female, you must love the parts of god’s word that that advocate misogyny. I like the part about talking snakes and donkies.

  7. Ariadna said on May 17th, 2007 at 9:55pm #

    Hey, Lastdregs, stop being unfair to Janet. Don’t you get her humo? Can’t you tell that Janet did a spoof, impersonating a semiliterate imbecile (“the atrocities… has nothing to do”). The idea was to satirize the likes of the recently croaked Fallwell and his ilk.
    At least that’s how I read her post.

  8. qo said on May 22nd, 2007 at 11:15pm #

    >>>He told people what God said in His word regarding immoralilty and the sinful nature of man.

  9. AjaxMinoan said on June 29th, 2007 at 1:51pm #

    While I had a problem with much of the way Falwell lived, to glee over his death the way many of these atheist ghouls have is disgusting. Atheists claiming the violence of the religious always forget one thing:

    Out of the top nine mass murderers in all of history, 5 of them were atheist. Chairman Mao, Stalin, Lenin, Pol Pot and Tito.

    “..but wait wait,” Claims the atheist. “Not one single person was ever murdered in the name of atheism.”
    Some people actually believe this crap.