Just saw this in the news.

Maybe I'll get some flack about this with his just passing and all but after hearing some fellow evangelists' praise of Falwell this afternoon on both NPR and network television news on how wonderful he was and how he didn't have a hateful bone in his body, etc., etc., my head almost exploded. This is the man who (though he apologized in after thought) said that the 9/11 attacks were caused by abortionists, Pagans, and gays, among others. This is the same man who said that he hoped that Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic candidate for president because that would mobilize his followers more than Satan himself could. Not to mention that Tele-Tubbie thing which was just freakin' out there. His dismissal of belief systems other than his own and the above mentioned could hardly be a result of the thought processes of a kind, loving, caring and understanding person.

The worst kind of evil is the type that believes itself to be a power for good and/or some god almighty and to hell and damnation to all else and all others who don't conform or submit to their beliefs and opinions. It doesn't have to be limited to religions or ethnic groups or political parties and such. It can be a group or even an individual. But it is a terrible thing to be so committed to or obsessed by something so greatly that you despise and disparage those who don't agree with you and seal shut both your mind and your heart from all else.

While I did not wish such upon him and I feel for his family's loss, I will not throw laurels and accolades at this man in his passing.

Although I got a warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that you like me, this has brought up a problem that I didn't know existed. There's another me? Damn! Now I have to figure out which one I am! Is this anything like Bizzaro Superman #1? And where is my other self? And if we physically meet does the Universe totally annihilate itself? And are there more than just two of us? Dang! My life has just gotten more complicated! This is all getting really too Star Trekish!

abortionists, Pagans, and gays,

you missed, "and feminists"

I had a special moment this afternoon when I heard the news. And then I heard that they were having an antimemorial in San Francisco tonight. Where's teleportation when you need it?

Can I come too Shel?
It must be terrifying to be so afraid, as people like him are.

I don't know why this poem seems appropriate, but

"THe new age will not begin all of a sudden
My grandfather was already living in the new age
My grandson will probably still be living in the old one

The new meat is eatin with the old forks"

I don't know why but it just seems appropriate, maybe its the fork reference

I was so saddened & shocked to hear about him. How I found out about it was I had a local Christian talk channel 580 am, out of the Lawrenceville & Richmond area of VA on & was listening to Truth Talk Live with Stu Epperson. They were asking folks to call in to tell them what they thought of him. I thought well maybe he said something newsworthy in the news. Sadly they said he had passed on. He is up in glory now. I met him once while going to his college. He seemed like a nice guy. He gave me a friendly tap on the head. I had the privilage of taking some pics of him with President Reagan once & saw him being filmed for the Today show with Jane Pauley. I remember standing on a chair in high heel shoes trying to get a decent pic of him & Reagan. Sadly only a few of the pics came out. That was when I was at his college. My late Aunt & Uncle knew him & were friends with him. If they were still here I know they'd vouch for what a nice guy he was. I'm probably the only bluinderite who liked him. Like Arlo said sometimes folks who don't agree on something have more in common than folks who agree. RIP & may God be with the family at this time...

Cheryl, obviously you and i are about as far apart philosophically as two humans can possibly be, but you are a nice person and you have good taste in folksingers, so, I was wondering what it is that Mr Falwell did that made you admire him? There are more than a few that did not admire him or Ronnie Reagan much nor the Fall Out from their lives here in this blunderland. We have (I have been worst of all) been very vocal about why we don't admire these people. I know you feel alone and I don't want to attack or encourage anyone to attack you for your views, I am just asking, can you point to one truly positive thing either of these two did in building a better future?

The reason I liked Falwell so well was he took a stand for his faith in God and was truly devoted to God. While I agreed with him in alot of things. There were a few things I didn't agree with. I went to his college for 2 1/2 yrs. They had some dumb rules I didn't like like you couldn't listen to rock music, girls had to wear dresses to class (& they wouldn't let ya wear mini skirts either) & could only wear slacks on Saturdays, and you couldn't have a tv in your room & you had to go to bed at 11 pm. I thought all that was so stupid & legalistic. I used to sneak & listen to rock & roll anyway. I had a transistor radio with an earplug & would use that tio listen to rock & roll lol. I would sneak & listen to Wolfman Jack outta NYC lol. I remember getting in trouble for wearing a mni-skirt to class lol. We kids would sneak & dance to Led Zep records which was a non-there, the music & the dancing lol. I remember us kids getting in trouble for listening to Elvis. I went to a toga party there once & we almost got in trouble for it. They had us break it up lol. To stay up late & study we kids would go the bathroom & sit on the toilet stools lol. Don't tell me that I can't listen to the kind of music I like or have to wear unconfortable old timey clothes lol.
From what I read he finally started letting kids wear jeans to class the last yr or so. Well it's about time! Wish they had done that when I was at his college. Guess he finally came into the 20th Century lol. So while I disagreed with him on a few minor things like that, I did like him & thought he was a good preacher & someone who really stood up for God. I remember the only time I ever saw booing on stage at an Arlo show was at a show in Lynchburg where he mentioned Jerry Falwell & joked about him. Folks started booing lol. So that's how he relates to Arlo lol...

Note: (Edited the booing part so it reads correctly lol...)

I suppose that somebody had to help create the American Taliban.
Devotion to God is one thing, but who gets to chose which god, or who gets to define his wishes and speak for him/her?
The other taliban is devoted to god too, as are many other groups.

" you don't count the dead, when God's on your side" Bob Dylan

I was at the Lynchburg concert also. I thought the crowd was booing Falwell.

Cheryl, read what you wrote? Larry is absolutely right, you just described Osama Bin Laden?

I recall a button my college friend used to wear "The Moral Majority is Neither"

Jesus Camp ....Jesus College .... same thing .... different age group.

"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. You will become a part of the collective." Borg Camp ...... Borg College. Same thing ... different quadrant of space.

Discussion is futile. Reasoning is futile. Debate is nonexistent. Scary, isn't it?

And, no Shelly, I didn't miss feminists. The guy was against so many who didn't fit his ideal of a perfect, Christian, right-wing world that I'd still be typing it if I listed all of his "enemies". With his misguided interpretaion of his own spiritual path, I think he actually did more to turn thinking, reasoning people away from Chritianity than bring them to it.

Been to one of those colleges. Grew up in the camp called Catechism. Check out Al Franken's book where he talks about going to Bob Jones U with a bunch of Jewish Harvard students to apply for admission as a prank and how they were treated. Do these folks (and organized Christianity in general) really emulate Jesus teachings ?, "W" say's he's born again and prays in the war room. Televangilists sell sanctification like the Catholics used to sell indulgences. Many good people of all faiths have walked the talk. They all had in common: denial of self for the good of others and ultra pacifism. Even Jesus got angry when he saw people using the temple for profit. I can't imagine what he would say if he came back today. Evil is what it is. But evil done in the name of God, I think that is what they call blasphemy or iniquity. Falwell might appear to me to be a kook but he's no Bin Laden. I like the saying the born again folks came up with "what would Jesus do?" as a benchmark. The problem is it's so hard to live by it. All this organized religion stuff reminds me of the Frank Zappa song(He's got $20,000,000 in his)"Heavenly Bank Account". For me spirituality is a good deep listen to "Gabriel's Mother's Highway". Who is Gabriel's mother anyway ? I don't know what Adg meant, but according to the Urantia Book (a supposed automatic writing dictated book about cosmology-www.urantia.org) the angel Gabriel is the "bright morning star",...the first creation of the infinite spirit and the eternal son...parts 2 and 3 of the trinity, and thus the senior angelic host. Anyhow I am getting to tangented.... Rev Falwell now knows the truth whatever it is. He may seem misguided to me, but probably in his heart he thought he was doing the right thing and dedicated his life to it. That's alot more than most folks can say. May he rest in peace and the eternal light shine upon him.