RIP Jerry Falwell

[kedoane]

The TV station that I work at airs his show every Sunday night. I am wondering if this is going to continue airing on ion.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070515/.../jerry_falwell

Rev. Jerry Falwell dies at 73



The Rev. Jerry Falwell, who founded the Moral Majority and built the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University, a school executive said. He was 73.

This is a breaking news update. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — The Rev. Jerry Falwell was hospitalized in "gravely serious" condition after being found unconscious Tuesday in his office at Liberty University, a school executive said.

Ron Godwin, the university's executive vice president, said Falwell, 73, was found unresponsive around 10:45 a.m. and taken to Lynchburg General Hospital. Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but he said Falwell "has a history of heart challenges."

"I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast," Godwin said. "He went to his office, I went to mine, and they found him unresponsive."

Godwin said Falwell was receiving emergency care. A hospital spokeswoman said she had "no information to release at this time."

Falwell, a television evangelist who founded the Moral Majority, became the face of the religious right in the 1980s. He later founded the conservative Liberty University and serves as its president.

Falwell survived two serious health scares in early 2005. He was hospitalized for two weeks with what was described as a viral infection, then was hospitalized again a few weeks later after going into respiratory arrest. Later that year, doctors found a 70 percent blockage in an artery, which they opened with stents.

Liberty University's commencement is scheduled for Saturday, with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich as the featured speaker.

[groover]

Only the good die young!

[Brian Olewnick]

Excellent news!

Say hi to Allah for me, creep.

[Gentle Giant]

Hmm, I guess prayer does work!

[Scott Dolan]

Not gonna shit on his grave, not gonna miss him.

[Jon Abbey]

it's unfortunate that it wasn't agonizingly painful and torturously slow, but the end result is nice, at least.

[Coda]

RIP Rev. Falwell. You will be missed.

[stonemonkts]

One less piece of shit. Good news.

[stonemonkts]

I don't believe in any nonsensical afterlife, but if I did I would wish him to RIA.

[steve(thelil)]

In fairness, he did look like the mayor of Fernwood on Fernwood Tonight

[graypencil]

I wish I could care about this ..

but I really don't ..

his various levels of racisim, bigotry, and homophobia will not be missed ...

finally, his disgusting comments after 9/11 should be burned into his tombstone
with caustic lye.

[Ron Thorne]

"I think hell's a real place where real people spend a real eternity." - Jerry Falwell

[Scott Dolan]

Or Florida, as most people know it.

[Dr Dave]

For me, he personified intolerance and reaction against change. But he wasn't anybody's fool, either. Here's an excerpt from his NY Times obit:

"...behind the controversies was a shrewd, savvy operator with an original vision for affecting political and moral change. He rallied religious conservatives to the political arena at a time when most fundamentalists and other conservative religious leaders were inclined to stay away, and helped pulled off what once seemed the impossible task of uniting religious conservatives from many faiths and doctrines over what they had in common, rather than focusing on the differences that kept them apart."

The more I learn about the ways of Southern Christianity, the more I'm impressed by his organizational skills. If you think Orthodox Jews were born to dispute, you ain't seen nothin'. Right up the road here in Barnardsville, there was a church with a big tree right next to it. The tree got sick, and some in the congregation said it ought to come down, and some said it shouldn't. The faction that wanted the tree cut down got it cut down, and the rest of the congregation split and started themselves a new church. They still don't talk to each other.

[clinthopson]

It would be dandy if Robertson et al contacted the same condition.

[Surfer]

Heavenly Bank Account by Frank Zappa

And if these words you do not heed
Your pocket book just kinda might recede
When some man comes along and claims a godly need
He will clean you out right through your tweed

That's right, remember there is a big difference between
kneeling down and bending over...

He's got twenty million dollars
In his Heavenly Bank Account.. .
All from those chumps who was
Born again
Oh yeah, oh yeah
He's got seven limousines
And a private plane...
All for use of his
Special Friends
Oh yeah, oh yeah
He's got thousand-dollar suits
And a Wembley Tie...
Girls love to stroke it
While he's on the phone
Oh yeah, oh yeah
At the House of Representatives
He's a groovy guy. . .
When he Gives Thanks He is not alone. . .

He is dealin'
He is really dealin' IRS can't determine
Where The Hook is
It is easy with the Bible
To pretend that
You're in Show Biz
They won't get him
They will never get him
For the naughty stuff
That he did
It is best in cases like this
To pretend that
You are stupid

He's got Presidential Help
All along the way
He says the grace
While the lawyers chew
Oh yeah
They sure do
And the Governors agree to say: "He's a lovely man!"
He makes it easier for
Them to screw
All of you...
Yes, that's true!
'Cause he helps put
The Fear of God
In the Common Man
Snatchin' up money
Everywhere he can
Oh yeah Oh yeah
He's got twenty million dollars
In his Heavenly Bank Account
You ain't got nothin', people
You ain't got nothin', people
You ain't got nothin', people
Thank the man.. .oh yeah

[tristano's ghost]

Your dumb-cluck (and so-called liberal) media at work. (It's the post about MSNBC.)

Good God, man... even if they weren't already aware of whitehouse.org, anybody should've been able to read that page as parody.

OTOH, with the Bush admin, one never knows, do one?

[tristano's ghost]

You can see the MSNBC clip, along with their scramble to "spin" their mistake, here, along with some commentary from Josh Marshall.

[Surfer]

Originally Posted by tristano's ghost

Your dumb-cluck (and so-called liberal) media at work. (It's the post about MSNBC.)

Good God, man... even if they weren't already aware of whitehouse.org, anybody should've been able to read that page as parody.

OTOH, with the Bush admin, one never knows, do one?

"One of my producers, Chris, just pulled up a page from whitehouse.org . . . ."



Chris is now "seeking employment".

[lynn]

Imagine his surprise when he found out god was a liberal black woman.

HOLY SHIT!

[GoodSpeak]

Now that's funny



You know, I'd really like to say I'm sorry he's gone...but I can't.

[Paul B]

From the Rude Pundit's blog today:

A Favorite Jerry Falwell Quote

Tomorrow, the Rude Pundit will more properly mourn the passing of Jerry Falwell, but in the immediate shock and horror of his sudden death, it is best sometimes to go back in a man's life to get his true measure. Here's Falwell preaching in 1958, quoted in a Washington Post profile in 1988 by Walt Harrington:

"'In this message,' Falwell intoned pompously, 'I want to use the Bible alone as our guide. It is never worthwhile to give man's opinion...The answer to the whole subject can be found in Genesis 9:18-27.' Falwell went on to explain that Ham, the son of Noah, had seen Noah naked one day. When Noah discovered this, he cursed Ham's son, Canaan: 'A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.' Falwell explained that Ham later became the progenitor of the African race.

"He rambled on, still using 'the Bible alone' as his guide: 'The true Negro does not want integration...He realizes his potential is far better among his own race...We see the hand of Moscow in the background...We see the Devil himself behind it...It will destroy our race eventually...In one northern city, a pastor friend of mine tells me that a couple of opposite race live next door to his church as man and wife ...It boils down to whether we are going to take God's Word as final.'

"Oblivious to the hatefulness of his sermon, Falwell concluded: '...If we live in constant fellowship with the Lord, He can enable us to live Christ-like before others.'"

Ah, yes, Falwell may have recanted the segregationist language, but it's a virtual template for every one of his sanctimoniously vicious attacks on people who made his redneck stomach queasy, crazy with a glaze of mock rationality.

[GoodSpeak]

And who can forget Falwell's blaming of Gays and the so-called "abortionists" for 9-11, eh?


A certain soothsayer of folly.

[Scott Dolan]

Originally Posted by rostasi

We can only hope that his end was painful and prolonged.

No. What we can hope is that God really does exist and the Bible is correct. That would be very fitting. If you get my meaning.

[Gary Sisco]

It's about time he went to see his Jesus.

I thought he never would.

Sometimes there are blessings in the world.

Bye bye, creep.

[Monte Smith]

You know, this guy was kind of a big deal in Virginia. He created his own school, Liberty University, and his media empire added much to the economy of rural Lynchburg. Nevermind the staggering loss to Christendom, where is the Commonwealth going to find another man like Falwell? Oh yeah: with Pat Robertson and his Regent University and media empire in Virginia Beach. Hey, it's an exact match.

[Gary Sisco]

Monte, I got an email this morning from a friend from Virginia, whose grandparents live around the Lynchburg area. His grandparents absolutely loathe the huge, stone "LU" they mades, large enough to see from tha air. His mother's a Christian. She remarked in jest that the lord would make him pay for it one day. The next day, Falwell died. I told him to ask her about Richard Cheney ....

[Scott Dolan]

Hahahaha............

I'm not sure I've ever seen such unanimity here on a RIP thread.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Scott Dolan

No. What we can hope is that God really does exist and the Bible is correct. That would be very fitting. If you get my meaning.

No, I don't get your meaning. What is so self-evident that I'm missing?

[Scott Dolan]

If what the Bible laid out as sins are true, he won't even make it through the interview process.