Here Today... Gone To Hell!

At 73.

(http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9iby6KP8ElG7gIBq1SjzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTA4NDgyNWN0BHNlYwNwcm9m/SIG=12bi1faqj/EXP=1179337231/**http%3A//right-thoughts.us/images/uploads/nelson-haha.gif)

Moral Majority leader Falwell dies
Evangelical leader was found in his university office

LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Rev. Jerry Falwell ? founder of the Moral Majority and the face of the religious right in the 1980s ? died Tuesday after being found unconscious in his office, a Liberty University executive said.

Ron Godwin, Liberty's executive vice president, said Falwell, 73, had been found unresponsive around 10:45 a.m. and was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital.

Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but noted that Falwell had ?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.?

Falwell, a television evangelist who founded the Moral Majority in 1979, became the face of the religious right in the 1980s. He later founded the conservative Liberty University and served as its chancellor.

In the 1980s, Falwell saw his political lobbying organization grow to 6.5 million members, raising millions of dollars for conservative politicians and helping to elect Ronald Reagan president.

A biography of Falwell on Liberty University's Web site states that "with the impetus of the newly organized Moral Majority, millions of people of faith voted for the first time in 1980 and helped elect Ronald Reagan and many conservative congressmen and senators."

Falwell survived two serious health scares in early 2005. He was hospitalized in February for two weeks with what was described as a viral infection, then hospitalized again in March with congestive heart failure after being found unconscious. At that time he had to be resuscitated by EMTs at the hospital emergency room.

A native of Lynchburg, Falwell and his wife, Macel, have three children and eight grandchildren.

His Jerry Falwell ministries take in about $200 million a year in revenues, according to Liberty University's Web site.

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

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18679412/

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

LYNCHBURG, Va. - 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.

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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.

Which one of these should go on his tombstone?

"AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals."

"Labor unions should study and read the Bible instead of asking for more money. When people get right with God, they are better workers."

"I hope to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we don't have public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them."

"[The Antichrist] must be, of necessity, a Jewish male"

"If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being."

"The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country."

"The Bible is the inerrant ... word of the living God. It is absolutely infallible,without error in all matters pertaining to faith and practice, as well as in areas such as geography, science, history, etc."

"Grown men should not be having sex with prostitutes unless they are married to them."

"I do not believe the homosexual community deserves minority status. One's misbehavior does not qualify him or her for minority status. Blacks, Hispanics, women, etc., are God-ordained minorities who do indeed deserve minority status."

Though I hate to take pleasure in the passing of another person ,... hip hip horay !

The Moral Majority is neither

I believe this one proves just how big a fool he was :

"The Bible is the inerrant ... word of the living God. It is absolutely infallible,without error in all matters pertaining to faith and practice, as well as in areas such as geography, science, history, etc."

Not to take away from your "very funny" joke poking fun at a man who died 4 hours ago... but,

I don't see whats wrong with that statement. "Minority Status" in the US grants you several "perks" such as minority business owner status and civil service preference. Although I don't agree I can see why a Hispanic gets a few extra points when being considered for a position on a police force over a caucasion. Or I can see why women owned or African-American owned business get first dibs at government contracts... But why should a homosexual get preferential treatment in those cases?

I generally agree with the idea about homosexuals getting minority status.  You can look at someone and usually tell if he/she is black, Latin, or whatnot.  That rule doesn't hold with homosexuality.  However, in the US, minority status has to do specifically with how successful a group is.  For example, besides being a racial minority (or minorities), Asians in America aren't considered minorities because as a group they're education and income levels are above average.  If gays are doing below average, then perhaps they deserve minority status, but I've seen nothing to suggest this is the case.

First of all, I don't care that he just died.

Second, you may not see anything wrong with saying that God "ordains" minorities, but trust me, one day you will.

Third, since when are women minorities?

That was my point, a Well Educated White Homosexual doesn't need a headstart in life, they are part of the "Majority"... just because they prefer the same sex do they somehow become a "Minority Majority?"

Not to be stereotypical but Hair Salons don't tend to suffer financialy because they are run by homosexuals...

1. I suppose I am supposed to care that you have an opinion on the subject, when you don't have the decency to recognize that a human died....

2. Why am I suddenly going to see something wrong with the God I believe in stating what is and isn't a minority... I assume you are trying to say that I'll be the minority one day??

3. In the US women are considered a minority... Female owned business are given minority business owner status

The only thing that makes a minority a minority, in my eyes, is the fact that there are racial discrepancies.  And it's all relative.  Blacks are a minority in America, but not in Nigeria, for example.  I don't think God "ordained" that, so much as it's a fact of how the world currently works.

yeah most gays re fashion designers, they gotta be on quite a good bit of pay.

lets get back on topic , the man was a scumbag !

1 - Now you're just being mean.

2 - Keep assuming.

3 - Women are not considered minorities. ?If they're given any supposed preferential business owner status, it's not because they're minorities, it's to help counterbalance against years of oppression.

While they're not a mathematical minority, what you just described is pretty much exactly how minority status is decided. 

I'll have to concede that point my friend, otherwise you evil, blue-eyed devils will claim minority status.   ;)

That just made my day! 

Can't say that I'm upset about this. He was a bad person who spread hate and fear.

From what I can see this is not exactly a loss to society.

Sadly, this is commonly the true state of religion in America.  If Christians in this country truly tried to be Christ-like, rather than using their beliefs as a bully pulpit to criticize everyone else, it would be a major improvement, both to religion and America.

As is the case with all populations and religions. People are more inclined to follow the words of the leader than the message itself.

Sad, isn't it?

Nut-job Christians who want to string up homosexuals and who'll deny any science that isn't in the Bible.
Nut-job Muslims who think blowing yourself up to kill Jews is a worthwhile life goal.
...and so on.

rip

rip ?  I hope the demons of hell (if there is such a place) torment that SOB for all of eternity .

Welcoming him with open arms is the more likely scenario :hihi:

Jesus used his beliefs as a bully pulpit to criticize everyone else. At least he did in my bible.

If you think being Christian is about being an asshole to everyone else, you must have the Jerry Falwell Edition of the Bible.

BTW, for anyone who wants to see this man's obsession with controlling "immoral" behavior, enjoy reading the Liberty University (which he founded) code of conduct:

http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?pid=1378

uh...no, I just used the same words that you used, the main ones being Christ(Jesus) and criticize.

I guess I'm missing your point...could you clarify?

The bible is possibly the most boring book ever written, so it's convenient to soundbite it down to Jesus being about love and good deeds. But if you actually read it, much of the time he is being hypercritical of people not doing things his way.....much like Falwell.

Gotcha.  I certainly agree that there's some of that in there...after all, it's a religious text, so various rules of morality are bound to be included.  My complaint is that some, like Falwell, seem to focus so much on the negative, and use religion as a means to pursue a political agenda that would actively discriminate against certain individuals.  And that's a shame, because there's so many good messages that could redeem religion for a lot of people.  But some want to summarize it as a list of who's goin' ta Hell, so that we can let them know about it. 

Consider the loonies who run www.godhatesfags.com.

Yeah, talk about a wonderful message.  Not only do they support the killing of homosexuals, but they're also pretty certain that Hurricane Katrina and the VT massacre are righteous signs from God. 

Now, Falwell wasn't THAT bad, but the fact that a church has made this its message is really just disgusting.

I worded my response to that wrong... What I think he's saying there is that (and you don't need to believe this) God created Whites, Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, Women etc.... If you read and believe the bible he didn't create homosexuals, because as the bible states, homosexuality is a Sin. Again whether or not you want to believe that is up to you, but he is not too far off track from just about every Christian group (with the exception of the American Anglican (Episcopalian) Church).

You don't need to give his group money, or send your children to his university... But you should atleast respect the fact that this guy was carried out of his office 8 hours ago. Anna Nichol Smith got more symapthy.

I didn't see such hateful comments when Saddam Hussein was executed, and I doubt the people in this thread would care as much if Osama Bin Laden died.

The man died.  He didn't kill anyone.  He actually did a lot of good - even if you disagree with his political views.

I see what you're saying...and I'm not being too mean in my discussions, out of respect for the dead.  Notice that I'm not the one saying he's burning in Hell or anything like that. 

I just wish people who command the audience he did would use it to preach positive messages about how to treat your fellow man, even if you disagree with their lifestyles, actions, or beliefs.  Personally, I don't worry about whether homosexuality is a sin, because I'm not gay.  Either way, I don't think God would want me to persecute or harass gay people and, if that IS what God wants, then he'll have to suffer my disobedience.

I wasn't pointing that comment about disrespecting someone who died towards you. While I sometimes disagree with some of your views I enjoy reading your posts becuae you don;t make blind statements like the Burning in Hell comment.
Sorry if you took it that way.
I also agree with your statment about being in that position and choosing your words and messages carefully.

Oh, I didn't take it that way.  I'm not that sensitive and/or PC.  :hihi:

Though I don't care that he died, I wouldn't go so far as to say he deserved to die.  That's something he would say.  You know, like he did shortly after 9/11:

"God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve."

A lot of respect he showed for the dead right there, huh?

Do you really believe the shit you write?  Seriously.

I think its funny the first thing I said to myself when I read this was "Thank God"  :hihi:

I normally don't take joy in people dying, but this guy was a true POS.

"I like to think of Jesus as wearin' a Tuxedo T-Shirt, that says, like, 'I want to be formal, but I like to party too.' I like to party, so I like my Jesus to party too."

Don?t Believe the Hype

May 15, 2007 - I mean no disrespect to the dead, but I take the British view of obituaries, which is to try to capture the true public significance of the person who died, not just his good qualities. The truth about the Rev. Jerry Falwell is that he was a character assassin and hype artist who left little positive impact on the United States-and little negative impact either, for that matter. Besides founding Liberty University, he won?t be remembered as nearly as influential as he?s made out to be.

First, his real legacy: Falwell built the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia from scratch into a mega-church with a 6,000-seat auditorium. And he built Liberty University into a formidable institution that attracts over 20,000 students from around the world and a qualified faculty. Last year, Liberty?s debate team won the national championship. It?s not easy to create a university and Falwell deserves credit as an institution-builder. He will also be remembered through a famous Supreme Court case he lost, Hustler vs. Falwell, which established that public figures cannot recover damages when depicted in parodies. (The story of the lawsuit is told in the film, ?The People vs. Larry Flynt?). In that sense, he inadvertently helped bolster the First Amendment.

But Falwell?s political legacy is much less impressive. He started out as a segregationist who harshly attacked Martin Luther King through the 1960s and later called Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa a phony. He was a strong supporter of Israel but openly anti-Semitic, announcing on many occasions that the anti-Christ would return as a Jew.

On September 13, 2001, Falwell said this on Pat Robertson?s show, ?The 700 Club?: ?The enemies of America give us probably what we deserve.? When asked to elaborate, Falwell added, ?When we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way?all of them who have tried to secularize America?I point the finger in their face and say, ?you helped this happen.?? Robertson replied, ?Well, I totally concur.? Falwell later apologized, unconvincingly, for offending anyone.

It was fitting that this was said on Robertson?s program, not Falwell?s. That?s because Falwell never had great success as a broadcaster or televangelist. His ?Old Time Gospel Hour? was never the most popular religious program. While he claimed 20 million viewers, the real number was a tiny fraction of that, usually below one ratings point. In the November, 1980 Nielsen ratings, for instance, ?Old Time Gospel Hour? was watched by 1.21 million people?well behind not just Oral Roberts and Jimmy Swaggert but Rex Humbard and James Robison.

According to lore (and much of the coverage of his death), November, 1980 found Falwell at the peak of his powers. That was the month Ronald Reagan was elected president, after having met with Falwell and other members of his brilliantly-named organization, ?The Moral Majority.? While Falwell might have contributed slightly to Reagan?s margin of victory, he was not even close to being instrumental in his election. With incumbent Jimmy Carter bogged down with the Iranian hostage crisis and double-digit inflation and interest rates, Reagan won with 57 percent of the vote?a huge landslide. At best, the Moral Majority added a point or two to Reagan?s totals. More likely, it contributed nothing. Exit polls showed that Carter bested Reagan among Southern Baptists, 50-46 percent. And abortion ranked well behind foreign policy and economics among issues that mattered most to voters that year.

The Moral Majority claimed to have registered eight million new voters but could never provide any hard figures, and many smaller evangelical organizations said they operated independently of Falwell. (In fact, there was considerable tension within the religious right). The real political muscle was provided by Robertson and his prot?g?, Ralph Reed. Their Christian Coalition was far more powerful than the Moral Majority, whose voter guides were never credited with winning any particular election.

From the 1980s on, Falwell existed mostly as a media creation, not a real player in national politics. He missed the cable TV revolution, which deprived him of a platform. He took over Jimmy and Tammy Faye Bakker?s PTL after it collapsed in scandal, but by then its revenues were a modest $13 million. The related theme park, Heritage USA, went into Chapter 11. His monthly magazine, National Liberty Journal, became a modest success, with an unaudited circulation of 250,000.

Falwell?s power was hyped not just by him but by a media establishment that needed a consistently conservative voice?not to mention a ?guest? who could usually be counted on to show up at the studio on time and say something provocative. On shows like ?Nightline? and ?Larry King Live,? Falwell became a spokesman for the religious right and ?good TV.? Who can forget when he claimed that the Teletubbies character Tinky Winky was actually a hidden symbol of the homosexual agenda? Ironically, he may have loomed larger among secular audiences than religious ones.

In 1994, Falwell paid for a documentary called ?The Clinton Chronicles? that supposedly implicated Bill Clinton, Vincent Foster, Ron Brown and Jim McDougal in a cocaine-smuggling operation. A man shown in the film in silhouette claimed that President Clinton ordered several of his critics killed. Falwell never repudiated the film, though he later admitted ?I do not know the accuracy? of it. Some of the characters featured in the film became involved in the Paula Jones lawsuit that led to Clinton?s impeachment, though Falwell was not central to that story either.

The rise of the religious right was an important development in late-20th Century American history. Falwell?s name is among those associated with the movement. But just because someone is famous doesn?t make him significant. Jerry Falwell wasn?t.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18686440/site/newsweek/

Yes. His deep religious feelings of tolerance and love were so valuable to this nation following 9-11 when he consoled us all by blaming God's Vengeance on the homosexuals and liberals for the disaster. My heart was warmed by his Christian compassion. It is sad to see him go. It's like losing a family member. I have not been this sad to see someone go since my mother-in-law moved out.

Edit: Saddam bad, very bad.

Edit 2: Osama bad, very bad.

a fear mongering hate filled little man who, if there is a God, is receiving a rather large pointy devil's fork up up ass as we speak.

may he rot forever more.

some pretty disturbing posts on here....not even in like a clever sort of way...strange to see the ever so tolerant left enjoy a persons death so much.....

Do the words "tolerant" and "Falwell" belong anywhere near each other?  Me thinks not.  I'm not enjoying his death, but I'm certainly not mourning it. 

I will literally be celebrating when Bush steps down as President though.  Will be a bigger party than the Millennium.

That's a pretty bold statement.

He deserved no respect in life, and death shouldn't and doesn't change that. I'm glad he's gone and I don't care who that offends.

so who was this fucker?

There's nothing wrong with moral rules, I even agree with some in the bible :) Just not the attaching eternal damnation to breaking them. I really don't find any morality in religion which isn't self-evident. I'm pretty sure humans evolved to the point of realizing the advantages of  being good to each other, community etc long before organized religion. We just don't seem to have evolved past the point of promoting our own particular group/community/society/nation/religion to the detriment of others and probably never will without some dramatic earth changing event. And religion doesn't tend to help.



I could be wrong but I suspect the motivation for Falwell and hi ilk is at least 95% political with religion tacked on as a big unknowable stick to threaten people. Such people with the same motivations but in less or non-religious societies would probably act in a similar way but with a different more earthly threat to back it up.


The BBC did a documentary on Phelps and his family. I haven't seen it but did read some of the details, and it was kind of weird. Besides Phelps who is obviously a total douche, the rest of his family came across as almost normal outside of the GHF activities, going as far to say they would have no problem working alongside someone openly gay. You can probably google the real details and even find it on youtube.

Well, for all those in here "preaching" their hate of Jerry Falwell, you'll be happy to know you're not alone.  The fine folks at www.godhatesfags.com are with you!

http://www.godhatesfags.com/fliers/may2007/20070515_jerry-falwell-funeral.pdf


 :rofl: Those fuckers hate everything!  :rofl:

Too funny.  ;D

You Sir , and I have a different definition of what is good .

There is nothing intolorant about the relief , that many feel , that this douche bag won't spewing his fowel rhetoric anymore .

Howard Stern said today that Falwell is sucking Satan's dick in hell for eternity.  Stern is a bit extreme, but I don't see Falwell as a man of God as much as I think Falwell was in it for himself.

I think you misunderstood me...I don't think hes going to literally step down as in resign, i meant once his term is up. 

And you misunderstood me.  I was jokingly (I hope!) pointing out that it's a big assumption to say that he WILL leave office when his term is up.  :nervous:

hahah, never thought of it that way.  Well, he is the decider right? So I guess its up to him if he wants to leave or not ;)  Kinda like how Rudy thought he should be Mayor for longer then his term was.   :hihi:

I think Hitchens summed it up well:

Hitch on Falwell (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yopbFf_Z3Mg&mode=related&search=)

yeah , I saw that . He pretty much sums the bastard up very well .

There are a lot of extremists on this board topic. 
Taking joy in another mans death is just pitiful, even if you dont agree with his beliefs or the harsh things he preached about have some decency!
Be better than this people.

this happens all the time - a hateful person dies and some people think it's disrespectful to talk ill of the dead.  I think it's okay to trash falwell in his death if it is exactly what you would say when he was alive.  i don't think we should rewrite history once that person has died.  call him out for who he was and what he stood for, because he made his true feelings abundantly clear when he was alive.
falwell was a hateful and self-righteous bigot. he was not a man of god.

Anna Nicole was pathetic and tragic, but she wasn't a bigot (as far as we knew).  she was a mess, but a genuinely likeable mess at that who didn't go out of her way to condemn others as immoral sinners responsible for 9/11.  If falwell isn't getting sympathy, it means he was unsympathetic.