A Farewell to Falwell
15 May 2007 by Eve
In the wake of Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell’s sudden death this afternoon, I thought I’d post this so that we have a place to comment on it without highjacking other threads. Instead of regurgitating what the news is saying (and will continue to say, I’m sure), I present a few choice words from the Falwell’s own lips courtesy of thinkexist, brainyquote, and The Quotations Page:
* (re: 9/11 attacks) “…throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools, the abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked and 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 try to secularize America…I point the finger in their face and say you helped this happen.”
* (re: widespread criticism for above statement) “[I would] never blame any human being except the terrorists, and if I left that impression with gays or lesbians or anyone else, I apologize…[secularization has] created an environment which possibly has caused God to lift the veil of protection which has allowed no one to attack America on our soil since 1812.”
* (re: the Civil Rights Movement of the ’50s and ’60s) “The Civil Wrongs Movement”
* “There’s been a concerted effort to steal Christmas.”
* “Grown men should not be having sex with prostitutes unless they are married to them.”
* “Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions.”
* “If you’re not a born-again Christian, you’re a failure as a human being.”
* “Textbooks are Soviet propaganda.”
* “Scientology has a terrible track record of bigotry.”
* “The idea that religion and politics don’t mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country.”
* “The argument that making contraceptives available to young people would prevent teen pregnancies is ridiculous. That’s like offering a cookbook as a cure to people who are trying to lose weight.”
15 May 2007, on 6:03 pm
As long as Chuck Norris doesn’t take his place, I’m cool with it.
15 May 2007, on 6:20 pm
Ding Dong, the witch is dead!
15 May 2007, on 6:21 pm
God has finally taken home his spokesman. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. What a turd.
15 May 2007, on 6:33 pm
Jerry Falwell is the reason I am atheist! Following 9/11, he said:
How could I continue to pretend to be a xian, after that?
Thank you, Brother Falwell, for breaking my chains!
15 May 2007, on 6:35 pm
I already miss him like my last hemorrhoid.
I remember being thirteen years old in 1986, watching in horror as grown adults actually bothered to listen to that fruitcake. The beginning of the end for rational republicans, and possibly our freedom loving way of life.
Please don’t see this as shallow or immature. That Humpty-Dumpty looking, barely literate, life-hating zombie motherfucker dedicated his miserable existence to ruining my pubescence!
I can only thank Mad Magazine and Frank Zappa for helping me fight the real fight, my parents for understanding, and life itself for making sure that my thirteen year old boner and my thirteen year old brain would both make it to see this day, rather than being drowned in the pathetic, resentful and fearful twilight zone of modern christianity.
Makes me wish there were a hell, were Falwell could get horrible swelling infections in the blisters on his lips and throat from sucking satan’s throbbing, fiery cock.
Good riddance, asshole-fuck Billy Graham for me if you see him!
15 May 2007, on 6:40 pm
He was one of my favorite Christians. Every time he opened his mouth another thousand people turned to atheism.
15 May 2007, on 7:00 pm
Yeah, it roxors my boxors that this fat, fatuous fuck is at last pushing up daisies — instead of trampling pansies.
Fuck off, Falwell. Enjoy Satan’s cock.
15 May 2007, on 7:01 pm
Excellent point, Old Viking.
In regards to education, I quoted his most infamous saying about schooling, but there are many more. Reading his opinions on education is like stepping back in time several hundred years!
15 May 2007, on 7:07 pm
Falwell and those of his ilk, and George Bush Sr’s embrace of them and their politics is what made me grow up and abandon the GOP and vote Democratic for the first time in my life. I’ve been voting Left-of-Center ever since, or at least Libertarian instead of Republican, thanks to the Religious Right. Good riddance to the spiteful bastard.
15 May 2007, on 7:12 pm
Neil, that was a righteous rant! Bravo! (And Frank Zappa is a personal hero of mine; actually, all of my sibs shared in the hero-worship.)
On the subject of the little tin gawd that ole Jerry was, I rejoice in remembering the ages of Pat Robertson and James Dobson; D. James Kennedy is ill (and old!) and his CoralRidge ministries just closed the doors of both their Center for Reclaiming America for Christ (lobbying Congress) AND The Center for Christian Statesmanship (recruiting Congressmembers), according to Congressional Quarterly Weekly (CQ). They recruited absolutely no one; and they may have gone broke on the lunches they fed the congressional aides – who didn’t bother with converting! Is that biting the hand that feeds you? Yep!
To quote them (in their own code:wink:): I bring good news!
15 May 2007, on 7:18 pm
I experienced unadulterated glee at news of this vile hatemonger’s demise. And why not? He polluted the world with his presence and made a lucrative career out of appealing to the basest prejudices, ignorance, fears, and fuck-all stupidity of slack-jawed mouth-breathers, of which he, of course, was one. He was a relentless purveyor of hate, pure and simple. I’ll raise a celebratory glass tonight, for sure.
15 May 2007, on 7:22 pm
Upon a whole three minutes of reflection, I see Naomi’s and Old Viking’s point; and it’s a good one, rooted in my own youthful experience as well. The “Immoral Minority” and their cravings for worldwide McJesus franchises as well as their thirst for REAL power was my first big push toward skepticism and distrust of religion. Until those clowns came on the scene I had thought it all just harmless fantasy. It took me until late in junior high/early high school to realize that lunacy can actually be dangerous!
15 May 2007, on 7:24 pm
I had the luxury (?) of living only 45 minutes from the repugnant bastard for most of my life. I always defended VA as a gorgeous commonwealth with, mostly, good people, but Falwell almost single-handedly negated the “good people” argument.
Things aren’t going to change much, though. Falwell’s son is going to take over the ministry and make it a point of pride to be more conservative and assholy than even daddy could’ve imagined. And if Little Falwell doesn’t do it, some other fuckball will step up and assume the mantle of “God’s Favorite Wack-Job.”
And his fake “university” will continue to churn out pretentious little Jesus Zombies who consider themselves educated.
15 May 2007, on 7:25 pm
I second what JJR wrote above.
15 May 2007, on 8:01 pm
Re JRR’s comment: It’s funny- growing up in the 80’s has pretty much prevented me from being able to vote republican with a clear conscience. Yes, liberals can be liars, imbeciles, and spineless wimps, but I have heard famous and non-famous republicans call for martial law, genocide for profit, practical abandonment of the bill of rights(except for millionaires and corporations, of course),and repeatedly call for the institution of biblical law in a free country. The worst things I’ve been subjected to by liberals are hate-crime laws, which I find to be silly and focused too much on intent, not outcome.
I hear tell that back before my time, there was a species known as the honest, rational republican, and some say that Eisenhower was one. Being a skeptic, I think I will probably see bigfoot first.
For the matter at hand, I will be celebrating with a sixer of Canadian gold i.e. Moosehead Lager.
I have a suggestion for appropriate music as well.
From the 1981 Zappa album “You Are What You Is” tracks 14, 15, and 16, my personal “Holy Trinity”: “The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing” “Dumb All Over” and “Heavenly Bank Account.” A close examination of the lyrics reveals just how prescient a true artist can be.
15 May 2007, on 8:04 pm
Ooh, good call on the Zappa, Neil. If we’re doing Falwell-esque music selections, I’d vote for Faith No More’s “Crack Hitler.”
15 May 2007, on 8:13 pm
I have that fear too, Rev. Jenner, but now it’s tempered by something that Randi Rhodes (liberal radio talk show host) pointed out this afternoon. She said that Falwell had basically failed in most of the major changes he set out to make/influence/launch in the US:
* Keep racial segregation/kill the civil rights movement = Failed.
* Eliminate public schooling/institute solely private religious instruction = Failed.
* Stop the feminist movement = Failed.
* Stop the gay rights movement = Failed.
* Eliminate abortion rights = Failed.
* Keep the Moral Majority going = Failed (although his excuse for dismantling it was that it had achieved what he wanted it to).
* Keep Bakker’s Praise the Lord ministry going = Failed (maybe even on purpose).
* Eliminate pornography by defeating Hustler’s Larry Flynt = Ultimately, failed.
Of course, we can’t take any of our achievements in the direction of progress for granted and like you say, there are plenty out there to accept his torch, but if he had succeeded in more areas, we would have that much rougher a road ahead.
Perhaps his greatest legacy, Liberty University, is thriving right now, but I work in higher education and they definitely have clouds on their horizon:
* Their science department seems to be committing itself pretty much body and soul (pardon the pun!) to young earth creationism, a direction which can only lead them into a downward spiral.
* Their much-vaunted debate team appears not to be quite as “vaunt-worthy” upon close inspection.
* They have a “colored” financial history (including an SEC investigation), although stable right now.
* They seem to be hedging their bets when it comes to their regional accreditation – perhaps foreseeing a future it’s endangered in?
* And perhaps most dangerous of all, LU keeps garnering criticism from other xian groups for being either too conservative, too liberal, or both. No one knows better how to tear down xians than – fellow xians.
Didn’t someone say once that there’s no such thing as a small victory?
15 May 2007, on 8:16 pm
This is a good start. Now, hopefully god will start to bring some of his other spokesmen home as well. I’m sure the mainstream “liberal” media will go as easy as possible on that cretin for fear of offending. “Don’t speak ill of the dead,” they say. No, I say, screw the dead – don’t speak ill of the living. The dead are dead, and they don’t care any which way what any of us says about them anymore. And Falwell’s schtick was to speak ill of the living – all among the living whom he deemed, in his sick brain, to be “unrighteous.” I wish there were a very temporary afterlife before oblivion comes, just so that I can picture Falwell’s look of surprise when he realizes that, goshdarn, he’s missed The Rapture, and holy smokes, he’s not in heaven.
15 May 2007, on 8:29 pm
My honest reaction upon hearing of his death was to laugh out loud. How long do you think it will be before his sponge minions begin attributing miracles and visions to the new holy ghost?
I’ve been reading reaction all over the internet about the blessed event and for the most part it’s all pretty positive. Everyone is thrilled that he’s dead. Minus a few concern trolls.
The only way this could have been better is if they found him on top of his gay lover with a crack pipe on the bedside table. Beyond that I have no wish for his ‘eternal damnation’ or retribution or whatever it is the bully on the cloud does to you if you happen to be a total f**kstick during your time on the planet. Especially since I don’t believe that sort of thing even exists.
He’s gone. The world is a better place. And as of today even I can say he did ONE good thing.
Two if the corpse manages to actually fertilize the earth rather than poison it.
Three if you count the points I get because he was one of my dead pool picks.
15 May 2007, on 8:46 pm
15 May 2007, on 8:51 pm
On all the homeschooling mommy boards I visit, they are “oh so sad… feel like they’ve lost a father-figure… feel an unexpected emptiness” and other barf-inducing drivel.
I’m glad to hear he’s gone and that they feel “empty” and whatever. Hopefully his influence dies with him and we can all hail the long overdue end of the immoral empire he helped raise to power.
15 May 2007, on 9:24 pm
For shade51:
This is a partial list of those we should be keeping an eye on, now that Tub-O-lard Falwell has left the building:
Ike Shelton, Fred Phelps and Tony Perkins are small fry who appear to survive by swimming with the sharks above.
15 May 2007, on 9:47 pm
I, too, am a bit worried to realize that I am happy over his death. He was the proof that there is no loving god. A loving god would not have left such a despicable human being unpunished, free to destroy as many lives as Falwell did.
15 May 2007, on 9:52 pm
Bet he didn’t see that one coming…
Sorry, sorry.
15 May 2007, on 10:06 pm
You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good.
Jerry Falwell is dead.
Good.
HT–Bette Davis
15 May 2007, on 10:10 pm
Hopefully, Robertson’s next.
Maybe he’ll choke on 1 of those milkshakes.
15 May 2007, on 11:14 pm
For another laugh, check out the CNN video near the end of the article Eve links to.
( http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/05/15/jerry.falwell/index.html )
Only one week ago, Falwell asked God for another 20 years so he can accomplish his goals with Liberty University. The answer was a resounding NO.
16 May 2007, on 12:33 am
The gene pool is better off with the loss of this Toxic Trash—
Maybe i will piss on his grave if I’m in some backward part of the empire.
What a despicable creature.
16 May 2007, on 1:20 am
I always loved how xians can call their gawd loving and then turn around and say that he killed what, 3000 innocent people (except Larry Silverstein, who was warned by his security to stay away, and Rudy Guiliani who was given a warning as to the collapse of the first ever steel frame buildings to collapse due to fire) just to make a statement.
You’d think that maybe by, I don’t know, actually visibly interacting with people would have been a better choice.
A site I go too had an article linked about this, and the comment from the webmaster was “God vetoed him.” I heard he died from heart problems. You know, stem cells probably could’ve helped treat that and give him those extra 20 years.
Unfortunately these people are like the hydra: Cut off one head and two more will take its place.
16 May 2007, on 3:03 am
I think I had a reply lost in there, but it’s not important…
OurPerpetualLadyofMotion asks… “How long do you think it will be before his sponge minions begin attributing miracles and visions to the new holy ghost?”
Which makes me eternally thankful that Protestants never took up the Catholic Saint system. Then we’d never be rid of these assholes…
16 May 2007, on 5:58 am
A glorious day indeed!!
16 May 2007, on 6:33 am
It’s a sad day I say. I’ll never be able to meet him, and punch him in the face. I was so looking forward to that. Guess a kick to Robertson’s nuts will have to do for now.
16 May 2007, on 8:14 am
Let’s not forget that he said of Nobel-Prizewinning Bishop Desmond Tutu, “I think he’s a phony, period, as far as representing the black people of South Africa.” Let’s also not forget what John Donne said: “Any man’s death diminishes me….”
16 May 2007, on 9:20 am
If only they had left in the Asbestos.
16 May 2007, on 10:17 am
From a Yahoo article, early yesterday:
Last year, Falwell marked the 50th anniversary of his church and spoke out on stem cell research, saying he sympathized with people with medical problems, but that any medical research must pass a three-part test: “Is it ethically correct? Is it biblically correct? Is it morally correct?” [My emphasis]
Did they just give us proof that even Falwell didn’t believe ethics and morals came from the bible?
Anyway, I can’t really say I’m celebrating over his demise. Am I relieved? Yes. However, now I have to fear who follows in his footsteps. He was a dispicable human being, but some xians thought he wasn’t tough enough.
Now, I need to go get a cup of coffee. My life goes on, uninterrupted, and he goes in the ground, finally learning that he wasted his life with his spite and venom.
-Berlzebub
16 May 2007, on 10:22 am
“You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good.
Jerry Falwell is dead.
Good.
HT–Bette Davis”
Wes, that’s wonderful.
I heard a quote by Billy Graham on the telly, presumably made while he was still living – if not, I’m gonna have to reconsider my theories on the afterlife. Anyway, he said something to the effect that they didn’t always agree but he knew Falwell to be a man of god. My, I said to myself, what an excellent reason for not believing in god.
Headline on the wonderful James Wolcott’s blog. “Tinky Winky say bye bye.”
16 May 2007, on 11:21 am
Hallelujah!
16 May 2007, on 11:26 am
I was at work when I heard the news. I have Fox news on the two T.V.s every morning at the bar. (I know, Fox News, but my bar customers watch it evey morning so I keep it on for them.) I saw he was in grave condition and I’m thinking he’s gonna get better and tell his sheep that god wants them to send him money. Then it was released that he died, and every bar customer that came in and saw the news said their “Farewell, you douchbag” to him.
16 May 2007, on 12:32 pm
Lol, that’s funny, Moppet, er, Mister Adviser, sir.
16 May 2007, on 1:20 pm
http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/8222/falwellcomicic9.gif
16 May 2007, on 1:23 pm
may i add, it could not of happend to a nicer guy.
16 May 2007, on 1:40 pm
Well, folks, I think we need to consider this: with the death of MLKing’s daughter, Yolanda, last night -
- what we may have on our hands is a “sloooww rapture”…
Pat, you can run but you can’t hide, you 77-year-old bastard! Gord is calling y’all home!
16 May 2007, on 3:11 pm
Don’t forget that Rushdoony is a major ideological father to Howard Ahmanson who is one of the biggest financial supporters of the Discovery Institute. Rushdoony is a known bigot and Holocaust denier and his Christian Dominionist group falls right in line.
It goes so deep sometimes you need a full suit to wade through it.
16 May 2007, on 3:25 pm
I read this over at Atheist Revolution that the Phelps gang plan to protest Falwell’s funeral!
From godhatesamerica.com
As the commenter wrote “When Falwell isn’t extreme enough for you, there’s always the WBC.”
16 May 2007, on 3:45 pm
Fuck. Him.
16 May 2007, on 4:14 pm
Star, that’s fascinating news, and while I cringe at the idea of anyone protesting at anyone’s funeral (even Falwell’s family has the right to grieve and bury him in peace, no matter how much I may disagree with his and their views and actions), maybe these True Xian (TM) antics will make at least one xian, perhaps even a fundie, think and question his/her beliefs.
Divide and conquer, I say. To repeat what I said in # 17 above, no one knows better how to tear down xians than fellow xians.
16 May 2007, on 4:31 pm
Hattie. Eeeewwww!!!!
16 May 2007, on 4:40 pm
Only one week ago, Falwell asked God for another 20 years so he can accomplish his goals with Liberty University. The answer was a resounding NO.
GAW-DUH sure does work in mysterious ways, no?
16 May 2007, on 6:11 pm
I hope he has to spend his afterlife with SpongeBob and the purple Teletubby.
16 May 2007, on 7:06 pm
RevDBC: RJ Rushdoony died in 2001. But his bigotry and theocratic dreams live on in others, like North and DeMar, and possibly in the machinations of the IRD. I didn’t list him, because he’s dead; the others, unfortunately, haven’t left us yet and are determined to accomplish their evil end: the United States of JeebusX.
16 May 2007, on 7:22 pm
Press Release from American Atheists Concerning the Death of Jerry Falwell
16 May 2007, on 7:30 pm
When I heard this yesterday I giggled. Falwell was succesful for a short time and hopefully that is over and there isn’t anyone to replace him. Even The Xians question what he has said and done. Many of them did not agree with him but only give their tacit approval because it is better than nothing. Or so they think. What a loon he was, I’m glad he’s gone.
For more on Rushdoony and his nonsense visit Red State Rabble. They have quite a work-up on him and his DI ID bullshit.
17 May 2007, on 12:29 am
The most fitting of eulogies for the fat fanatic:
Tell it Brother Hitchens!
17 May 2007, on 12:49 am
raindog…is that really YOU??????????????????
Where’ve you been?!
17 May 2007, on 12:55 am
RDZ
I hope your well. Good to see you out and about.
Doesn’t that pic of Falwell look like he just took a big hit and is holding it. With ooo ooo that smell …can’t you smell that smell… Playing in the background.
17 May 2007, on 1:11 am
[Hope this gets through this time; it didn't show up da foist time...in the meantime, I noticed RDZ's back & he linked to the Hitchens shtick, I commented on below!...
Welcome back RDZ!]
Wow…so many ‘on target’ and illustrative comments.
My first reaction on hearing the news was very similar to Michael DeRousselle’s comment…ala…
“Ding Dong, the WARLOCK’S dead!”
And the ever so slightly tinged with guilt: “Good riddance to bad rubish”!…?
To me, Stardust’s pointing out that WBC Site’s hatred of…erm…everyone?…kind of places Falwell in a somewhat comparitively ‘moderate’ place on the oh-so-totally fucked up Fundie nutcase ’scale’.
Any time some delusional/egotistical (ego-testicle?) Fundie dies or has the pedastal kicked out from under ‘HIM’…there’s always another nutcase to pick up the mantle. This actually goes for just about EVERY seat of power on this rather bizarre “Little Blue Dot”.
Come to think of it; is there anyone in power…or in the process of SEEKING power in the world, that isn’t in some relative state of delusion. Looking, day by day, at the high stakes ‘game’ going on in American Politics; you probably know my answer.
[NO?]
I was surprisingly happy, last night, to see Christopher Hitchens allowed SOME time to comment…quite ‘rippingly’…about Falwell, on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper’s 360″ Show.
It seems to me, that since Hitchen’s book has hit the best seller’s list…a bit more attention has been given to the ‘atheist voice’; even Lou Dobbs gave Hitchen’s book a surprisingly enthusiastic endorsement about a week ago.
What!…Now, with Falwell’s demise…things are even ‘looking up’ (Heavenward?) a bit more for our precious atheist cause…
or am I, as a typical Earthling, just being…
Delusional?
17 May 2007, on 2:15 am
My unlce was a member of the “moral majority”. Of course he was a lifelong drug addict who lost a family business when he got caught using company money to buy cocaine… I must say I was quite pleased when he drank himself to death a year and a half ago. Its mindblowing how hipocritical some people are. They talk like they’re pius, then hide behind a mere tradition to try to escape the consequences.
17 May 2007, on 3:47 am
Actually, jimmy dean, I’ve seen them trade one addiction for another, rather like
ourbelovedPresident Godsend! And the kid up the street, that gave up crack-addiction for the jeebus-addiction; he was as annoying about proselytizing for jeebus as he was about crack.And does it seem that Amway attracts that same proselyte-addictive model? Or am I just being mean?
17 May 2007, on 10:52 am
I didn’t read all the posts here, but did anyone post this?
http://nom-de-grr.livejournal.com/51142.html
17 May 2007, on 11:37 am
I’m back- and I’m not. I mean, I am, but, then, tomorrow I’ll be offline and incommunicado for another week or so, after which, I’ll actually be back, though I, then, may be missing in action briefly while out laughing and pointing at those descending on my not so fair neck of the woods to christen Ken Ham’s monument to stupidity otherwise known as the Fairytale, er, Creationist Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, which opens not so grandly on May 28th. It’s okay, though, because the innocent dinosaurs that shared the Garden of Eden with Adam and St…, er, Eve only used their mighty, slavering jaws and razor-sharp, pointy teeth to graze like docile ruminants- or they did until old Adam’s aforementioned, uppity jezebel of a second wife scarfed the quince and/or performed fellatio on an unfamiliar serpent/penis, which made it alright somehow for Cain and, mostly, Abel- because he was not dead like Cain, to rut and breed prolifically with the only available orifices(orifici?) that his vienna sausage of an endowment didn’t feel utterly lost in, which was the class rodentia, up to and including the pygmy marmoset- which may or may not be, in actuality, a rodent but why should science get in the way of a good yarn~~~SUSPENSION of DISBELIEF, PEOPLE!~~~resulting in the fundamentalist ancestry being severely inbred, long in the tooth, and exponentially more prone to sporting a vestigial, though sometimes prehensile, tail.
I wonder if Ken Ham knows Ozymandias…
“I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: A vast and absurd heap of stone
Stands by the Speedway. Near it, ass deep in ragweed,
Half sunk, a petrified visage lies, whose tarred
And feathered flesh and retarded, porcine eyes
Tell that its inhabitant well those triflings truffled.
Which yet survive, in noisome rural pockets and rusting trailer courts
The hand that yank’d them and the maw that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Kenny, Moron of All Morons:
Look on my works, ye literate, and tremble with barely suppressed laughter!”
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level I-275 stretcheth far away.“
17 May 2007, on 1:13 pm
Oh, RDZ, poor you! Neck-deep in noisome fundie-land…
(Noisome is one of my pet words; I don’t use it but it’s a mark on my yardstick by which I measure hack-writers who do use it. Why? Because it doesn’t mean “noisy” – it means “smelly”!)
Can you see the “colossal wreck” from I-275? Not that I want to look AT it. I’ll want to know when to avert my eyes, just as I do in Texas, when approaching the 190-foot cross that marks the monumental hubris of one man’s overweening pride! Yikes! they’re spreading like a plague across our country. Said pride-filled moron must have gnashed his teeth to see the 198-foot one that later popped up, like a weed, in Effingham IL.
17 May 2007, on 1:47 pm
Wow, RDZ, I’m so envious that you get to go to the opening of the Creation Museum. Oh, wait, envy is a sin. Wow, RDZ, I’m so happy for you to be able to attend the opening of the Creation Museum. (It doesn’t even deserve capitalization).
17 May 2007, on 2:37 pm
Jerry Falwell was blind and ignorant, but we all have the God’s light at our core and he’ll be back to work things out.
“Jesus said, ‘I took my stand in the midst of the world, and in flesh I appeared to them. I found them all drunk, and I did not find any of them thirsty. My soul ached for the children of humanity, because they are blind in their hearts and do not see, for they came into the world empty, and they also seek to depart from the world empty.
But meanwhile they are drunk. When they shake off their wine, then they will change their ways.’” (Gospel of Thomas, Logon 28)
17 May 2007, on 3:30 pm
T-Shirt Hell pretty much summed it up.
17 May 2007, on 5:59 pm
Hey, RDZ, welcome back! For however long you manage to stay.
rabidus6, that’s funny as hell–!
17 May 2007, on 10:00 pm
Alejandro
That is pretty good. I love it when someone does a comparison between Hitler and some dumb ass like Falwell. I can never tell the difference.
RDZ
Man that could turn out to be quite a scene. I hope there are some more people like yourself there to welcome the babes to toyland. You should get a job there and tell them on the qt what this dino busineess really is all about. LOL
I gotta get that t-shirt.
18 May 2007, on 9:23 am
Which is exactly what happened to L Ron Hubbard. He decried modern medicine and psychiatry/psychology (like his stooge, Tom Cruise now does), all the while secretly taking all sorts of prescribed and un-prescribed drugs, which eventually helped kill him.
18 May 2007, on 9:35 am
Only been through Effingham once. When I got out of the Army in ‘84.
My pickup broke down just past the Effingham exit on I-70, I believe it was. I had no money, no credit cards, zip. I got a ride into town, since I had AAA I went to their office for help, but they couldn’t do much for me except tow my truck somewhere. But since it had thrown a rod through the oilpan, there was no way I could afford to fix it.
So, my only other option was to rent a truck, and tow my pickup home.
So I went to the nearest Ryder rental place, a gas station. I couldn’t get hold of my mother to see if she could help out with a credit card until the next day. The people who owned the rental place offered to put me up for the night. In their house. Here I was a 22 year old guy, hadn’t shaven for a week, hadn’t bathed in two days (having been driving from Ft Riley, KS, and had been sleeping at rest stops in the middle of June), yet they let me into their house with their small children, fed me, let me take a shower, took me out to my truck so I could get a change of clothes, and let me sleep in the spare bedroom.
Were they religious folks? Probably, but they never forced it on me, ever. There was no mention of god that I recall (of course back then I hadn’t formed the opinions I know hold nearly as strongly).
If all religious folk could be like those people. Tolerant, not pushy, caring of those who many not share their views, etc, the world would be a much better place.
18 May 2007, on 1:23 pm
@Naomi:
Fortunately, Naomi, it’s not visible from I-275. It’s a distance south from the bypass, near (I can’t help but chuckle when I say this) Big Bone Lick State Park. I’ve been debating going to visit it, just for a laugh, and to get kicked out.
Two things prevent me from doing so. 1) I refuse to give them my money for something so assanine, and 2) I’m afraid the place will kill more brain cells than a bottle of Jack Daniels.
-Berlzebub
18 May 2007, on 2:24 pm
Or in the case of Falwell, a bottle of Jack Daniels administered rectally.
18 May 2007, on 3:07 pm
I trust that you all have seen the page from an old hustler magazine thattalked about jerry falwells first time (in an outhouse with his mother). If not, look up falwell on wiki and scroll down to the image on the right column. I’d attatch a link, but I dont know how. Besides, the wiki entry is rather informative.
18 May 2007, on 6:58 pm
Ah, the Hustler episode; wasn’t that the article that caused Falwell to sue Flynt, and got the case all the way to the Supreme Court? Yep, I see it was.
Flynt won, by the way; of course y’all knew that…
22 May 2007, on 11:04 am
That’s right, I am an LU Alumni. I am an open minded Christian that understands all are entitled to their opinions. I do not judge, and I have friends of many different relegious backgrounds and sexual preferences. I do not think creation is exactly how man came to be. My girlfriend is an apatheist.
The loudest mouth the media can find does not always yell out the beliefs of the people who may have voted them into power.
I only ask that people try not to assume that all LU graduates are “uneducated”. To assume this seems close-minded, and we do not have any room left in the world for people to be this way. Be sure there are many people that have graduated from and attend LU that feel the same. Of course, only the wackos get the attention. I apologize on behlaf of the wackos that give our school a bad name. If you need some proof of LU’s educational status, please take a look at which university has the best record in debate. LU is number one in all three categories. The article is attached below.
To each his own, and I am thankful for a country that allows us to be different. Let’s find a way to work together, not to change each other, but to change the future.
LU debate sweeps debate rankings championships for the second consecutive year
April 17, 2007
For Immediate Release
April 16, 2007
Liberty University Debate Team
Last year the Liberty University Debate Team made history by becoming the first school to win the rankings championships of each of debate’s three governing organizations, the American Debate Association (ADA), the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA), and the National Debate Tournament (NDT). Led by seniors Amanda Costa and Glen Koch, the 2007 edition of the Liberty Debate Team repeated this impressive feat, once again claiming all three championships in a single season, raising Liberty’s national championship count to 21 championships in 13 years. Liberty claimed the ADA Championship with a total of 489 points, outpacing second place Mary Washington who finished with 297.5 points. The CEDA Championship came down to the final tournament with Liberty narrowly edging Binghamton University and the University of Oklahoma. Liberty finished with 187 points, while Binghamton and Oklahoma finished with 174 points and 165 points respectively. The NDT Championship race ended with Liberty eclipsing Oklahoma, 577 points to 528 points.
Liberty demonstrated remarkable strength from top to bottom, winning tournaments in all three divisions, novice, junior varsity, and varsity. Liberty won at least one division at every full-squad tournament they attended. In all, nine different two-person teams from Liberty won tournament championships.
National Debate Tournament Final Rankings
1. Liberty University 577
2. University of Oklahoma 528
3. Binghamton University 515
4. U.S. Military Academy 496
5. Wake Forest University 478
6. Whitman College 462
7. Wayne State University 452
8. Boston College 448
9. University of Kansas 447
10. Emory University 435
11. University of Georgia 429
12. Harvard University 427
13. Cornell University 421
14. Mary Washington University 420
15. Northwestern University 408
16. Missouri State University 403
17. University of Rochester 398
18. John Carroll University 389
19. Wichita State University 385
20. Kansas State University 385
21. Gonzaga University 383
22. U of California-Berkeley 381
23. Dartmouth College 380
24. Cal Poly SLO 373
25. U of Southern California 371
Cross Examination Debate Association Final Rankings
1. Liberty University 187
2. Binghamton University 174
3. University of Oklahoma 165
4. U.S. Military Academy 151
5. Wake Forest University 151
6. Whitman College 149
7. University of Kansas 137.5
8. Boston College 137
9. Wayne State University 134
10. Mary Washington University 133
11. Emory University 127
12. Wichita State University 124
13. Cornell University 124
14. Harvard University 123
15. Missouri State University 122
16. University of Georgia 119
17. Cal Poly SLO 115
18. U of California-Berkley 115
19. Gonzaga University 114
20. Dartmouth College 111
21. Northwestern University 110
22. University of Rochester 109
23. John Carroll University 107
24. Kansas State University 105
25. Cal State University-Fullerton 104
American Debate Association Final Rankings
1. Liberty University 489
2. Mary Washington University 297.5
3. John Carroll University 238
4. Wayne State University 226.5
5. Wake Forest University 167
6. Clarion University of Pennsylvania 162.5
7t. Boston College 159
7t. U.S. Naval Academy 159
9. George Mason University 150
10. James Madison University 148
23 May 2007, on 2:18 am
who’s asshole did the liberty university debate team lick to win those debate competitions?
23 May 2007, on 4:21 pm
LU Alumni, we have no problem with you as long as you aren’t one of those xians who want to curtail civil rights, disregard the Constitution, revise American history, monopolize American government, and otherwise force those of us who aren’t even theists to live according to your rules by taking away the separation of church and state, denying us abortion rights, and treating gays as second-class citizens among many other issues. If you agree that a fundamentalist protestant theocracy as the government of the US is a bad, bad idea no matter what, and that we’ve got no business starting illegal overseas wars on trumped-up duplicitous unethical motives, then we couldn’t care less if and how you worship.
However, a fact that your alma mater will always have to deal with no matter what is that it was founded by Jerry Falwell, a man who promoted intolerance, conformity of the worst kind, hatefulness and hatred, hypocrisy, and the insidious co-opting of government by the most irrationally rigid of protestant denominations. And yet a man who accepted a donation from an oft-denounced cult, the Moonies, to bail your university out of financial hot water.
As for LU’s debate team; from answers.com:
“As reported by ABC News[13] and the Associated Press[14] the Liberty Debate team accumulates points by sending lots of teams to small, lesser known tournaments while avoiding known debate champions like Michigan State, Berkeley, Dartmouth and Harvard, instead favoring lesser ranked opponents like Kings College and Richmond.”
And it’s even been criticized as basically hypocritical by its fellow xians:
“Criticism of the debate program extends to the Christian community as well. John Lofton of The American View Christian radio show accused Liberty University of not being ‘a truly Christian college’ when Jerry Falwell gave permission for the debate team to debate in favor of abortion when required.[15] The issue arose when the team was faced with the need to argue for abortion rights or give up the debate program for that year.”
Personally, I couldn’t care less about the school except in its spreading and increasing Falwell’s vitriol (can you assure us that the vast majority of students, faculty, and staff at LU are of your ilk and not extremists?), and its letting its science department actively encourage young earth creationism among its faculty and students only garners my scorn.
Besides, as the moderate, liberal xian you claim to be, methinks your time would be better spent combating the extreme evangelical and fundamentalist elements among your fellow xians instead of trying to convince us agnostic/atheists we’ve nothing to fear from them, when we know darn well we do.