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Jerry Falwell, 73, dies of heart failure

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CNN story here.

He was reportedly found unconscious in his office.

Ron Godwin, the executive vice president of Falwell’s Liberty University, said “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, became the face of the religious right in the 1980s. He later founded the conservative Liberty University and serves as its president.”

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  1. My first thought was that it was sad that someone died.

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    My second thought is that now is when the rubber meets the road for him. I wonder if he’s going upstairs or downstairs?

  3. to see him go. His ministry helped to keep America thinking along the lines that we need to fear other citizens. We need to control what we do not agree with. His is a generation of might makes right, and he will be the first among many to pass in the years to come. If we cannot talk reason with people like Jerry Falwell, we can say goodbye. I have no respect or love loss for him.

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    I thought it is interesting that his aids say he was found “unconscious”. The doctor said he was found without a pulse. Isn’t that dead? This is a group of people that can’t even tell the truth about little things, let alone what is important.

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    Then, the second in command for Jerry Falwell refers to Jerry’s demise as likened to the Virginia Tech Masacre. I’m sorry, did I hear that correctly?! Wow, was that not only inappropriate, but where the hell is the connection?

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    The same man goes on to make sure everybody knows that it will likely be Jerry’s kids that take over. The man has been dead two hours!!! Is their ministry so unstable that this announcement had to be made now? At best this seems insensitive.

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    Jerry Falwell leaves behind a circus, but from the ashes we may see a change for the better. I will give him enough credit about his life’s works to say that sometimes the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

    • I thought it is interesting that his aids say he was found “unconscious”. The doctor said he was found without a pulse. Isn’t that dead? This is a group of people that can’t even tell the truth about little things, let alone what is important.

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      I’m not sure you’ve caught them in a lie here.  Dead people are unconscious.  If somebody died of “natural causes” and I found them an hour later, I wouldn’t declare that person dead — merely unconscious.  I’d leave the determination to the doctors.

      • I don’t need a medical degree to figure out that if I find someone who isn’t breathing, and who’s heart isn’t beating, they are D-E-A-D! There is a huge difference between unconscious and dead. Do you die when you sleep? Let’s not waste any more time splitting hairs please.

        • Like nobody’s ever been resuscitated or hit with the paddles.

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          I’m not a doctor, and I’ve never been around recently dead/near-dead bodies.  I wouldn’t pretend to have enough medical expertise to say with 100% certainty that a person in that state is dead, and I’m respectful enough to the people who care about the aforementioned to err on the side of “‘unconscious’ but never said ‘dead'” than to erroneously proclaim somebody dead who just plain ain’t.

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          If you’d like to villainify Falwell et al, there’s plenty of material with which to work without stretching reason.

          • The guy was dead. Build a bridge, and get over it. I noticed you only took on this one single point I made, and not the fact that his next in line announced who would be taking over while still standing over the body. I’m the one who is insensitive? I would have at least waited until the body was in the ground before I started talking business again. And what about the comment likening Falwell’s death to the Virginia Tech Massacre?

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            Since we are going to split hairs, what is villianify mean? I tried looking it up… đŸ˜‰

      • You’re conflicted about a hate mongering, racist, homophobic ‘man of God’ who lived the life of a wealthy man supported by the donations of those less fortunate that he while he all the while persuaded those same unlikely benefactors to vote against there own best interests so they wouldn’t have to fear the bogey man?

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        Lord help us all.

      • We get to say exactly what’s on our minds. That’s the power of freedom of speech. Jerry got his chance to say what he wants, and so do we. If there is disrespectful talk from people, then perhaps you should explore the fact that Jerry earned it.

      • Just in case I’m not here to post after the demise of Al Sharpton, here is my comment:

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        He was a jerk. A pompous, hateful jerk.

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        That would fit on his gravestone.

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      • To read as follows:

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        “Jerry Falwell (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) GOOD RIDDANCE ! ! !

        • I didn’t change the post, I found it like that, and it has been changed since. Looks like we are not the only ones who think old Jerry was a bad egg.

      • You have the opportunity here to eulogize him properly, according to your unique viewpoints.  Please do.  Peter, what do you think Jerry got right?  Why do you have mixed feelings about his passing in spite of those things?  EaBo, please tell us what you find worthy of respect in Falwell.

          • ..about people being graceless, vulgar, and ignorant on their own turf.

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            In fact, I rather expected it.

            • to say about Jerry Falwell.  You’re only here to point fingers.  Unless…sanctimonious finger-pointing is your collective tribute to Falwell.  That actually is rather fittingly brilliant of you, if it is indeed the case.  Bravo!

              • He led a voting block that brought Ronald Reagon into office–a popular president, that even carried the state of Massacahusetts.

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                He founded a university with over 21,000 students.  The University is fully accredited.

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                He possessed convictions from which he never seemed to turn.  Among his beliefs he thought gay/lesbian coalitions were harmful to the US. Maybe you didn’t agree with anything he said, but you knew what he’d say–he was no 2 faced politician.

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                He raised two or three kids, one of which is a physician/surgeon.

                • Reagan: Reagan was so popular that, in hindsight, he didn’t need Falwell’s help.  So, no points there.

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                  Liberty U: Oh please.  It was built on religious penis envy (he wanted as many students as BYU and Notre Dame), it’s a fourth tier school, it prohibits dancing, entering bedrooms of members of the opposite sex, viewing R rated movies, and participating in unauthorized petitions [all on or off campus], refuses to offer tenure to teachers thereby ensuring that professors don’t have academic freedom, and so forth.  This “university” is one that explicitly represses free thinking, exploration of ideas, and frankly isn’t a very good school to boot.  I’d argue that it’s worth “negative” points.

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                  Convictions:
                  He did turn on his convictions.  Recall his famous claim on The 700 Club:

                  “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.'”

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                  He backed away from that claim later that day, saying

                  “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.”

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                  That doesn’t sound like standing up to his convictions.  It sounds like apologizing for them.  But hey, that’s just my interpretation.  Goose egg.

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                  Kids:  Three.  A lawyer, a pastor, and a surgeon.  Assuming the pastor is like him, I give him a 1 for 3 on that one — hardly a big success…  đŸ˜€  In all seriousness, without knowing anything about his kids, giving him credit for copulating doesn’t seem like much.

                  On a final (crude) note, below is the “ad” from Hustler magazine made more famous by “The People vs. Larry Flynt”

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                • They have a center for “Creation Science” and each undergrad is required to take a course in apologetics defending Young Earth Creationism, or the belief that Earth was created by God 6,000 years ago. 

                • Oh this is too rich, gary.

                  He raised two or three kids, one of which is a physician/surgeon.

                  First, you’re so impressed by his father work that you don’t even know how many he had.

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                  Second, so it’s ok to judge a republican by the professions of his children (who I gather are actual free-ranging individuals), but not the history of his family (see: umpteen Willard discussions).

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                  Third, you’re impressed by trophy professions?  What if Jerry brow-beat his kids to go into the “respectible” professions many self-made people seem to covet?  Still impressed?  Even if they suck at those jobs?

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                  Fourth, it’s just plain sad that you judge people by their profession, or the profession of their kids no less.  You should take a clue from Jerry, and judge them properly based on their adherence to Jerry’s religious choices and what sex and sexual orientation the are!  I mean geez gary, did the man teach you nothing?!

                • Fourth, it’s just plain sad that you judge people by their profession, or the profession of their kids no less.

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                  Strangely enough, it seems to have disappeared, but I do recall you writing a diary blasting Mike Huckabee for some dipshit things his son did.  So, since it’s Mike’s fault that his son had a gun in an airport, would we also not conclude that the fact Jerry’s kids are doing well would also be from his rearing?  Or is the summary disappearance of that diary an admission that the content of it was foolishness and the current argument you’re making (which I completely agree with) is in fact the correct one?

                • Yeah, his son did a stupid thing with a loaded lethal weapon.  But the point I guess I failed to convey to you in that diary was that Huckabee’s vacant response to his son’s idiocy is what was important to tune into.  If candidate Huckabee takes gun safety seriously, he hides it well.

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                  I’m not sure why I deleted that diary. I’ve occasionally deleted others I’ve authored too, and not just ones you might think I lost the argument on.  I’m sure you could find it in a cache if you want to consult it.

    • ….my ass.  I had nothing nice to say about the man in life and his death is not going to change that.  Why you think I should owe respect to a man who has explicitly and repeatedly referred to my mere existence as an evil abomination is what amazes me. 

    • It is guys like Falwell who made it an impossibility for me ever to identify as a Republican, when they reduced conservatism to little more than loathing of people because of who they are.  He, and others like him, drove conservatism from the Republican party.  The result is our present big spending, nation building, federal power expanding, civil liberty destroying, citizen torturing executive who thinks he is taking direct orders from Jesus.

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      I’m supposed to respect a guy that announced that 9/11 happened because we tolerate the existence of homosexuals?  Feminists?

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      Falwell’s professed belief was that it doesn’t matter what evil men do, they will be saved so long as they accept Jesus as their personal saviour.  He better hope he was right.

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      • Jerry Falwell will not be missed by me.  He was no Mother Theresa, and I didn’t like her either.

      • Jerry Falwell will not be missed by me.  He was no Mother Theresa, and I didn’t like her either.

    • I’m seeing this tsk tsking from conservatives all over the progressive blogosphere and it demands a response.

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      We who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered have had to suffer every indignity imaginable — being kicked out of homes as teenagers, being shunned by family and friends and expelled from churches, fired from jobs, denied housing, beaten up in dark alleyways… shamed and shunned and beaten down until we take the hate inside, carrying on the abuse ourselves when there’s no one to do it for us.

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      This is real pain, real blood, real death we’ve gone through, not just some indignant words on a webpage.  Got it?  And this man who died today provided a lot of the verbal soundtrack by which this abuse and indignity was visited upon us.

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      All the while we’ve suffered this, year in and year out, we have rarely ever seen a conservative muster even a word of reproach against their peers for their involvement in these crimes of violence and discrimination.

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      So how dare you, how DARE you, come to our webpages and tut tut at us for expressing our glee that this man who tangibly harmed us is dead?  When you’ve stood beside us in the face of hatred and proven yourself to be our ally, THEN you have the right to say these things to us.  Not before.

        • Actually i’ve been lurking since this post a few months ago:
          http://www.bluemassg…

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          And it’s ironic because this post was about the hypocrisy of conservatives implying that it is progressives who bring incivility to American public discourse, when conservatives have brought it in bucketfuls.

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          This man we have come to discuss today, Jerry Falwell, was quite possibly the most divisive public figure in modern American history.  He surely tops the list among all the partisan hacks stealing bandwidth and derailing discourse over the last four decades.

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          And yet you think it more pertinent to comment on a few tasteless, but quite assuredly earned, bits worth of schadenfreude at his demise.

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          Who started it?  Both sides are guilty of being uncivil.  But there is NOT an equal amount of violence and discrimination affecting the daily lives of people of both sides.  And this is an important distinction.

        • By “you” i mean not just you in particular, Peter Porcupine, i mean the numerous conservative commenters i’ve seen on several progressive blogs today making pretty much the same point, to wit, that glee over Mr. Falwell’s demise is demonstration that the entire foundation of progressive philosophy — well, at least the part having to do with tolerance — is a lie.

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          It’s just infuriating because repeatedly, for years, i’ve seen this same deliberate misinterpretation of tolerance as espoused by progressive philosophy.  And this is why in both of my previous comments i brought up the issue of oppression and the trauma that comes from it.

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          For someone on the receiving end of homophobia, tolerance basically just means “Make the discrimination stop, please.”

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          Several of my queer friends were actually homeless at some point in their lives because they had been cast out by their families and communities.  Playing a role in this were comments by Falwell and Robertson and others of their ilk about how homosexuals were destroying the moral fabric of American society.  You know what destroys the moral fabric of American society?  Parents feeling it is the “Christlike” thing to do to kick their own child out onto the street.

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          In my book, being homeless at 17 is a far more serious demonstration of “intolerance” than a snarky comment on a blog.  But i have come to believe that progressives and conservatives live in two different worlds, because in my numerous attempts at dialogue on this, i’ve not found many conservatives able to grasp this point.  Having friends with a history of being homeless, or coping with bigotry every day of their lives, is not something many conservatives seem to have real experience with.

      • before I have the right to say something to you?  I don’t remember voting on that right.

        • Your right to do so was voted away after “Jerry’s kids” got done “F”ing up the Constitution.

  5. I detest just about everything that Falwell stood for: small-minded superstition, bigotry, subjugation of women, the whole lot. And yet, he helped to create a political movement that is genuinely based on social ties and the organization of (some) people towards common goals — not just big money. (The Republicans have that too, of course.)

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    Anyway, progressives could learn a lot from the Religious Right about “people-powered politics” … just, you know, without the brainwashed, irrational nuttiness. I wonder if that’s possible.

    • There was a pretty good run of people powered politics here in Massachusetts in the last year. It–and this site–has been characterized as brainwashed, irrational nuttiness by folks who took a different view.

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      It’s the easiest way to discredit a popular movement.

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      People powered politics without the brainwashed, irrational nuttiness is in the eye of the beholder.

  6. you know mitt’s people are writing his speech now.

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    the only question remains is whether someone who actually speaks from the heart beats him to the punch.

      • According to WaPo, McCain, who famously (and correctly) called Falwell and Pat Robertson “agents of intolerance”, now has this glowing statement

        [Falwell was] a man of distinguished accomplishment who devoted his life to serving his faith and country.

    • Somewhere today, I saw a link to David Frum’s blog offering advice to the GOP candidates.  The advice to Mitt was to stop attempting to be Mr. Social Conservative Christian that he is so manifestly not, and instead be the competent manager and executive that he has repeatedly proved himself to be.

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      Alas, I suspect that you are right.  Romney can’t help himself at this point.

          • he does qualify as good at it.  but i take “good manager and executive” in the governmental sense to mean leading wisely and fairly, which is not the same as making buckets of money off of other people.  i do not believe he qualified as a “good manager and executive” during his tenure as absentee governor.

          • You could always bet that Republicans once they gain power will run the country deeper into debt with out-of-control spending and unchecked foreign deficits, and bet heavily against the dollar on the currency markets.

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            Like George Soros.

          • but when daddy-o is a gov, president of a corporation, and presidential candidate, and when mum was a senatorial candidate herself, and when you went to a fancy-pants private school, you’re hardly “self made”.

          • Mr. Romney comes from money–his father was the chairman of American Motors before getting into politics in the State of Michigan.  Yes, he made a lot a money at Bain Capital, but he is definitely not an up from the bootstraps sort of fellow.

            • …Mittie is also a welfare queen.  His “success” at the Salt Lake City Olmpypics was due to an infusion of more than a bit of cash from the Utah state and federal taxpayers.  An his success with bit-box retailers such as Staples was due to the infusion of more than a bit of taxpayer money–some of which drove local retailers into penury.

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              Mittie is a welfare queen.  He won’t admit it, but the fact is, that it’s true.

        • The guy built Bain Capital for goodness sakes.  And I give him credit for the Salt Lake City Olymics.  And I certainly don’t deduct any points for the “absentee” governor issue, which was, IMO, among the silliest campaign issues that I have ever seen.

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          That was why I voted for the guy in 2002, and very nearly in 1994. 

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          As for why I voted against him (guilt by association) in 2006, please see the Falwell thread.

          • took over the party and left decent folks like you no comfortable political home.  is there any chance you real republicans (or people formerly voting republican) can take it back?  i very, very sincerely hope so.

            • I am comfortable as an Independent/Clinton Democrat/DLC/”DINO” depending on whom is applying the label.

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              I once lusted after a Tsongas/Powell third party.  Hah.

  7. I can’t help it and I’m not proud of it. The very first image that popped in my mind when I heard the news, was that Satan’s boyfriend on South Park, the late Saddam Hussein, may now have competition for Satan’s affection.

  8. Insofar as anybody dies, I’m sorry to see him go.  Every day he lived was another chance at redemption, at joining a democratic society devoted to the principles of fundamental dignity.

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    Falliwell consistently and proudly chose to deny every occasion as such redemption.  While I cannot rejoice at his death, we all benefit from the removal of his voice from the national discourse.  I hope he has received what he deserves in the afterlife (a subject about which I’m far less sure then he was).

      • He was a leading voice in anti-Catholicism, but that the dumbest thing I’ve read in this thread. 

        • Always use proper grammar, otherwise your mistake is all that people will remember… đŸ˜‰

    • I pray that God is a lesbian, and that she and Jerry are having a little chat.

      • “But suppose God is black? What if we go to Heaven and we, all our lives, have treated the Negro as an inferior, and God is there, and we look up and He is not white? What then is our response?”

      • From NancyP at Pam’s House Blend:

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        Won’t he be surprised when he arrives for his admission interview with God, and finds that Godself has decided to appear as a butch black lesbian in urban men’s clothes.

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        Falwell: Where’s God?

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        God: Here – and everywhere else.

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        F: I don’t see God.

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        God: That’s YOUR problem. You’ve got to lighten up a little and appreciate the afterlife – you screwed up down below, biggest pain in the posterior for a whole lot of people. So chill and open your eyes. Don’t blame me if you get an ulcer in the afterlife.

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        F: I don’t appreciate joking about this very serious matter!
        Now take me straight to The Old Man, NOW!

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        God: Oh, all right.

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        (God escorts F to elevator, pushes button gets out with F)

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        God: Here’s The Old Man. (gesturing toward seated impressive-looking old man with white beard)

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        F: FINALLY! (stalks off in a huff, towards T.O.M. At the same time, God turns and starts walking toward the elevator)

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        God (shouting over Her shoulder to T.O.M.): Thanks, Nick! See ya later.

      • Newstory, Boston.  5/16/07.  Even in death, Jerry Falwell continues to convert atheists to believe.

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        Although I’m an atheist I pray that God is a lesbian, and that she and Jerry are having a little chat.

         

    • I was the second one to post a comment, and it still shows up – unrated – in my comments link, but it is GONE on this thread.

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      Bug or feature? Or is it St. Falwell himself, working his first miracle to smite the disrespectful heathen Commie liberal homos from his new domicile in heaven? Inquiring minds want to know!

    • …heckler’s veto.  That is one of my objections about this site.  It’s almost worthless to post any comments here, since the hecklers can ensure that the comments will not be shown.  But the hecklers love their vetos.

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      The webmasters have to adjust their policies to make it useful to comment here, irrespective of the hecklers.

  13. Suffice to say, Regan didn’t elect himself; I’m pretty sure you know where Jerry Falwell stood on the gay/lesbian agenda; Falwell’s kids didn’t raise themselve. 

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    Regarding Liberty U?  There’s great schools and not-so-great.  I don’t know how Liberty U stacks up–it’s not Harvard; that’s a good thing.  I guess you’re saying that 21,000 students at Liberty U made a wrong decision, and they’re stupid or ill-informed.  How very paternal of you!

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    Regardless, De mortuis nil nisi bonum.  YMMV.

    • Regarding Liberty U?  There’s great schools and not-so-great.

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      Then there’s not-at-all-great, and below that are schools like Liberty.  That shouldn’t be a surprise: with ideals far outside of the mainstream (particularly for those who are intellectually curious), it’s no surprise that they have trouble recruiting good students, professors, or administrators.  Considering their tuition/room/board of over $20,000 exceeds in-state tuition-room-board rates at just about every single state school in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi (where the bulk of their on-campus students come from), and considering that all of those institutions offer tenure and encourage academic exploration and freedom, it’s just not a surprise that Liberty isn’t a strong academic locale.  It’s not the religion per se, it’s the overly heavy social control that Liberty exerts.

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      I don’t know how Liberty U stacks up–it’s not Harvard; that’s a good thing.

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      H-Town isn’t my favorite, but there’s no arguing with their incredible positive impact on academia.

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      I guess you’re saying that 21,000 students at Liberty U made a wrong decision, and they’re stupid or ill-informed.

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      I didn’t say or write that, and I’d thank you to stop putting letters under my fingers.  Arguing that kids who attend Liberty made a wrong decision is like arguing that baseball fans who support the Yankees made a wrong decision.

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      How very paternal of you!

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      How very strawman of you!

    • And you would know this how?  Being So. Baptists, it is most likely that good little Mrs Jerry Falwell did that hard work all by herself.

      • Then let’s go with the more likely, since you know the intimacies of Southern Baptist families so well.  Ms. Falwell did all the work:

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        “Falwell’s kids didn’t raise themselves”

        • good one!  but i’m glad you get my point – you can’t credit falwell for raising 3 children, because we simply don’t know if he was much involved in their lives, especially given his chosen belief set.  personally, i hope he was there for them.  my dad was also a minister, and it was hard sharing him with “the flock”, which could keep him busy 24-7.  then again, my dad was a pastor, not a preacher-political player like falwell.  perhaps falwell was able to be home each night by 5:15.

      • …take it for what it’s worth.  Both of my parents were raised in the Southern Baptist tradition.  In fact, all of the relatives on my side were from the South.  And yet, both of my parents are just as loving to my same-sex (male) partner, as they are of me.  Indeed, at their 50th wedding anniversary (in 1996, in Ohio, where they live most of the time), they had my brother and is wife, and me and my partner, sitting along side my mother and father at the head table.

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        I sincerely do not know what perverted the Southern Baptist tradition from what it was, to what it is today.  But it was not always as judgemental and fundamentalist as it is today.

        • and worth noting that although southern baptists have generally always been more conservative than american baptists, mean-spiritedness was not in the equation until the falwell types ensconced themselves in the s.b. convention.  jimmy carter’s departure from the s.b.c. throws a nice spotlight on the differences between then and now.  it’s nice to hear your parents are of the jimmy carter variety of loving baptists.

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          welcome back btw.  i noticed your absence from bmg.

  14. … for his death, I take great pleasure in his absence. 

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    As a side note…  I wonder how bad someone has to be before it is socially permisable to take joy in their death.

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    Hiter… certainly
    Stalin… of course
    Hussain… indeed
    Marx… doubt it
    Castro… hard to say
    Pinochet…

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    Personally I don’t think it right to take joy in anyone’s death, even Hitler.

  15. …Nehemiah Scudder* is gone.  Good riddance to bad rubbish.

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    *Do a google search.

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    Yes, it could happen here.

    • …”it could happen here” is a reference to the Sinclair Lewis book entitled “It Can’t Happen Here.” 

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      Yes, it can happen here.  And that’s the point.

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