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News of interest to former Christians
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.
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. "CPR efforts were unsuccessful," he said.
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."
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.
Falwell credited his Moral Majority with getting millions of conservative voters registered, electing Ronald Reagan and giving Republicans Senate control in 1980.
"I shudder to think where the country would be right now if the religious right had not evolved," Falwell said when he stepped down as Moral Majority president in 1987.
The fundamentalist church that Falwell started in an abandoned bottling plant in 1956 grew into a religious empire that includes the 22,000-member Thomas Road Baptist Church, the "Old Time Gospel Hour" carried on television stations around the country and 7,700-student Liberty University. He built Christian elementary schools, homes for unwed mothers and a home for alcoholics.
He also founded Liberty University in Lynchburg, which began as Lynchburg Baptist College in 1971.
Liberty University's commencement is scheduled for Saturday, with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich as the featured speaker.
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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. "CPR efforts were unsuccessful," he said.
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."
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.
Falwell credited his Moral Majority with getting millions of conservative voters registered, electing Ronald Reagan and giving Republicans Senate control in 1980.
"I shudder to think where the country would be right now if the religious right had not evolved," Falwell said when he stepped down as Moral Majority president in 1987.
The fundamentalist church that Falwell started in an abandoned bottling plant in 1956 grew into a religious empire that includes the 22,000-member Thomas Road Baptist Church, the "Old Time Gospel Hour" carried on television stations around the country and 7,700-student Liberty University. He built Christian elementary schools, homes for unwed mothers and a home for alcoholics.
He also founded Liberty University in Lynchburg, which began as Lynchburg Baptist College in 1971.
Liberty University's commencement is scheduled for Saturday, with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich as the featured speaker.
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It's too bad his death can't be a metaphor for the end of all intollerant religious philosiphy, but there are so many soldiers left to carry on the hate. Pat Robertson will still be around to blame the next natural disaster on the gays.
xrayman
Perhaps the death of some fundamentalist "pillars" will bring about more tolerance.
peace,...freedy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Fqms_Iw8M
Oh yeah, right, that would be silly.
~Zenobia~
fundies.
It will be interesting to know what hate-monger will take over in his place,.....Ron Godwin I would suspect.He a bigger nutcase fundie than Fallwell I'm sure.
*freedy
I say we should through his body into the street and see if it decomposes.If it does then we know he went to Hell.
Adios Mother F&*^^r!! LOL
"I guess he didn't have time to pray, because we know that God hears the prayers of the righteous and we know that whatever we ask for in Jesus' name shall be done for us."
You would think that God would have at least given him time to say bye to the wife and kids, but that dude must have had some real skeletons in the closet that God was really pissed about.
xrayman
Onanite
-- Rev Jerry Falwell
A whole bunch of his infamous quotes can be found at:
http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/foulwell.htm
love,freedy
I say no! He was a Jack-Ass.
Jerry Falwell is dead at age 73
Primarily by scamming the elderly and appealing to hateful, eccentric white males, Jerry became a millionaire many times over and an infamous force in right-wing theocratic politics. Some of the values he endorsed.
* Hating and discriminating against women.
* Hating and discriminating against non-whites.
* Hating and discriminating against homosexuals.
* Hating and discriminating against Democrats.
* Hating and discriminating against non-Christians, including hating Christians who are not part of his denomination.
* Pushing politics to the far right.
* Carrying out his agenda of right-wing theocratic fascism.
* Scamming countless elderly people into giving their life savings to his ministry.
* Using religion as a brainwashing weapon to manipulate women, children, and the elderly to carry out his agenda of hatred and right-wing fascism.
* Using lies and racist demagoguery to recruit legions of depressed, hateful, and eccentric white males, primarily neo-confederates from the south, to further inflict damage.
Jerry Falwell, your time has come to meet your true creator - the devil in hell.
If we go by his biblcal standards, his biscuit-eating, humongous ass went straight to hell (That's ironic, since he claimed all who opposed his ideals were going to hell). Gluttony and hate are both sins (according to the book of myths).
Good.
D James Toupee has been a rutabaga since December. John Hagee's fat ass can't be far behind.
At least Falwell was "the devil we knew." Let's hope that we don't get the combination of a more influential/charismatic type in the position of right-wing policy legitimizer. If that combined with another right of center president things could go from bad to worse. Let's hope the spirit of 2006 continues.
NateDog
themselves from the oppression of
Fundamentalist Christianity after
hearing Falwell's sermons of hate and intolerance. He certainly didn't know what a favor he was doing for them.
Hey..wouldn't it be something if
Falwell found himself standing
before God and finds out God is not only gay, but a Democrat?
There. That's enough.
Good times, good times....
Not.
It's about damn time, actually.
F*ck Falwell.
.... or for that matter a couple of men to arrive on the leadership scene, here in America, of the intellectual stature of Tom Jefferson, or Ben Franklin!
Dan
And WTF is with all the fat-bashing? I'm sure I'm not the only fat ex christian here. Personally, I find this find this vehement fat-hate weird and disturbing. Are we lesser exies for our large girth or something??
Falwell certainly deserves to be demonized for everything that was noted by Sailerfraud and others, but being overweight?? Why is that even relevant?
I don’t know for sure, but my guess is because gluttony is every bit as much a sin in Christianity as alcoholism, smoking, homosexuality, adultery, etc., but you nearly never, EVER, hear preaching against gluttony. In fact, I’ve seen so many 300+ pound preachers that it sometimes appears that significant girth is a requirement for applying to the job.
So, I’m supposing that all the criticism for his size is just pointing out hypocrisy in Christianity. For me, I could personally care less what size clothes a person wears.
I'm sure his dad did a pretty good job of brainwashing him also.
I hate to say it, but we may not be out of the woods just yet with the new Falwell on the rise.
TO BE CONTINUED.................
The insane fundy twat,just like the rest of us will end up as wormfood, however I hazard a guess that even the worms would have the good taste to spit that crap out!
Regards,
Catalyst!
Fred Phelps...you're next!
I don’t know for sure, but my guess is because gluttony is every bit as much a sin in Christianity as alcoholism, smoking, homosexuality, adultery, etc., but you nearly never, EVER, hear preaching against gluttony. In fact, I’ve seen so many 300+ pound preachers that it sometimes appears that significant girth is a requirement for applying to the job.
So, I’m supposing that all the criticism for his size is just pointing out hypocrisy in Christianity. For me, I could personally care less what size clothes a person wears."
I spent many years traveling to various churches giving lectures on holistic nutrition. I can't tell you how many times I got chewed out by big ole 300+ lb. preachers for giving the health benefits of red wine in moderation! I had no problem pointing out their....hhhhhmmmm.....shortcomings!
I found it quite humorous that some huge person would have the nerve to get all self righteous on me over THAT! Then I got the old speech: "You know when Jesus turned the water into wine, it was NEW wine, NOT the fermented variety".
I guess when you believe in a myth you can always add to it whatever you want!
But just how do all those preachers justify their over-sized girth?
I was never quite sure if Jerry Falwell had succumbed to too may church suppers or the bloat was the result of so much hostility and hot air. Either way, it finally took his sorry ass and made this world justa little bit nicer!
Plus a whole box full of Jelly Donughts.
Some estimates say that 60% of the US is overweight, so Falwell was in good company there; pretty much just another American.
This is the only forum (of four that I have visited on this subject) that shows such vehement fat bashing in the comments.
I'm on your side; Falwell was a christianist bigot and good riddance to bad rubbish. But I also happen to be fat and find some of the fat comments off-putting.
If certain people are so bothered about comments that are about people being overweight then maybe they should do something about it by trying to lose the weight. I did.
People are usually overweight because of their own bad choices in life, so I really don't have much sympathy. Most people who are overweight bring it on themselves.
This is a country that has free speech, and there will always be people out there who will make comments about overweight people.
Once again if anyone is bothered by it, then they should try to lose the weight instead of complaining about what somebody said about them.
Sorry if this offended someone, but that's just the way it is.
Yes, and our free speech gives us the right to call them JERKS. And if that offends any self-righteous former fatties, that's just the way it is.
Fairwell/Falwell the wicked witch is dead!
freedy
Say what you want, but I'm not the one who is being made fun of for being fat.
Unlike both of you along with 60 percent of Americans, I had the discipline to do something about my weight instead of lying around on my lazy ass poking down more cheeseburgers and Big Macs, and making myself fatter.
Your typical redneck replies just prove how bothered you are about being fat. Once again I have no sympathy for neither of you, so go stuff another Big Mac in your mouths.
As an ex-christian, it gives me great joy to make fun of Falwell's girth-- I'm making fun of HIS OWN inability to follow HIS OWN bible's rules; I'm bringing up HIS OWN cherry-picking, by which other sins besides gluttony are considered worse. In MY universe, gluttony is a problem, as is smoking, drinking, and religious zeal (among others). I have no problem with people who struggle with weight; I have clients who struggle with obesity and some who have anorexia/bulimia, and they are equally problematic. Losing weight may have been something you could accomplish, but I urge you to consider that it's not easy for many many people. It's not an issue of being lazy; for some it's an issue of hopelessness, or lack of support or resources, or mental illness.
I quit smoking, cold turkey, 8 years ago, after smoking a pack and a half for 17 years. Yea for me. But I know not everyone can do that; it's the same for food addictions and issues of self-esteem.
Try to be tolerant. I make fun of J falwell because he was not.
Barb
There fellow named Falwell,
Who constantly preached it was all well
To hate and to curse
While he filled up his purse
But that isn't what sane people call well.
Just one brilliant social scientist, or stem cell researcher would make a MILLION Jerry Falwell's irrelevant in comparison,....
.... or for that matter a couple of men to arrive on the leadership scene, here in America, of the intellectual stature of Tom Jefferson, or Ben Franklin!
That sure would be great, but that person wouldn't last very long with the corrupt polititians that we have in high places.
I was never quite sure if Jerry Falwell had succumbed to too may church suppers or the bloat was the result of so much hostility and hot air. Either way, it finally took his sorry ass and made this world justa little bit nicer!
Speaking of hot air, I've wondered how John Hagee doesn't end up with a stroke or heart attack up in the pulpit. What with the red faces that he get's quite often, hollering and spewing his hate, and his hellfire and damnation of homosexuals and whatever else his fantasy book requires of him.
Yeah, I'm trim, just like you. However, I have empathy - something that you apparently lack - and a lot more going for me than empty-headed vanity over my physical appearance. Grow up, bratling!
I too was overweight and lost 70 pounds. I then suffered an injury and have two herniated disks. I've not had surgery for various reasons so am dealing with the pain on a daily basis. Since hurting myself last August I've gained back 15 pounds.
Seeing how you are an expert, I need your help. I've kept to my diet of approximately 1000-1200 calories a day and am doing limited back exercises, but because I can barely walk, let alone work out I'm not as active and some of the weight is coming back. Please, please help me.
You might be able to help some of my friends too. One has a thyroid condition that she must take daily medication for, she does limit her meals (doesn't eat at fast food restaurants and doesn't like sweets) plus she works out daily and the other is wheelchair bound.
Thanks.
"Falwell certainly deserves to be demonized for everything that was noted by Sailerfraud and others, but being overweight?? Why is that even relevant?"
I think the point is to point out the lying hypocrisy of the religious right nutheads like Falwell. It's not necessary to attack overweight people, but these dumbass preachers have the nerve to condemn materialism, overconsumption, and gluttony. Then they go ahead and engage in the activities they condemn.
Just like their most frequent topic they condemn - sex, adultery, pornography, pedophilia, and homosexuality. While they condemn it, you know all too well what they do behind the scenes (do you know who Rndall Tobias is).