Jeez, I was kidding about Jerry Falwell being reincarnated as a tapeworm...
But it's actually appropriate, I think. A tapeworm is a destructive parasitic creature, and the late, unlamented Rev. Falwell was...
I'll put it this way: In the few years before and after 1980, the United States was facing some grave challenges, and we had a window of opportunity in which we could've seriously addressed them. Our industrial base was shrinking, the trade deficit was growing, our energy independence was fading fast... unemployment was rising, real wages were falling and economic inequality was growing. At the same time it was becoming increasingly clear that our way of life was ruining the environment and was not sustainable. We had hard choices to make, and they had to be made quickly.
And into this sea of troubles stepped the Rev. Falwell and the Moral Majority, bringing the message that womb control and stern measures against the Homosexual Menace were what we needed. Politicians like Ronald Reagan eagerly embraced these useless and counterproductive policies as if they would actually bring American renewal, and the public embraced Ronald Reagan. We were scared; we wanted someone to tell us that everything would be all right and we wouldn't have to make the hard choices after all.
But it wasn't all right. And we see the results today.
Sure, it isn't exactly fair to blame one man or one organization for the direction taken by an entire society, and I doubt that Jerry Falwell actively desired all of the negative developments that have happened since 1980. But that's just the thing: Effects like the new, looming energy crisis and the Iraq war were entirely predictable to anyone who was thinking clearly and comprehensively at the time, and I just don't think that Mr. Falwell and his followers cared that much about how many people would be hurt as long as they got what they wanted.
So for that depraved indifference I condemn Jerry Falwell, and if I believed in a hell, yes, I'd wish him in it.
I'll put it this way: In the few years before and after 1980, the United States was facing some grave challenges, and we had a window of opportunity in which we could've seriously addressed them. Our industrial base was shrinking, the trade deficit was growing, our energy independence was fading fast... unemployment was rising, real wages were falling and economic inequality was growing. At the same time it was becoming increasingly clear that our way of life was ruining the environment and was not sustainable. We had hard choices to make, and they had to be made quickly.
And into this sea of troubles stepped the Rev. Falwell and the Moral Majority, bringing the message that womb control and stern measures against the Homosexual Menace were what we needed. Politicians like Ronald Reagan eagerly embraced these useless and counterproductive policies as if they would actually bring American renewal, and the public embraced Ronald Reagan. We were scared; we wanted someone to tell us that everything would be all right and we wouldn't have to make the hard choices after all.
But it wasn't all right. And we see the results today.
Sure, it isn't exactly fair to blame one man or one organization for the direction taken by an entire society, and I doubt that Jerry Falwell actively desired all of the negative developments that have happened since 1980. But that's just the thing: Effects like the new, looming energy crisis and the Iraq war were entirely predictable to anyone who was thinking clearly and comprehensively at the time, and I just don't think that Mr. Falwell and his followers cared that much about how many people would be hurt as long as they got what they wanted.
So for that depraved indifference I condemn Jerry Falwell, and if I believed in a hell, yes, I'd wish him in it.