Ding dong, the punk is dead!
Before I say anything else, I gotta put you guys onto this. Click on this link here, and check out the tune Murderah on that Myspace player on the right (yes, normally I'm not a supporter of Myspace... too many idiots use it, but there are also some good people there as well so...). This chick really knows how to churn out some Jungle. The minute she puts any of this out on CD, vinyl or whatever, I'm buying it. Period.
Now then...
As you guys already know, Jerry Falwell died last week on Tuesday, leading to mourning by his family and throngs of supporters, as well as sighs of relief and mutterings of "good riddance" to those he angered throughout his career. Because of the supreme court abortion rulling in 73, Falwell had founded the group Moral Majority, and ushered in the age of the political Religious Right, a group that still has strong sway in government today. He championed a lot of religious themed causes, and angered many progressive minded people throught the 80's and 90's. His statements and opinions tended to delve into the land of infamy, such as his line about the US deserving what happened in 9/11 because the country had gotten "too liberal."
There was no lack of people who hated this guy. Falwell and many others of his ilk were held with more scorn than Hitler by a good number of citizens, and there was no end of people wishing he would just go away.
Well, last week, that pretty much happened.
What's curious, is that anyone who expresses any sort of satisfaction about this, tends to be hit with people saying that it's wrong to say such things, that we shouldn't speak ill of the dead, that he did some good things in his life, etc etc. People who were outright against him while he was alive would later try to come up with as many nice things as they could about the guy. You yourself might know people who when he was alive would join with your complaints about Falwell (assuming of course, that you and your friend did in fact have problems with him, but now, will say things like "It's bad to be happy that someone's dead," and such.
In short, people are now acting like hypocrites.
For all those who are doing this about face so to speak, let me ask you a simple question:
Does the act of dying somehow change the actions that the guy did while he was alive?
People have no problem talking about all the horrible things that other long dead people have done. You don't see too many people out there supporting men like Stalin for instance. No problem talking bad about the dead there. But Falwell is somehow supposed to be off limits.
I got two words for that double standard: Fuck That.
I for one am glad this bastard's dead. Maybe now this country might have a better chance at moving fowards with regard to individual's rights, and true seperation of church and state, like the founding fathers actually wanted. Unlike that idiot, I actually paid attention in history class, so I know they wouldn't have liked the idea of a bunch of religious zelots telling the government what to do. They saw what that did for Europe; they would be damned if it was going to happen to their newly formed nation.
It's not just that which makes me hold Falwell with the deepest contempt I have to possibly give... take a look at the guy's track record:
- He formed a group just to fight against a supreme court ruling that basically said that women should have the right to dictate what happens to their own bodies. For some reason he didn't like that idea.
- He went out of his way to villify a group of people simply because he didn't like the fact that they had sex with the same gender. These people didn't do a damn thing to him, but he hated them all the same. Maybe he was mad that he wasn't getting any?
- He actually stated that Archbishop Desmond Tutu a was a phony "as far as representing the black people of South Africa." Keep in mind that Tutu won the Nobel Peace prize for his efforts in promoting peace and true justice in that country.
- The man supported segreagation early in his career. He also stated that he didn't think men like Martin Luther King Jr weren't really non violent, simply because of their left leaning views. Funny, it's not the left that I hear things like "we need to just bomb and kill all them eye-rakees!!" from.
- He claimed that not only was AIDS a punishment on gay people, but it was a punishment on a nation that tolerated them. Gee, nice way to keep the gay bashing going dickhead. How about countries like Jamaica where they actually lynch gays, yet they got AIDS too???
- Considering that he was an apcolyspse believing nut, he wholeheartedly supported the idea of an Anti Christ... which he said would be Jewish. Thankfully, Jews weren't going to take his bullshit lying down, and he later apoligized for it, but still.
- Falwell loved suing people who he felt were immoral heathens, or whatever he thought they were. However, he wasn't so prompt to pay up when HE was being sued. Consider thsi little tidbit I got from good ol' Wikipedia:
Falwell was on both sides of libel cases. In 1984, he was ordered to pay gay activist Jerry Sloan $5,000 after losing a court battle. During a TV debate in Sacramento, California, Falwell denied calling the gay-oriented Metropolitan Community Churches "brute beasts" and "a vile and Satanic system" that will "one day be utterly annihilated and there will be a celebration in heaven."
When Sloan insisted he had a tape, Falwell promised $5,000 if he could produce it. Sloan did, Falwell refused to pay, and Sloan successfully sued. Falwell appealed, with his attorney charging that the judge in the case was prejudiced because he was Jewish. He lost again and was made to pay an additional $2,875 in sanctions and court fees.
Such a nice guy, this Falwell is....
Again, I'm glad the asshole is dead, and I'll say it to the face of anyone who supported him. As a son of haitian immigrants (thus, I'd be considred black), who hates pompus hypocrites, who believes in people having the right to live their lives the way they want, that people should be treated fairly, and that no religion should be in charge of a country and invading the private lives of it's citizens (you want to see how a Christian run country would be? Look up the Dark Ages!), Falwell is pretty much a natural enemy. I didn't like the bastard when he was alive, and I'm certainly not going to change my view of him just because he's dead. Wait, that's not right. I do like him a little better now that he is dead, because he's not around to cause trouble anymore. That's a good little Falwell.
People may think I'm being harsh. I'm actually being HONEST, something that I wish other people would be. Admit it people: you didn't like him before, so don't pretend that he's a saint now. If you talk about how other dead people were scum, no reason to skip this guy: he's prime material to join that list. The man made it his life work to sow the seeds of discord and hate in this country, and all for his own gain; why the hell should I not talk ill of him??
So yeah. Jerry Falwell: good riddance. I know there's tons more of his ilk out there, eagar to continue your work, but here's hoping their influence won't be as far reaching as his was.
Now then...
As you guys already know, Jerry Falwell died last week on Tuesday, leading to mourning by his family and throngs of supporters, as well as sighs of relief and mutterings of "good riddance" to those he angered throughout his career. Because of the supreme court abortion rulling in 73, Falwell had founded the group Moral Majority, and ushered in the age of the political Religious Right, a group that still has strong sway in government today. He championed a lot of religious themed causes, and angered many progressive minded people throught the 80's and 90's. His statements and opinions tended to delve into the land of infamy, such as his line about the US deserving what happened in 9/11 because the country had gotten "too liberal."
There was no lack of people who hated this guy. Falwell and many others of his ilk were held with more scorn than Hitler by a good number of citizens, and there was no end of people wishing he would just go away.
Well, last week, that pretty much happened.
What's curious, is that anyone who expresses any sort of satisfaction about this, tends to be hit with people saying that it's wrong to say such things, that we shouldn't speak ill of the dead, that he did some good things in his life, etc etc. People who were outright against him while he was alive would later try to come up with as many nice things as they could about the guy. You yourself might know people who when he was alive would join with your complaints about Falwell (assuming of course, that you and your friend did in fact have problems with him, but now, will say things like "It's bad to be happy that someone's dead," and such.
In short, people are now acting like hypocrites.
For all those who are doing this about face so to speak, let me ask you a simple question:
Does the act of dying somehow change the actions that the guy did while he was alive?
People have no problem talking about all the horrible things that other long dead people have done. You don't see too many people out there supporting men like Stalin for instance. No problem talking bad about the dead there. But Falwell is somehow supposed to be off limits.
I got two words for that double standard: Fuck That.
I for one am glad this bastard's dead. Maybe now this country might have a better chance at moving fowards with regard to individual's rights, and true seperation of church and state, like the founding fathers actually wanted. Unlike that idiot, I actually paid attention in history class, so I know they wouldn't have liked the idea of a bunch of religious zelots telling the government what to do. They saw what that did for Europe; they would be damned if it was going to happen to their newly formed nation.
It's not just that which makes me hold Falwell with the deepest contempt I have to possibly give... take a look at the guy's track record:
- He formed a group just to fight against a supreme court ruling that basically said that women should have the right to dictate what happens to their own bodies. For some reason he didn't like that idea.
- He went out of his way to villify a group of people simply because he didn't like the fact that they had sex with the same gender. These people didn't do a damn thing to him, but he hated them all the same. Maybe he was mad that he wasn't getting any?
- He actually stated that Archbishop Desmond Tutu a was a phony "as far as representing the black people of South Africa." Keep in mind that Tutu won the Nobel Peace prize for his efforts in promoting peace and true justice in that country.
- The man supported segreagation early in his career. He also stated that he didn't think men like Martin Luther King Jr weren't really non violent, simply because of their left leaning views. Funny, it's not the left that I hear things like "we need to just bomb and kill all them eye-rakees!!" from.
- He claimed that not only was AIDS a punishment on gay people, but it was a punishment on a nation that tolerated them. Gee, nice way to keep the gay bashing going dickhead. How about countries like Jamaica where they actually lynch gays, yet they got AIDS too???
- Considering that he was an apcolyspse believing nut, he wholeheartedly supported the idea of an Anti Christ... which he said would be Jewish. Thankfully, Jews weren't going to take his bullshit lying down, and he later apoligized for it, but still.
- Falwell loved suing people who he felt were immoral heathens, or whatever he thought they were. However, he wasn't so prompt to pay up when HE was being sued. Consider thsi little tidbit I got from good ol' Wikipedia:
Falwell was on both sides of libel cases. In 1984, he was ordered to pay gay activist Jerry Sloan $5,000 after losing a court battle. During a TV debate in Sacramento, California, Falwell denied calling the gay-oriented Metropolitan Community Churches "brute beasts" and "a vile and Satanic system" that will "one day be utterly annihilated and there will be a celebration in heaven."
When Sloan insisted he had a tape, Falwell promised $5,000 if he could produce it. Sloan did, Falwell refused to pay, and Sloan successfully sued. Falwell appealed, with his attorney charging that the judge in the case was prejudiced because he was Jewish. He lost again and was made to pay an additional $2,875 in sanctions and court fees.
Such a nice guy, this Falwell is....
Again, I'm glad the asshole is dead, and I'll say it to the face of anyone who supported him. As a son of haitian immigrants (thus, I'd be considred black), who hates pompus hypocrites, who believes in people having the right to live their lives the way they want, that people should be treated fairly, and that no religion should be in charge of a country and invading the private lives of it's citizens (you want to see how a Christian run country would be? Look up the Dark Ages!), Falwell is pretty much a natural enemy. I didn't like the bastard when he was alive, and I'm certainly not going to change my view of him just because he's dead. Wait, that's not right. I do like him a little better now that he is dead, because he's not around to cause trouble anymore. That's a good little Falwell.
People may think I'm being harsh. I'm actually being HONEST, something that I wish other people would be. Admit it people: you didn't like him before, so don't pretend that he's a saint now. If you talk about how other dead people were scum, no reason to skip this guy: he's prime material to join that list. The man made it his life work to sow the seeds of discord and hate in this country, and all for his own gain; why the hell should I not talk ill of him??
So yeah. Jerry Falwell: good riddance. I know there's tons more of his ilk out there, eagar to continue your work, but here's hoping their influence won't be as far reaching as his was.