Death of Preacher: Why I Won't Miss Jerry Falwell

Jerry Falwell, moralist hero to millions and pioneer of televangelism, collapsed and died at 10:45 Tuesday morning.

As the classicists say, "Speak no ill of the dead." And while we must generally forgive those who have passed on and wish them well on their long journey to who knows where, it is sometimes unavoidable to look back and comment on the enormous mound of havoc left as their gift. Such is the case with Jerry Falwell.

While Jerry may have been venerated by the Christian half of the Great American Mind, he was loathed by the other half. His exploits in the socially improper ran the gambit from gays to feminists to Jewish people, but his slips of the tongue only confirmed what the agnostic and atheist half of America already felt about the elderly preacher.

His main role in the public field was that of a political operator. Like a Protestant Pope he gave his blessings to right-wing candidates and pushed the moralist Christians of the nation to enter the political arena as a driving force under the name The Moral Majority. You may have noticed the differentiation in terms between the self titled, "Moral" used by Falwell and this article's author's use of the word moralist.

If you have not yet guessed, this writer is in the opposite social-political camp as the late Jerry Falwell, and like many of his peers, does not believe in an absolute morality or at the very least, does not believe that Falwell had it right. For us, the secularist, humanist, and scientific minded Americans, Falwell was an enemy general, full of smarm and smug assaults.

Politics play heavily into the rivalry implied here. Falwell's Moral Majority was heavily responsible for the election of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. Falwell can, in a way, be credited with the idea of Christian America as a political force. To imagine a revised history without Jerry Falwell creates a reinvention of our country that will make and Democrat, Liberal, or even Moderate cry like a little girl.

His active participation in the debates against abortion, gay rights, separation of church and state, and stem cell research has made him a loathed and disrespected figure to many. Perhaps it was his amazing volume that made his such a polarized entity. He embodied the debate between the Left and the Right, giving a human face to the new model of the Christian Republican. In this way he reaped all of the praise from one side and all of the scorn from the other.

To his credit, however small, the Liberal Left had no counterpart for Falwell, no Pope of their own to give significant passion to their cause. But to be fair, he was not loved by all on the side of the Right. Falwell's life and popularity had it's ups and downs, particularly involving the Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart scandals, and the stigma of televangelism.

Falwell was above all else, a loudmouth moralist. He was a wet blanket on American life, and he helped three republican presidents mangle our country. I won't miss him.

source:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18679412/