Wednesday, May 23, 2007

I'm Shocked! SHOCKED! ...Well, Not That Shocked...

It seems someone brought 'homemade napalm' bombs to Jerry Falwell's funeral, intending to use them to disrupt protesters.

Already people have been putting a lot of spin on it in the comments.

Some people rationalize that this terrorist isn't as bad as a Muslim terrorist because low power incendiaries like his aren't as powerful as the sorts of bombs the Muslim terrorists use. That hardly erases the evil intent.

Some people rationalize that he was just crazy, implying that Falwell's intolerant diatribes had nothing to do with it.

Some people pretend that everyone who hates Falwell hypocritically believes that Islam is a religion of peace. I don't. Just because some people, or even most people can ignore the villainous parts of their holy book doesn't mean the religion is any less warlike.

Some people pulled the No True Scotsman, claiming that Falwell wasn't a Christian, and that he wasn't preaching the TRUE word or whatever. Given what I've read of the Bible, he seems a closer match than 'mainstream' or 'true' Christians who manage to disregard the genocide, slavery, etcetera. I'd suggest doing what I did while I was still a theist: Burn the parts that contradict God's omnibenevolence and disassociate yourself with the label "Christian."

Jerry Falwell was a disgusting, diabolical monster who was, thankfully, unsuccessful at his primary goals. I don't normally speak ill of the dead, but Falwell is an exception. I'm glad he's gone, and whether he was right or wrong, I'm glad I won't be spending eternity with him. My mother once had a mini-crisis over her newfound atheism that came to an abrupt halt when I mentioned that optimistic point of view.

7 comments:

Berlzebub said...

I don't normally speak ill of the dead,...

I speak of the dead the way I do of the living. Especially in the case of someone like Falwell. He had many supporters who will try to defend (rationalize?) the what he said and did while he was alive.

-Berlzebub

Spirula said...

I don't normally speak ill of the dead

That constraint never got in Failwell's way. (e.g. 9/11)

Ryan Michael said...

Has Pat Roberts gone Patshit insane over this yet?

Ryan Michael said...

That should be Pat Robertson, the Patshit insane televangelist/doomsday predictor, not Pat Roberts the batshit insane senator from Kansas.

Lifewish said...

Holy crap, someone actually managed to make Phelps' mob look like the victims of the piece?

Tom Foss said...

I think the greatest disrespect to someone's memory is being dishonest about them. It's not about speaking ill or good of the dead, it's about lying about the dead. When Falwell died, my first thought was "there is one less terrible human being in the world today." I saw all these douchebags on the 24-hour news networks praising all the stuff he's done, and I saw Christopher Hitchens refusing to suck his chode, but still taking a piss on the grave. There's disrespect in each of those positions: Falwell was neither the wonderful, caring golden boy described by James Dobson nor the idiot described by Hitchens, but a manipulative, racist, homophobic asshat who spent his whole life trying to demolish the wall of separation between church and state, and trying to subjugate people different from him and to spread irrational hatred.

And that, telling the truth about someone, however pleasant or unpleasant that truth may be, is the only real way to respect the dead. After all, once you're gone, the only thing you leave behind is your memory. When someone lies about you, they destroy that last remnant, that chance for immortality, and that's about as disrespectful as you can get.

Ryan Michael said...

When someone lies about you, they destroy that last remnant, that chance for immortality, and that's about as disrespectful as you can get.

In that case, I would like to say that Jerry Falwell was a great man; a real bastion of scientific thought. His contributions to the advancement of the acceptance of homosexuals by crazy fundies was remarkable.

He made wonderful comments following the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and really put everyone at peace, especially those of us who are non-theists, pro-choice, gay or all of the above.

Fuck Jerry Falwell.