| AsianDivaGirlsWebDude |
05-15-2007 12:13 PM |
Jerry Falwell was an intolerant bigot that used the cloak of religion to divide the country and subvert the Republican party. I will not miss him...
Quote:
Falwell and his group were widely credited with helping to elect conservative Republican Ronald Reagan to the presidency in 1980, with helping him win re-election in 1984, and with influencing the GOP to adopt a right-wing social agenda.
In addition to its political activities, the Moral Majority led a boycott of 7-Eleven convenience stores as part of a successful effort to get the chain to stop selling the adult magazines Playboy, Penthouse and Forum.
In a widely reported case, Falwell in 1984 won a lawsuit against Larry C. Flynt, publisher of the adult magazine Hustler.
Falwell had charged that he had been libeled by a cartoon that appeared in the magazine depicting him as an incestuous drunk.
The jury rejected the libel charge but awarded Falwell $200,000 for "emotional distress." However, the Supreme Court in 1988 overturned the decision, ruling that public figures enjoyed no Constitutional protection against "outrageous" statements of opinion, even if they were intended to cause emotional pain.
The Moral Majority's influence had begun to wane by the mid 1980s, and dropped sharply in the wake of sex scandals involving two other television evangelists, Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart.
Falwell resigned as president of the Moral Majority in 1987 and disbanded the organization in 1989, although he remained active as a television minister.
The Old-Time Gospel Hour in 1993 reached an agreement with Internal Revenue Service to pay $50,000 in taxes for using the ministry for political purposes in 1986 and 1987.
Falwell remained a prominent conservative social critic throughout the 1990s.
In 1997 he urged advertisers to withdraw their commercials from the television show "Ellen" after it was made public that the show's lead character would announce that she was a lesbian in an upcoming episode.
Falwell drew media attention in February 1999 after he claimed that the children's television show "Teletubbies" featured a homosexual character and was therefore an unsuitable program for children.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., Falwell said on "The 700 Club" television program that "the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians," as well as liberal advocacy groups were to blame for the attacks. Days later, Falwell said his remarks had been taken out of context.
However, in another later statement he acknowledged that he had "singled out for blame certain groups of Americans" and apologized for his statements.
|
I remember that somehow I was on the Moral Majority mailing list, and regularly received letters from Jerry seeking donations for one cause or another.
My friends and I would read them and crack up, since he was such a crackpot. The scary part was that so many people supported him.
Lest we forget...
Jerry was an ardent segregationist in the 50's and spoke in opposition to the Civil Rights Movement:
Quote:
"If Chief Justice Warren and his associates had known God?s word and had desired to do the Lord?s will, I am quite confident that the 1954 decision would never have been made?. The facilities should be separate. When God has drawn a line of distinction, we should not attempt to cross that line.?
|
(He reversed his position in later years, which was a pattern of his)
Quote:
In the 1980s Jerry Falwell was an outspoken supporter of the Apartheid regime in South Africa. When president PW Botha was elected President by the White South African minority, Reverend Falwell went to South Africa and made statements supporting the government there and urging American Christians to buy Krugerrands, a coin issued by the South African Government.
He drew the ire of many when he called Nobel Peace Prize winner and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu a phony. He later apologized for that remark and claimed that he had misspoken.
|
Quote:
In 1994, Falwell released the straight-to-video documentary "The Clinton Chronicles: An Investigation into the Alleged Criminal Activities of Bill Clinton." The video connected Bill Clinton to a conspiracy theory involving Vincent Foster, James McDougall, Ron Brown, and an alleged cocaine-smuggling operation.
Despite the theories being discredited by all major investigations, the video's sophisticated production techniques served as effective exposure, and sold over 150,000 copies.
Funding for the film was paid for by the Citizens for Honest Government, to which Jerry Falwell paid $200,000 in 1994 and 1995.
In 1995 Citizens for Honest Government paid two Arkansas state troopers to make allegations supporting the conspiracy about Vincent Foster. These two troopers were Roger Perry and Larry Patterson who also were paid for their allegations in the Paula Jones claims.
In March 2005, trooper Patterson was convicted of lying to the FBI about an unrelated incident.
Falwell's infomercial for the 80-minute tape included footage of Falwell interviewing a silhouetted journalist who was afraid for his life. The journalist accused Clinton of orchestrating the deaths of several reporters and personal confidants who had gotten too close to his illegalities.
However, it was subsequently revealed that the silhouetted journalist was, in fact, Patrick Matrisciana, the producer of the video and president of Citizens for Honest Government.
"Obviously, I'm not an investigative reporter," Matrisciana admitted (to investigative journalist Murray Waas), "and I doubt our lives were actually ever in any real danger. That was Jerry's idea to do that ... He thought that would be dramatic."
In an interview for the 2005 documentary The Hunting of the President Falwell admitted, "To this day I do not know the accuracy of the claims made in The Clinton Chronicles," but failed to condemn the poor research.
|
Quote:
After the September 11, 2001, attacks Falwell said on the 700 Club, "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'" (a sentiment with which Pat Robertson concurred). After heavy criticism, Falwell apologized.
|
And a final quote:
Quote:
"AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals."
|
Falwell has now died - let's hope for a day when the intolerance he preached also dies.
ADG |
