What Jerry Falwell Taught Me.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Jerry Falwell is dead.
I have been working on his epitaph for the last six years.
So here it is.
Jerry Falwell taught me one thing.
That there is more then one way to hate the United States of America.
Hateing the U.S. is something forlks have been doing for the last two centuries.
Today we can get all kinds of images of folks burning badly made copies of the stars and stripes chanting death to America.
But there's more then one way to hate if not just the country but the idea of America.
After the last presidential election I watched a panel of Democtars, progressives, and liberal thinkers
talking about how to amonge other things how present themselves.
Ariena Huffington quoted a man from before the Reolution to point out what she saw as liberal values
going back to before the founding of the nation. I don't recall thename of the man; I wasn't taking notes.
But I do recall how it started. "We must lean on each other." It was about how we need to support each other and
pull togeather.
With out missing a beat a black man on the panal said, "Need I remind you that that man owned slaves?"
Ariana tried to bring focus on the truth of this mans words. Perhaps the only true thing this man ever had.
But there was no going back. Finaly the moderator said something to the effect of "Before we give the
"Right" something to use againts us lets change the subject."
Did that black man hate America? I think so. He hated the America that was.
An America in which the economy was based in large part on the buying and selling of human beings.
Jerry Falwell hated America as well. He hated the America that was becoming.
An America where Gay folk could walk down the street hand in hand with out having some one
very politly tell them they were damed to hell.
He hated an America where science was the basis of domestic policy decisions like global warming and stem cell research.
Two days after the attacks of September 11th Jerry Falwell blamed his usual suspects; Gays, Liberals, and non christians
pointing his finger at the camera saying "I blame you." In other words he blamed Americans.
He capped it off by saying that if we Americans continued our sinfull ways God would continue to give "...Amrica probubly what we deserve."
"...what we deserve."

In his eyes we deserved it.
The men and women who reached out to each other to take each others hands because they did not want to leap to there deaths alone deserved that.
I'll admit that I was um... annoyed by that statement.
For nearly a week I imagined running into Mr. Falwell on the street and kicking him in the throut. But after a week I saw the humor in what he said. The liberals, Gay and the ACLU had "pushed God out of the public square."
I then thought of myself running into God at the mall. "Hey God, let me introduce you to my boy friend."
"I shall turn you into a piller of Salt!"
I respond with,
"Oh yea? Not as long as I have my membership cared to the ACLU!" and I flash my newly laminated card.
"Arggg! Omnipitance fading..." And Jerry Falwells God runs off like the arrogent pussy that it is.
My all powerfull God meets me later at the food court and we have a augh over my tale.
Few people had done more to divide this country then Mr. Fallwell. He has institutions like his collage and political organization but it is his hatred of America that has the most imediat effect today. Other's have taken his lessons and get a pay check at the end of the week for effectivle putting forth the us versus them mentality that is poisoning this nation.
We are not "One From Many" We are Red States and Blue States. We are Liberals and Conservatives. We are... well you get the point.
At the end of the play Oedipus Rex the chorus advises the audience to not judge people while they live any more then you would announce the winner of a race while the race is still being run.
Only after some one dies can you fully judge a life and weather there contribution was mostly positive or negitive.
I'm not one to be much of a judge. I'm just going totake a step back and think about what folks will say about me after I'm gone.


Pedro