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Falwell's judgment day (Roanoke Times editorial, bashing Jerry Falwell)
Roanoke.com ^

Posted on 05/16/2007 7:20:14 AM PDT by Gopher Broke

Falwell's judgment day

The Rev. Jerry Falwell died Tuesday. A lifetime spent judging others has ended.

The Rev. Jerry Falwell met with his maker Tuesday. We hope he was embraced by a loving, forgiving God. Falwell did enough judging for any one man here on Earth during his 73 years.

His most dramatic proclamation -- one for which he would apologize but that cost him many supporters -- came in the days following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Falwell blamed it on gays, lesbians, feminists and liberals. He commonly attacked these groups as being responsible for the moral decay of our society.

Throughout his career, Falwell carried his remarks far beyond the pulpit, becoming one of the first and most successful televangelists.

He then parlayed his popularity into trying to run the nation. He founded the Moral Majority, which claims among its credits the presidency of Ronald Reagan, the Republican takeover of Congress and the religious right's takeover of the Republican Party.

It was Falwell's interjection of religion into government and his insistence that those who did not subscribe to his fundamentalist beliefs were against God and country that were so offensive.

This isn't to say that Falwell always traveled the wrong path.

He was blessed with the ability to raise large sums through donations. Much was spent grooming political candidates, but through his ministry he also tended to alcoholics and unwed mothers.

And Falwell emphasized the importance of education, though it tended toward the indoctrination of young minds to his teachings through his Christian elementary schools.

In his later years, Falwell devoted much of his energies to expanding his Liberty University, which currently educates 7,700 students. He invested much in the Lynchburg community, was one of its largest employers and provided the moral compass that his many followers sought.

Falwell was as fallible as any man, capable of doing both good and harm. It is not for us to stand in judgment of which, if either, prevailed.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: falwell; jerryfalwell; leftwing; liberal; newspaper; roanoketimes
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1 posted on 05/16/2007 7:20:17 AM PDT by Gopher Broke
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To: Gopher Broke

Letters to the editor: karen.trout@roanoke.com


2 posted on 05/16/2007 7:20:31 AM PDT by Gopher Broke (I would rather hunt with Dick Cheney than ride with Teddy Kennedy)
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To: Gopher Broke

I guess that the hate for him did not die.


3 posted on 05/16/2007 7:22:41 AM PDT by Piquaboy (22 year veteran of the Army, Air Force and Navy, Pray for all our military .)
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To: Gopher Broke

Does not take long for the vultures to circle. Hey Ms Trout. What kind of benefit have you brought to the mountains of Virginia?


4 posted on 05/16/2007 7:25:38 AM PDT by lexington minuteman 1775
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To: Gopher Broke
Falwell usually spoke the truth and the left hated him for it. But, then again, they usually hate the truth. I almost laugh at the writer’s apparent abhorrence of being “offensive.” Heaven knows, we need more prophets who will speak the truth and be offensive to a society that revels in decadence.
5 posted on 05/16/2007 7:27:58 AM PDT by MBB1984
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To: Gopher Broke

Such hatred! These idiots don’t realize that by continuing their hate campaigns, they actually damage their own cause. They will mobilize the Religious Right just in time for the elections.


6 posted on 05/16/2007 7:28:08 AM PDT by TommyDale (More Americans are killed each day in the U.S. by abortion than were killed on 9/11 !)
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To: Gopher Broke
It is not for us to stand in judgment of which, if either, prevailed.

What are the rules in their universe? I'm so confused.
7 posted on 05/16/2007 7:34:35 AM PDT by modhom
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To: Gopher Broke

Do you have a source link for this article? Thanks.


8 posted on 05/16/2007 7:42:10 AM PDT by Lead Moderator
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To: TommyDale
interjection of religion into government

This is the part the really PO's me -- according to our enlightened brethren on the left, you should not be permitted to govern or run for office unless your core values are secular humanism. If your core values involve reverance for the 10 Commandments and love of God, well, just don;t take it into the voting booth or into elected office with you.

I suppose I should be used to the double standard by now, but I guess I am not.

9 posted on 05/16/2007 7:43:34 AM PDT by L,TOWM (Liberals, The Other White Meat [protest for... violence and peace])
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To: Gopher Broke

Apparently, Falwell did not get the official memo about why we were attacked on 9-11. It wasn’t because of gays and lesbians and moral decay.

We were attacked because the “folks” that flew planes into buildings want us to die because “we are free.” Yes, that’s it. As you do. Makes perfect sense. Just keep repeating it. That will make it even more true. Now go back to sleep.


10 posted on 05/16/2007 7:47:45 AM PDT by Desperately Seeking Freedom
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To: Lead Moderator

Source link: http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/117057


11 posted on 05/16/2007 7:48:13 AM PDT by Gopher Broke (I would rather hunt with Dick Cheney than ride with Teddy Kennedy)
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To: Gopher Broke
"He commonly attacked these groups as being responsible for the moral decay of our society."

Hate to tell ya' this but he was correct.

12 posted on 05/16/2007 7:48:42 AM PDT by Sunshine Sister
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To: Gopher Broke

Thanks.


13 posted on 05/16/2007 7:50:14 AM PDT by Lead Moderator
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To: lexington minuteman 1775

“Hey Ms Trout. What kind of benefit have you brought to the mountains of Virginia?”

You should know who your target is before you go off. Ms. Trout did not write the editorial nor did she help plan the writing of it. Ms. Trout simply opens letters to the editor (whether by mail or e-mail) and then confirms that the person who signed it truly is the one who sent it.

I know Ms. Trout personally and she’s a very nice person.


14 posted on 05/16/2007 7:52:38 AM PDT by gracesdad
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To: Piquaboy
I guess that the hate for him did not die.

The hate of the left, socialists, communists, Marxists, abortion loving, Christian and religion hating pukes of the Dimocrat party will never end. THAT is what those pukes are made of. This country is a county of two beliefs now. One of good and one of evil. They are simply, EVIL. I see anyone who calls himself or herself a dimcrat or supports dimocrats, simply as EVIL walking.

15 posted on 05/16/2007 7:54:12 AM PDT by RetiredArmy (America has lost its mind and is on its last days as a free country & Republic.)
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To: gracesdad

Good point. The editor of the Roanoke Times editorial page is Dan Radmacher, dan.radmacher@roanoke.com


16 posted on 05/16/2007 7:55:23 AM PDT by Gopher Broke (I would rather hunt with Dick Cheney than ride with Teddy Kennedy)
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To: Gopher Broke

Satan is alive and well as this letter proves.


17 posted on 05/16/2007 8:00:58 AM PDT by lilylangtree (Veni, Vidi, Vici)
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To: Gopher Broke

BTW, the news coverage in the same paper seems pretty fair. It was bannered across the top fot the front page along with several stories.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/wb/xp-index


18 posted on 05/16/2007 8:04:32 AM PDT by gracesdad
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To: Gopher Broke

What I hate most about Falwell’s critics is their attempt to rewrite history — to say that it was Falwell who “injected religion into politics.” Prior to the 60’s, religious values were the backdrop of American life. The founders knew that our system of freedom would only work with a religious and moral people — people capable of self-government. Morality was presumed to be important and relevant, and presumed to be the purview of the churches. Government didn’t interfere.

It has been the Left that has deliberately moved the government into areas traditionally left to religions — abortion, “gay rights,” etc. It has been the Left that has used the courts and legislatures to try to bully us into changing our moral and religious beliefs. Falwell was just one of several people who said, “enough.” He didn’t inject religion into politics. He merely fought against the intrusion of government into religion.


19 posted on 05/16/2007 8:05:42 AM PDT by lady lawyer
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To: Gopher Broke

“Falwell was as fallible as any man, capable of doing both good and harm. It is not for us to stand in judgment of which, if either, prevailed.”

So while they say the will not judge the man, they write an editorial doing just that.

Liberal editorial writers can be some of the biggest idiots in the world.


20 posted on 05/16/2007 8:07:59 AM PDT by The South Texan (The Drive By Media is America's worst enemy and American people don't know it.)
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