Lynn,

If you asked me what offenses should be serious vs less serious, I would agree with you. But I can easily see why another Christian might disagree. Sexual offenses seem to be generally considered extremely serious in both the Torah, and in the New Testament. And slavery seems to be in the “not a great idea, but OK” category.

I know I’m late to this party, but sincerely believing something does not make one less of a horrible person. Sure, Falwell sincerely believed all the stuff he preached (and his rhetoric did incite violence against gays and women, even if he didn’t actually commit that violence himself), but that doesn’t make the stuff he believed or his words any less repugnant. And it doesn’t make him any less of a great big giant asshole in the eyes of those of us he directed his hate and bigotry toward. And not to continue the Hitler/Bin Laden comparison, because Falwell definitely did not reach that level of awful, but those guys also sincerely believed in the stuff they said/did, and are still generally considered to be two of the worst people to ever live.

That isn’t saying that I, personally, would revel in his death or wish him in hell, because I don’t believe in hell in the first place and I can’t think of anyone that I would actively wish death on. But I can certainly understand why others would, at minimum, be relieved that he is no longer in this world to continue spreading his message of hate. And I also understand comments like Amanda’s and other athiests as merely pointing out the hypocrisy of someone with Falwell’s stated beliefs acting as he did in this life.

Fred Phelps went off the deep end long ago – now he’s just an aging media whore desperate for another few minutes of attention. His “God Hates Everybody” schtick has worn thin. And if we’ve got Hitler and bin Laden in the mix, it’s worth pointing out that neither Phelps nor Falwell have actually killed anybody nor ordered their death. Their weapons are words and rhetoric – the actual killin’ is left to the folks who take their message very literally and try to put it into action (e.g. Eric Rudolph)

Falwell, while not as directly hateful, is nevertheless highly deserving of the batshitinsane label along with Phelps.

I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to deem Falwell an enemy of gays.

Too bad the person you were responding to didn’t make that comparison.

In Falwell’s case, I hear a lot of obnoxious shrieking in this thread about how mean and eeeevvvvil the guy supposedly was, but I don’t see anyone producing a shred of evidence that the guy wished ill on anyone. At most, I see a spirited disagreement over what conduct should or should not be be classified as a sin. Big difference. If everyone who disapproved of anything I consider unobjectionable were considered my “enemy,” I’d have nothing but enemies in the world, and the very word “enemy” – along with the Biblical directive to love them – would lose any meaning whatsoever.

Speaking of enemies – the real kind, that is – get a load of what the real enemies of gays think about Jerry Falwell.

If you’ve got any such evidence, I’d be interested in hearing it. Otherwise, calling the guy an “enemy” in the sense of Hitler, bin Laden or Manson is beyond offensive.

Amen.

I occasionally allow myself to indulge in this vice; but, even when I do it, I know it to be wrong, and I feel guilty for doing so.

I am not sad that Reverend Falwell is dead. Indeed, I long considered him to be my enemy. But that does not make the rejoicing any less ugly.