Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
You gotta love Brent Bozell and his band of loonies at the Media Research Center. They're shocked, I tell you - SHOCKED! - that some people consider Jerry Falwell to be a bigot:
However, liberal activists have used the Internet to show their hatred of the man they blasted for so-called "hate speech." Kristen Fyfe with the Media Research Center says she is saddened, but not surprised, by the hate-filled posts."In some of these things I've been looking at he's being called a bigot; [and] some people are absolutely sure that he's going straight to hell," she says. That reaction, she continues, is to be expected. "I'm not surprised by this level of vitriol because it seems like it's [coming from] all these people who've just been very angry at him for holding up a standard to which they couldn't achieve."
Can you imagine? The man says that AIDS is God's punishment on gay people and that gays and lesbians are responsible for a terrorist bombing by other people who hate gays and lesbians - and people think he's a bigot! He supported segregation, referred to the push for equality as the "Civil Wrongs Movement" and praised Lester Maddox and George Wallace - and people think he's a bigot! He called Bishop Desmond Tutu a fraud - and people think he's a bigot! He says that feminists "need a man to tell them what time of day it is and to lead them home" - and people think he's a bigot! I can't imagine how anyone would ever get the idea that Falwell was a bigot, can you?
And Fyfe is right, we're just mad at him because he was "holding up a standard" that we "couldn't achieve." I've tried to be a baldfaced liar like Falwell was and I just can't do it. I've tried to believe that the world was 6000 years old, but that pesky evidence prevented me from doing so; I curse the intellectual honesty that prevents me from believing palpable nonsense. I've tried to live up to Falwell's standards but, sadly, I have this crazy idea that gays and lesbians are human beings deserving of equal treatment under the law. She's right, Falwell set a standard for dishonesty and ignorance that I just can't meet. Thankfully, the Media Research Center doesn't have that problem.
Comments
I think that it is ironic that those who believe most fervently in heaven seem be the least likely to get there. For a more likely scenario (or at least a hearty laugh) check out www.falwellinhell.com
Posted by: leslie | May 16, 2007 8:23 PM
So, let me guess - although it's perfectly okey-dokey for Falwell to spout his racist, homophobic, theocratic gibberish all over the airwaves, it's apparently a sign of thoroughgoing moral degeneracy to call him on any of that gibberish?
Riiiiiiiight.
This reminds me that my opinion of people who whine about accurate criticism and can't understand the difference between it and "censorship" (especially when it's not called for by the critic) is completely correct: all their bitching is a smokescreen for what they really want, which is the power to spout their crap without so much as a single challenge to it.
Posted by: Chris Krolczyk | May 16, 2007 8:46 PM
Ed: "I've tried to live up to Falwell's standards"
Ed, you should have said "live DOWN to Falwell's standards"... :) :)
Posted by: Radi | May 16, 2007 9:34 PM
I think I'll rent Oh God this weekend. Watching John Denver and George Burns humiliate an obvious Falwell parody is good medicine for the soul.
Then there's In God We Trust with Marty Feldman. Can't even find it on Amazon but damn... funny ;-D
Posted by: decrepitoldfool | May 16, 2007 10:13 PM
Now wait a minute. I heard that Falwell recanted. Well, sort of; he said he didn't mean the attack on the World Trade Center was God's judgement against gays and such--what he meant was it was God's judgement on America for allowing gays and others to do such bad things.
That's the sort of thing that turned away christians. Who could believe a loving God would kill innocent people, including faithful, God-loving people, because of the actions of others? But I guess that's the image in which man was created.
Posted by: mark | May 16, 2007 10:45 PM
I think the standards she was talking about achieving were the standards of the big fat bank account. Wow I had no idea the guy was such a bigot. He went around talking like he was "mister love".
Are all televangelical preachers such money hoarding bigot pandering hypocrites? Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with having money. It's just that they're supposed to sell their belongings and hate their families and anointeth their heads with oil while they pray in secret and all that. Oh well.
Posted by: 386sx | May 16, 2007 10:56 PM
So let me get this straight. Falwell saying we are going to Hell is OK, but us saying he is going to Hell is wrong? Why don't you guys just tattoo a big "H" on your foreheads?
Your right to freedom of speech does not come with an exemption from criticism, and neither does your religious title. A Bigot is as a bigot does.
Posted by: Science Avenger | May 16, 2007 11:14 PM
At huffingtonpost, twelve-year-old Maddie Lear's letter to Jerry Falwell says:
Posted by: Daniel Murphy | May 17, 2007 12:31 AM
It's just that they're supposed to sell their belongings and hate their families and anointeth their heads with oil while they pray in secret and all that.
Oh yeah I forgot about the one where they're not supposed to ask for stuff because god already knows what they want. (God and Christopher Hitchens are in agreement on that point, hahahha!)
Posted by: 386sx | May 17, 2007 1:13 AM
Jerry Falwell had a lot to answer for, but he was also someone's husband, someone's father, someone's friend. Just as none of us want to hear cheers and jeers when one of our loved ones passes away, I'm sure his friends and family are sickened by many of the responses to Falwell's death.
Besides, even Falwell deserved some level of compassion. I'm glad that he's no longer working his deeply misguided ministry, but I'm sorry that he had to die for that to happen.
Posted by: IWB | May 17, 2007 2:25 AM
Just as none of us want to hear cheers and jeers when one of our loved ones passes away, I'm sure his friends and family are sickened by many of the responses to Falwell's death.
No one in my family or the families of anyone I know worked so hard for their whole lives to advance oppression of millions of Americans and demonize people en masse.
I have compassion for his children, and that's about it when it comes to him. Otherwise, glad he's gone. Next up: Pat Robertson and James Dobson.
Sorry to sound harsh, but you think a bit differently when you're actually on the receiving end of these people's hate-siren. Trust me.
Posted by: Ted | May 17, 2007 3:11 AM
I'm a little confused. What's their definition of "bigot", and which criteria would Falwell fail to meet?
Posted by: Bongob | May 17, 2007 6:37 AM
Although I admit that my views could be colored by the fact that I will never achieve Falwell's standard....of goiter.
HMCWJH?
How many chins would Jesus have?
Posted by: Ick of the East | May 17, 2007 8:19 AM
Unless Falwell's wife/children publicly and openly opposed his views, and I don't know if they have but I doubt it, then they are just as hateful and bigoted and derserving of scorn as he is. It is hard to muster any sympathy for anyone as despicable as that.
Posted by: chris | May 17, 2007 11:35 AM
Not sure I agree with the whole "Somebody loved Falwell" argument. Sure, no one wants to hear "cheers and jeers" when a loved one passes away, but I'm sure Falwell's family is well aware that he was a polarizing public figure who was far from universally beloved. Far far far far, in the words of Bart Simpson.
When my uncle, the volunteer fire chief in my little hometown, passed away, his family didn't have to worry about anyone cheering or jeering his passing. Mainly because he didn't live his life as a hypocritical asshat who thought he was holier than everyone else.
Posted by: Dono | May 17, 2007 12:07 PM
I believe there is a God. Through logic alone, I am 99 % certain God exist. Also, I think He is good.
Religion misleads: all flavors no exceptions. Within any given religious cult, you will find a small percentage of very good people who really want to know and follow God. Then you have people like Falwell. They take what's wrong with religion to detestable and repugnant levels.
I'm glad Falwell is dead. I hope never again to hear his spew of hatred, bigotry, lies, and idiocy. The world is a better place without people like him. I don't think there is a heaven and hell, these are fairy tale places. But if there is, Falwell would surely be a toasty critter.
Posted by: Steve | May 17, 2007 12:28 PM
>Jerry Falwell had a lot to answer for, but he was also someone's husband, someone's father, someone's friend.
God bless you IWB, you are clearly a kind, compassionate and insightful human being. However, when the 3000 + died on 9/11, Falwell was not offering compassion, sympathy or assistance. Instead, he choose to hate, accuse, and take the spot light of controversy.
How did their families feel upon hearing his misapplied hatred around 9/11?
He is where he belongs.
Posted by: Chris | May 17, 2007 12:59 PM
Chris writes:
Over at Language Log, Eric Bakovic analyzes Falwell's apology for the hateful words he spoke just two days after the 9/11 attacks.
Posted by: Daniel Murphy | May 17, 2007 3:17 PM
Last night, I mistakenly let the TV linger for too long on the Faux "News" Channel (it was a hotel, and I wasn't used to the channel line-up). Mr. Loofah himself (Bill O'Reilly) was saying much the same thing as IWB - let's let Fallwell's family and friends mourn before criticizing him.
Strangely enough, I agree with O'Reilly - but I think we should use Jerry's own standard. By my calculation, it was less than 48 hours after the 9/11 attacks that Jerry chose to blame them on everyone who didn't agree with his perversion of religion. Well, we past the 48-hour mark since his death - so attack away!
Posted by: CPT_Doom | May 17, 2007 3:28 PM
I'm sure he would have proudly claimed being a "bigot" since in his mind that was the godly, righteous stand.
Also, hate speech is by definition directed at a group; any hate directed at Falwell was just personal.
But as I said on my blog on the day, one of the reasons I do in fact hate people like him is because I do not like the way their deaths make me happy.
Posted by: The Ridger | May 17, 2007 3:40 PM