A Villain Hath Fallen

A villain has died today, one of those responsible for the decline of a great nation. An angry and hateful man has left the earth and can do no more harm. This villain is none other than Jerry Falwell, one of the first Christian fascists to open his mouth at the start of Tsar Bush II's term. On September 13th 2001, he, and his good friend Marion ("Pat") Robertson blamed the events of two days prior on innocent and free people, saying it was freedom that made God angry at us, and allowed the Islamists to kill 3,000 people. Ironically, he was not sniped for anti-Americanism, as he is a member and a kingmaker in the dominant party.

It upsets me that this monster of a man gets more attention than Kurt Vonnegut and Ayn Rand. A hatemongerer, a man who capitalized on the stupidity of mankind, a demagogue; that was Jerry Falwell. The rest of us, especially "moderate" Christians, should treat him the same way Soviet Russia treated the corpse of Stalin, by spitting on his grave.

He was not the first to fight against the rights of those different from himself; throughout history, anti-suffragists and those who were pro-slavery (with whom, ideologically, he was inherently and closely tied), have been fighting for the status quo, not caring one iota for the quality of life of those in question.

I, for one, have seen far too much of human stupidity and hate during his life that it is not necessary to celebrate him in death. In death one is not supposed to say anything less than positive, yet this one man has a record such that then we should not have said anything at all.

I write this in response to those who have lied over the past 12 hours, those who have painted a hero from a hatemongerer. In this respect, it is the Republican candidacy that appears most repugnant in its rewarding intolerance and hypocrisy. John McCain and Rudy Guliani should have known better. It is here that I should offer my condolences to the mother of Matthew Shepherd on behalf of those who allow Socrates' belief that all evil stems from ignorance to be true.

Jerry Falwell was disease to the Republican party, a malignant tumor in the nation, and a stain on the world. To all those he has wounded, I admire you.