http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/15/jerry.falwell.ap/index.html

LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Rev. Jerry Falwell, who founded the Moral Majority and built the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University, a school executive said. He was 73.

 

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Ron Godwin, the university's executive vice president, said Falwell, 73, was found unresponsive around 10:45 a.m. and taken to Lynchburg General Hospital. "CPR efforts were unsuccessful," he said.

 

Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but he said Falwell "has a history of heart challenges."

 

"I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast," Godwin said. "He went to his office, I went to mine, and they found him unresponsive."

 

Falwell had survived two serious health scares in early 2005. He was hospitalized for two weeks with what was described as a viral infection, then was hospitalized again a few weeks later after going into respiratory arrest. Later that year, doctors found a 70 percent blockage in an artery, which they opened with stents.

 

Falwell credited his Moral Majority with getting millions of conservative voters registered, electing Ronald Reagan and giving Republicans Senate control in 1980.

 

"I shudder to think where the country would be right now if the religious right had not evolved," Falwell said when he stepped down as Moral Majority president in 1987.

 

The fundamentalist church that Falwell started in an abandoned bottling plant in 1956 grew into a religious empire that includes the 22,000-member Thomas Road Baptist Church, the "Old Time Gospel Hour" carried on television stations around the country and 7,700-student Liberty University. He built Christian elementary schools, homes for unwed mothers and a home for alcoholics.

 

He also founded Liberty University in Lynchburg, which began as Lynchburg Baptist College in 1971.

 

Liberty University's commencement is scheduled for Saturday, with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich as the featured speaker.

 

In 2006, Falwell marked the 50th anniversary of his church and spoke out on stem cell research, saying he sympathized with people with medical problems, but that any medical research must pass a three-part test: "Is it ethically correct? Is it biblically correct? Is it morally correct?"

 

Falwell had once opposed mixing preaching with politics, but he changed his view and in 1979, founded the Moral Majority. The political lobbying organization grew to 6.5 million members and raised $69 million as it supported conservative politicians and campaigned against abortion, homosexuality, pornography and bans on school prayer.

 

Falwell became the face of the religious right, appearing on national magazine covers and on television talk shows. In 1983, U.S. News & World Report named him one of 25 most influential people in America.

 

In 1984, he sued Hustler magazine for $45 million, charging that he was libeled by an ad parody depicting him as an incestuous drunkard. A federal jury found the fake ad did not libel him, but awarded him $200,000 for emotional distress. That verdict was overturned, however, in a landmark 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision that held that even pornographic spoofs about a public figure enjoy First Amendment protection.

 

The case was depicted in the 1996 movie "The People v. Admin Flynt."

 

With Falwell's high profile came frequent criticism, even from fellow ministers. The Rev. Billy Graham once rebuked him for political sermonizing on "non-moral issues."

 

Falwell quit the Moral Majority in 1987, saying he was tired of being "a lightning rod" and wanted to devote his time to his ministry and Liberty University. But he remained outspoken and continued to draw criticism for his remarks.

 

Days after Sept. 11, 2001, Falwell essentially blamed feminists, gays, lesbians and liberal groups for bringing on the terrorist attacks. He later apologized.

 

In 1999, he told a evangelical conference that the Antichrist was a male Jew who was probably already alive. Falwell later apologized for the remark but not for holding the belief. A month later, his National Liberty Journal warned parents that Tinky Winky, a purple, purse-toting character on television's "Teletubbies" show, was a gay role model and morally damaging to children.

 

Falwell was re-energized after moral values issues proved important in the 2004 presidential election. He formed the Faith and Values Coalition as the "21st Century resurrection of the Moral Majority," to seek anti-abortion judges, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and more conservative elected officials.

 

The big, blue-eyed preacher with a booming voice started his independent Baptist church with 35 members. From his living room, he began broadcasting his message of salvation and raising the donations that helped his ministry grow.

 

"He was one of the first to come up with ways to use television to expand his ministry," said Robert Alley, a retired University of Richmond religion professor who studied and criticized Falwell's career.

 

 

 

Alot of you may know him from the movie Admin Flynt

I hope he enjoys his time in hell.

I hope he enjoys his time in hell.

 

:lol

 

Now now... behave yourself.

 

RIP

Hey, if you use religion to reinforce your backwards and bigoted beliefs....I doubt good things will happen to you in the afterlife.

I hope he enjoys his time in hell.

:notworthy Completely agree

"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'"

 

f*** Jerry Falwell. Good riddance.

Good, get the hell off this planet Jerry. Thanks for contributing to hatred in my faith.

Jerry Falwell is a big reason why I've always had a big problem with religion. There is such a disconnect with what the bible says (or the Torah, or Q'uran, or anything) and what the organizations themselves state as their goals. It should never be a religion's goal to preach through politics, and least not Christianity. Christ preached to each person individually and believed in a life of poverty, living off of the charity of those he preached to. The big religions preach a steady diet of hate and vitriol in the name of Christ. It's f***ing sickening.

religion is fine itself...these batards are not. All this does is create a vacuum for some other bigot to step to the plate

Y'mach sh'mo v'zichro. Good riddance. Couldn't have happened to a nicer man, although in reality it could (OBL, are you listening?).

I dont wish ill upon the dead, may he rest in peace. May the actions he undertook in life show perhaps some good notes to go with the poor, if nothing else something to learn from for what not to do.

I don't know that there's an afterlife, but as to your time here on earth you get a big thumbs down for your performance.

 

:thumbdown

 

It's sad that there are people out there with great opportunities to influence and lead, who waste it on such nonsense.

It should never be a religion's goal to preach through politics, and least not Christianity.

"Give to the Lord what is of the Lord, and to Caesar that of which is Caesar's."

It should never be a religion's goal to preach through politics, and least not Christianity.

"Give to the Lord what is of the Lord, and to Caesar that of which is Caesar's."

Bingo.

 

People like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson skipped that part of the Bible. :thumbup

Wow, one of my volunteer friends out here is related to him... despite my personal feelings toward him it's a bit of a tragedy for his family

i am not a fan of the guy but wow such anger

:lol

 

Not a single positive post here. :lol

 

Can't blame you all, though, he wasn't a good man.

This is a guy who has opposed just about every major social movement, from desegregation and civil rights to women's and gay rights. He also spoke out against other Christians such as Catholics, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses.

i am not a fan of the guy but wow such anger

 

 

What the f*** do you expect??

Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses aren't Christians.

 

Not that it has anything to do with this thread but its a clarification.

 

Falwell is definitely not someone I agreed with but I'm not one to piss on his grave and be happy that he died.

Me neither. RIP, and his creator gets to judge him now.

 

But as a person I wasn't much of a huge fan.

This is a guy who has opposed just about every major social movement, from desegregation and civil rights to women's and gay rights. He also spoke out against other Christians such as Catholics, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses.

 

He's a dirtbag. I can't find a single quote from him that isn't filled with hatred.

There is or was apparently a website which posts quotes from religious figures such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Osama Bin Laden, and asks you to guess who said each quote. It's disturbing how similar their quotes actually are.

There is or was apparently a website which posts quotes from religious figures such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Osama Bin Laden, and asks you to guess who said each quote. It's disturbing how similar their quotes actually are.

http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/Quiz_JPO.htm