Goodbye Jerry

Not to speak ill of the dead or anything, but lets just say I'm not going to be joining the pilgrimage to Lynchburg for Jerry Falwell's funeral. It's my opinion that Falwell did a great deal of harm to America. Arrogantly, he tried to turn us into a theocracy, tried to impose his values (not just Christian values, but his own version of those values) on the rest of us, interferred unforgivably with the political process, and passed judgment on millions just because they happened to disagree with him. He contributed to a culture of conflict in this country and it is largely because of him that the Christian Right is such a negative force. My wish is that with his death the Christian Right will also disappear.

Given many of Falwell's absurd pronouncements about God's punishment for America's decadence, I can't help wondering if we can't assume that God punished Jerry for being arrogant. R.I.P. Reverand Falwell. But I bet it won't be in heaven.