The Conundrum of Jerry Falwell

[cafe]

I actually neither support nor condemn it. But if something doesn't involve me, I don't see any reason why I should care.

That strikes me as pretty short-sighted.

 

[Brendan]

Using a comparison to Hitler is an overused method of trying to make a point, and relies a lot on the "I hate hitler" emotions. The point is a good one, but a better method could easily have been used ot argue it.

I don't hate Hitler. I didn't know Hitler. Hating someone implies that you care about them. When people mention Hitler, I immediately think of him as a cautionary example, not an example of a person to hate.

 

[Brendan]

That strikes me as pretty short-sighted.

Well, you know what Justin Timberlake says:

What goes around,
Goes around,
Goes around,
Comes all the way,
Back around, yeah...

Of course, JT also says:

I'm bringin' sexy back,
Yeah!

 

[spartan26]

I don't hate Hitler. I didn't know Hitler. Hating someone implies that you care about them.

I'm confused. Does George Bush hate Black people or not???

I never really listened to Falwell, except maybe some sound bites or quotes of quotes. I did happen to catch a bit of him on TV right after 9/11 and did not think he spoke with biblical authority, then or in the other few times I heard him. Especially in comparison to others I've seen/heard, (but I'm hardly qualified to bring a charge against anyone who may be God's elect).

In general, I tend to immediately switch off people who meld too much politics in their preaching. There's a verse in the New Testament that says, "Do not put your faith in the wisdom of men but the power of Jesus." I believe God's word transends politics and believe people's need for political laws or tie ins is a really limiting perspective of His power.

This is not to say blah, blah blah, I think you know what goes here.

Anyway, I'm very blessed now to be a member at a church with members from both sides of the political aisle and don't doubt their love for one another. I have seen the Holy Spirit soften some very hard hearts, so I'm not trippin' off of anything I read in the article.

I believe in Proverbs it mentions that when a man's ways are a delight to the Lord, even his enemies are at peace with him. (maybe Pslams???) So even though Falwell said things I disagreed with and things I thought were misrepresentations of God's word, his relationships with such people as Flint show what God is able to do. Plus it's not like I'm faultless. Who knows how many people I'm turning off from seeking Jesus. I have to remind myself that the Holy Spirit can work in people's lives, despite my big mouth that would otherwise kill it.

That said, I'm pretty sure I'll never pick up any of Falwell's books or try to catch any tapes of his preaching. Even though I may have theological differences with every last one of them, I know there are plenty of preachers and teachers on TV I can see and get a word from them, fresh, without any effort.

 

[The Ü™]

I don't hate Hitler. I didn't know Hitler. Hating someone implies that you care about them. When people mention Hitler, I immediately think of him as a cautionary example, not an example of a person to hate.

Thank you!

People who say they hate Hitler are really no less judgmental.

The thing I can't understand is how people condemn the name Hitler but don't do the same with Stalin (whose regime was responsible for slaughtering millions more than Hitler's). And no one remembers the Japanese under Hirohito's regime -- who were the only ones to attack on American soil.

The truth is that the media is very biased and tends to have a left leaning (in the direction of Communism). Even higher education systems have a left bias.

People look at Alexander the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte as war heroes, when in reality, they were little more than the same brand of mass butchers people accuse the Nazis of being.

 

[Zergling]

People who say they hate Hitler are really no less judgmental.

The thing I can't understand is how people condemn the name Hitler but don't do the same with Stalin (whose regime was responsible for slaughtering millions more than Hitler's). And no one remembers the Japanese under Hirohito's regime -- who were the only ones to attack on American soil.

The truth is that the media is very biased and tends to have a left leaning (in the direction of Communism).

Whether or not the media thin is true (Which does not seem to to me, the media in general seems to have a "don't offend anyone" way of doing things.), Hitler combines the important elements of a well known genocide for one particular group of people, with the U.S. fighting against him directly in a war, and various Europian countries having laws against supporting hitler. Stalin, in comparison, had the killings spread out more randomly, due to less direct hatred than other political reasons, and helped the U.S. a bit in WW2, while no direct war against Russia occured. Similar reasons exist that WW2 Japan, or the Khmer rouge, Mao in China, Genghis Khan, etc. aren't remembered as bad people as much as Hitler is.

 

[Lurker]

Now 15 min. FREE webchat for adult

Have enough respect not to spam in a Holy Man's thread!

 

[Totenkindly]

People who say they hate Hitler are really no less judgmental.

Well, I was joking around in my post... mostly to equivocate with the ridiculousness of how you are stating your position, seemingly just to get as much emotional reaction as possible rather than to make some original point.

The thing I can't understand is how people condemn the name Hitler but don't do the same with Stalin (whose regime was responsible for slaughtering millions more than Hitler's). And no one remembers the Japanese under Hirohito's regime -- who were the only ones to attack on American soil.

They don't?

I thought most people did... or would, if they had time to care about it.

The truth is that the media is very biased and tends to have a left leaning (in the direction of Communism). Even higher education systems have a left bias.

I'm not sure if the first part of this is true nowadays; and I'm not sure the second one matters much in any substantial way, considering the alternatives.

People look at Alexander the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte as war heroes, when in reality, they were little more than the same brand of mass butchers people accuse the Nazis of being.

This one has a little more meat on it.

So... can you list some of the things that Alexander and Napoleon did that would support them being "mass butchers" like the Nazis are accused of being? (And are you insinuating that the Nazis were NOT mass butchers?)

 

[Eileen]

I don't believe that Falwell meant to be evil; I can believe that he had "good intentions" and everything... but I fundamentally disagree with his version of an idealized world. I believe that in pursuit of his ideal, he has done and said things that are very, very harmful.

A part of me definitely said PRAISE THE LORD when I heard he died, but I think that was a sinful impulse of mine. I am glad that he can't do anymore direct damage, though I know that he'll continue damaging the world indirectly now.

 

[Crabapple]

Hitler makes me happy... because he's dead.

Yeah, me too. The only thing that bothers me is that he committed suicide. I would have liked if he had been convicted and executed by being drowned in a cesspool. And I ain't too sad about Jerry Falwell neither.

I'm confused. Does George Bush hate Black people or not???

I don't think G. Bush hates Black people. He just doesn't care about Black People.

 

[The Ü™]

I don't think G. Bush hates Black people. He just doesn't care about Black People.

Unless the black people are rich, of course. (And yes, there are rich black Republicans.)