[Bill,
May 16, 2007]
RIP, Jerry Falwell
Several hatefests regarding Jerry Falwell's death. While I don't agree with his more extreme remarks, he was, at heart, a God-fearing man who followed his conscience. Those who judge the state of his soul should fear for their own.
Jerry Falwell brought an important voice — it wasn't always accurate or reasonable — but he was sincere in trying to follow Christ. He did what he did out of love — and of course that got mixed up in our secular culture as a message of hate. I can recall his talking on Nightline with Hustler's Larry Flynt, and both men were surprisingly respectful of and even loving to each other. Not what you'd expect. Flynt even said that his conversion to Christ at Falwell's direction in the late 1970s was sincere, and he though he later renounced his belief, he still seemed to indicate, at least to me, that he'd a contact with the divine that he was unprepared to renounce.
Falwell knew love means willing the good for someone else, and not just allowing them to careen on the "wide path" that leads to destruction. Many on the wide path, I suspect, hated hearing that.
I see folks like Falwell as those fighting outside the gates of the Church, taking artillery rounds that would otherwise be directed at the Church. He also no doubt won many souls for Christ, which covers, as it says in the Bible, a multitude of sins. I suspect he did just fine in the afterlife. It's clear he followed his conscience and his intentions were good.
Not saying he won't have a short stay in purgatory, though ...
Jerry Falwell brought an important voice — it wasn't always accurate or reasonable — but he was sincere in trying to follow Christ. He did what he did out of love — and of course that got mixed up in our secular culture as a message of hate. I can recall his talking on Nightline with Hustler's Larry Flynt, and both men were surprisingly respectful of and even loving to each other. Not what you'd expect. Flynt even said that his conversion to Christ at Falwell's direction in the late 1970s was sincere, and he though he later renounced his belief, he still seemed to indicate, at least to me, that he'd a contact with the divine that he was unprepared to renounce.
Falwell knew love means willing the good for someone else, and not just allowing them to careen on the "wide path" that leads to destruction. Many on the wide path, I suspect, hated hearing that.
I see folks like Falwell as those fighting outside the gates of the Church, taking artillery rounds that would otherwise be directed at the Church. He also no doubt won many souls for Christ, which covers, as it says in the Bible, a multitude of sins. I suspect he did just fine in the afterlife. It's clear he followed his conscience and his intentions were good.
Not saying he won't have a short stay in purgatory, though ...