okay, we get it...don't judge, don't condemn a dead-man, pray for his soul..ad infinitum.

WTF would you nuts be saying if we heard Osama was dead tomorrow? would you not judge his actions, and thus the man that he was? But when it's one of your own hate-mongers, suddenly you're all hearts and flowers. Fuck Falwell and everything he represented. It is indeed one of those rare occaisions where atheists dream of some divine justice. Afterall, we all know there is no justice in this world, least of all for pieces of human excrement like Falwell.

So religious fundies: grow a pair, you're not retards. Judge a man for the life he has lived. IF there is EVER a time to judge a man, it is when he is dead. I judge Falwell, as is my right as a human being, as a worthless piece of hate that deserves everything he gave to this world and more.

Mr. Wolfe begins his article with a pious cliche: "No one wants to speak ill of the dead."

Who says? What in the world is wrong with speaking ill of a vile scoundrel like Falwell just because he's dead?

Hitler was kind to animals and loved playing silly games with small children. All morning on the FM talk shows like 101.1 WZTK Greensboro NC "Brad & Britt" show we're treated to those right wing assholes tell me the usual 'however you feel about him he was a gentleman....' blah blah blah.

Get this straight. Jerry Falwell was a racist bigotted monster who would have been perfectly happy committing genocide while sitting on his throne of skulls. Somebody loved him? Yeah isn't that nice. I bet Torquemada was charming dinner company too. May he boil in molten uranium hell for eternity. We can only hope that all his followers get HIV or leprosy and die one little painful piece at a time.

Oh, I greeted Falwell's death with love all right...

As in, "I LOVE the fact that that hate-mongering parasite has finally been wiped off the planet."

I'm not a big fan of GLAAD, but Joan Garry hit this one out of the park in my estimation:

Statement by Joan Garry, Executive Director, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation:

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I learned a lot from Jerry Falwell. I debated him on television a number of times. He taught me not to take a breath at the end of my sentences but to grab catch breaths in mid-sentence. That way, the interviewer has a tougher time interrupting. I learned that when you have a title like Reverend, you get some sort of free pass. A free pass to say terrible things and get away with it.

But most importantly I learned that you only get a free pass if people are willing to give it to you. You only get power when people are prepared to relinquish it. You only get a platform when people offer it to you.

As a woman, I have a lot of anger toward Jerry Falwell. I would never have an abortion but believe that a woman has a right to choose. As a gay person, I have a lot of anger toward Jerry Falwell. He raised a good deal of money for his cause, for his "church" on my back. As a Christian, I have a lot of anger toward Jerry Falwell. He used his deeply held religious beliefs as cover for the vast array of statements he made through the years that will reverberate for decades to come.

But as I watch CNN this afternoon (I can't bear to watch Fox), I realize the anger I feel should be directed to all those Mr. Falwell leaves behind -- all of you who created this demagogue. To all those who booked him on a TV or radio show, to all those who put money in his coffers, to all of you who followed him blindly. You gave Falwell the opportunity, the platform, the microphone and the money. He couldn't have done it all without you.

The world lost a powerful bigot today. The question ahead is not who will take his place. Someone will. The question is did you learn anything? Will you recognize that with power comes responsibility. When the next one asks for money or a microphone, maybe you'll think twice. Maybe you'll consider what it really means to be Christian.

"Showing qualities such as kindness, helpfulness, and concern for others."

I am not a Christian, but I have beliefs, ethics, and most definitely morality. And I have studied Christianity to a great degree, certainly enough to say with conviction that Falwell was not a Christian.

He was, as the foundation text of Christianity states, a False Prophet. One of the myriad heads of the Second Beast, who turn people away from the true path of spiritual enlightenment and divine love. He corrupted the teachings of Christ for personal power and gain, he poisoned the minds and hearts of the vulnerable seeking redemption in Christ, and he drove from the temples many who would have otherwise sought the word of God.

Celebrating his extinguishment is appropriate, as it would be to celebrate the end of any agent of hatred and calumny. Surely you'd cheer as an angel lopped the head from the hydra-like form of the Second Beast? This is no different, if you are a person of faith.

As I have said, I am not a Christian, so I merely revel in the more naturalistic notion that a toxic organism has been removed from the ecosystem. And I can understand the Christian notion of praying for all souls, regardless of how fallen they be. So do so, in the hope that the afterlife opens his eyes to evil he wrought in his limited span.

But unless you are the type of prosperity-gospel Christian who shares the late reverend's dogma of bigotry and aquisitiveness, you should be able to take comfort that a true enemy of your Lord no longer stalks the Earth.

I know it's wrong to wish ill on anyone, and I hate myself a little for being so damn happy that bastard died, but I am happy. He kicked people when they were down; people with AIDS, victims of 9/11, anyone who didn't adhere to his beleifs.

He believed that good fortune only comes to those who believe in his brand of Christianity, and that God's a real asshole and would punish the righteous along with the unrighteous. (I'm sure among the 9/11 dead there were at least a few people who were his brand of Christian crazy.)

He lacked compassion, which I think is possibly the most important part of Christianity since it's all about a guy who supposedly cared so much about humanity that he sacrificed himself to save us. Even the assholes, and the unrighteous, and the evil ones. Even the gay ones, and the wiccan lesbian HIV positive black women who have had an abortion.

I hope that in death, Jerry Fallwell gets to feel all of the hatred and intolerance he spewed out at his fellow human beings. Not for an eternity, perhaps, but at least until he learns his lesson.

I