1 Boring Old Man

      ^{When I’m dead and buried,
      Don’t you weep after me.
      When I’m dead and buried,
      Don’t you weep after me.
      When I’m dead and buried,
      Don’t you weep after me.
      I don’t want you to weep after me.}

      [traditional]

“Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions.”

“AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals”

“If you’re not a born-again Christian, you’re a failure as a human being”

“It appears that America’s anti-Biblical feminist movement is at last dying, thank God, and is possibly being replaced by a Christ-centered men’s movement which may become the foundation for a desperately needed national spiritual awakening”

“The whole (global warming) thing is created to destroy America’s free enterprise system and our economic stability”

I once joked to a friend [a Minister] that Falwell preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Old Testament, the book of Ezekiel. He said, "You’re too kind." I understood what he meant. He thought that the hateful message of Jerry Falwell had nothing to do with Jesus, at least as he understood Christianity. But I think I’ll hold my point. As I understand Christianity, it was a reaction to the law based practices of Judaism in his time. It became a religion that reacted against the cruelty and elitism of the Roman Empire, an influence that brought an end to that Empire. Christianity, as I understand it, is about kindness. It’s the legacy of my own experience of Christianity that I do exalt "kindness" as an ideal, even though it’s often difficult, and sometimes impossible.

What does it mean – kindness? It means treating others as if they are your same kind. That’s what Jesus did. And I suppose I believe that’s what Christians do. I don’t hear Jerry Falwell knowing anything about that. And what of the rules of churches such as Falwell’s? Jesus was a rebel. He rebelled against the rules of the synagogue. He turned over the money changers’ tables. He even rewrote the Commandments. The teachings of Jerry Falwell are inconceivable in any clear understanding of Christianity – at least the Christianity of the Bible I read as a young person. And what of this business of God smiting people as a punishment for their sins. One finds that sort of thing throughout the Old Testament, but it’s not the teaching of Jesus, the founder of Christianity. If anything, the teaching is the opposite. "An eye for an eye" became "turn the other cheek." "Judge not, that you be not judged." "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." And where in Christianity is there any precedent for anything like, "[homosexuals are] brute beasts…part of a vile and satanic system [that] will be utterly annihilated, and there will be a celebration in heaven?"

So, as to why we should not be responding to the death of Jerry Falwell in the same way he might respond to the death of one of us? It’s probably because of the Christian influence in our backgrounds, something about kindness. Jerry Falwell was not a follower of the teachings of Christ. He may have believed the supernatural tenets of Christianity – virgin birth, son of God, resurrection, ascension. But he missed the whole point of the teachings by a mile.

I find it ironic that, in my opinion, his pronouncement that America is a Christian Nation is the most odious of all of his ideas. I say that he’s missed the point. We are a nation with religious freedom. But, privately, the reason I am so opposed to his saying we are a Christian Nation is something else.  It’s his distortion of what the word Christian means that I find revolting. I think I actually agree that our nation was founded on Christian principles – notably kindness. That’s what "All men are created equal" means to me. We are all the same kind.