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wottan

wottan

Vancouver, BC
July 2004

AUG 30, 2005 08:11 AM

Friendly neighbourhood conservative Reverend Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority, has once again made several shocking comments. Shocking in that he's almost speaking out in support of gay rights.

On Aug. 5, during an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Situation with Tucker Carlson,” Falwell raised eyebrows when he said he was not troubled by reports that nominee John Roberts had done volunteer legal work for gay rights activists on the case Romer vs. Evans.

...

“I may not agree with the lifestyle,” Falwell said. “But that has nothing to do with the civil rights of that… part of our constituency.

“Judge Roberts would probably have been not a good very good lawyer if he had not been willing, when asked by his partners in the law firm, to assist in guaranteeing the civil rights of employment and housing to any and all Americans.”

When Carlson countered that conservatives, “are always arguing against ‘special rights’ for gays,” Falwell said that equal access to housing and employment are basic rights, not special rights.

“Civil rights for all Americans, black, white, red, yellow, the rich, poor, young, old, gay, straight, et cetera, is not a liberal or conservative value,” Falwell went on to say. “It’s an American value that I would think that we pretty much all agree on.”


Let us hope others quickly fall in line. Common sense is not as common as one might think, but surely it is not difficult for a rational person to comprehend the division between your right to dislike someone for no good reason, and their entitlement to the same civil rights as every other citizen.

alpha_hazard

alpha_hazard

Fort Collins, CO
April 2004

AUG 30, 2005 08:18 AM

if marriage is a special right then maybe we should taka that right from people who have a history of violent crime so they won't assault their spouses/children.

But at least he's no longer sharing the same value system as our buddy Fred Phelps. (well, not the entire value system at least.)

phineas

phineas

Bozeman, MT
August 2003

AUG 30, 2005 08:26 AM

aren't they called the christian coalition now, not the moral majority?

FrankMask

FrankMask

Saint Paul, MN
June 2003

AUG 30, 2005 08:31 AM

Well... that's very interesting. I'm not quite sure what to make of it.

daveglss79828

daveglss79828

Miami, FL
January 2004

AUG 30, 2005 08:35 AM

to be honest, it seems rather... surreal

cretinfamily

cretinfamily

Tulsa, OK
March 2005

AUG 30, 2005 08:35 AM

wow...i didn't think i would ever hear anything from that man that didn't make me want to vomit.
this is actually a nice surprise.

Chitin

Chitin

New York, NY
December 2004

AUG 30, 2005 08:54 AM

eeek

Idjit

Idjit

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

AUG 30, 2005 08:59 AM

This frames Falwell's collection of leather chaps and thongs in clear perspective.

aegies

aegies

Oakland, CA
June 2004

AUG 30, 2005 09:45 AM

wow...

i wonder who the aliens replaced him with?

googused

googused

Portland, OR
OLD SKOOL

AUG 30, 2005 09:57 AM

Lip service. When Falwell's mouth moves, he lies.

Shal

Shal

Los Angeles, CA
October 2002

AUG 30, 2005 10:01 AM

Wonder if that has anything to do with him getting older. It sounds weird, but when my grandfather was getting, as he put it, "closer to meeting God," his formerly hardline views on things softened quite a bit and he made a few surprising statements too.

I secretly think he was trying to impress Jesus and get him to put in a good word with his dad about the whole "heaven" thing.

biggrin

[Edited on Aug 30, 2005 by Shalome]

xfinitex

xfinitex

East Lansing, MI
August 2005

AUG 30, 2005 11:16 AM

Hmm. I'm not sure what i think about this. On the one hand I admire that he would say something like this but on the other, it seems like, as googuse put it, lip service.

I guess we'll have to wait and see if he says anything more on the subject in either direction. But he just went up about half a point in my estimation.

Jeff_Fries

Jeff_Fries

Humptulips, WA
September 2003

AUG 30, 2005 12:35 PM

wottan said:

“Civil rights for all Americans, black, white, red, yellow, the rich, poor, young, old, gay, straight, et cetera, is not a liberal or conservative value,” Falwell went on to say. “It’s an American value that I would think that we pretty much all agree on.”


Let us hope others quickly fall in line.


I don't see for a second how this represents a change of conscience - just that he gave a response that doesn't directly reflect his image as the villian of modern morality. He never said gays should be deported, he says they are immoral and an offense to God of a magnitude that allowed 9/11 to happen. This new statement lines up with everything he's ever said.

This only matters for those who wait on Falwell's every word - i.e. southern baptists and liberals.