Death does not absolve one of the evil one has done here on earth.

I’m sorry that in the thread about Jerry Falwell at Feministe, I made the mistake of calling down “shame” on those who celebrated Falwell’s death. I ought to know better than to use that word in particular. There’s far too much shame in the world, far too much of it imposed by men who look like me (and believe in my God and make love as I make love) on those who aren’t men (and don’t look like me, worship another God or none at all, and make love differently.) My anger and my haste made me forget that. I’m not only sorry for having offended, I’m sorry I used words that would inevitably be offensive. It was stupid and wrong. No excuses.

I hope there is a hell, just so he can burn in it right now. Motherfucker.

I’ve heard much talk about forgiveness on various forums… that we should forgive him for the wrongs he committed. That G-d will forgive him or whatever.

I am religious. And what my religion teaches about forgiveness is that when you commit a wrong against someone, the only way you can be forgiven is to realize you’ve done wrong, sincerely want to seek forgiveness from those you’ve wronged and sincerely desire to strive to not commit that same wrong again in the future, and then approach those you’ve wronged, and ask for forgiveness. G-d can only forgive those wrongs commited against G-d… you’re on your own seeking forgiveness for those real flesh and blood people that you’ve hurt. G-d can forgive him until S/He’s blue in the face… it doesn’t matter. I’m not aware Jabba ever apologized for any of the vicious, hateful, bigoted vile he spent his life spewing. I’m not aware that he’s ever sought forgiveness from those thousands, if not millions, that have directly suffered as a result of inciting people to practice hatred and bigotry. And in fact, I don’t think any sincere word has ever issued forth from his overinflated fat face. He was a vile and evil human being who the world is better off without. His death does not change that, and it’s disrespectful to everyone that he has hurt to call for forgiveness or sugarcoat any of the harm he has caused.

He had 73 years of life, a long full life, in which he could have started to make amends for his actions and words. Almost 27,000 days in which he could have woken up and said, “You know, I’ve done some horrible things and hurt people, but today I’d like to be a better person.” Time’s up. Game-the-fuck-over.

And I, for one, have had “Hava Nagilah” stuck in my head ever since I found out the news.

Well, actually, first I thought, “Baruch dayan emet.” Blessed be the True Judge.

THEN I started whistling “Hava Nagilah.”

This is an evil hateful man that preached hate, funded hate, and tried to get hate enshrined in law, all the while living off the fat of the insecurities and fears of others, and gloating while others died horribly.

Bingo. It’s one thing to be a bigot. It’s another thing to amass a great deal of political power and influence and to use that power and influence to try turning America into a theocracy. He wasn’t harmless. His existance ruined many, many people’s lives; that’s for sure.
Why do people deserve respect when they die? The TRUTH is what deserves to be spoken; not phony praise or admiration. And the truth is, Falwell made the world a WORSE place.
Falwell was 73. His death is no tragedy. We all die eventually. I wish he was found in a compromising position (muahah) but alas, he was not.

You know, more than anything else in the world, Hugo craves an audience, which is to say a classroom, since Hugo can only relate to women as a teacher.

Well if this is true, teacher needs a lesson on using big words like “epistemology” and “ipso facto” correctly while lecturing.

He might picket you if he knew you claimed he was a colleague of Falwell. Most people don’t actually know much about Phelps as they think. Phelps despises almost everyone. To him, Falwell is no less of a heretic than Bishop Spong or Richard Dawkins.