Should We Celebrate the Death of Falwell?

I'm sure that somewhere in America, there's a bundle of happy liberals ecstatic over the death of Fundamentalist Jerry Falwell. No longer will America have the opportunity to hear such "wonderful" sound bits as those which he massively publicized and promoted.

Take, for example, his comments after 9/11, where he said: "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way — all of them who tried to secularize America — I point the finger in their face and say, ‘you helped this happen'."

Take, for example, the debacle over the Teletubbies, where he declared one of the children's television characters as gay and a threat to American life.

Sounds like a great man to listen to, doesn't it?

As much as I may profess to dislike the fundamentalist rants of Falwell, I find that I'm not sure whether or not to be happy upon his death. I personally find only one thing he has done to have had any (subjective, I suppose) moral worth (starting a program for recovering alcoholic men... but I'm not sure of the details of the program) and, for the most part, consider his "teachings" and sermons, such as the "If I were the king of the world" sermon, to be as un-Christian as the wars which he supported. But should we (liberals?) celebrate the death of Falwell, and should we (conservatives?) celebrate his life?

I abhor Falwell's words, and his sermons and public quotes, yet many of his ridiculous and controversial words and statements sparked important debates in the public community. I'm not sure the country would have publicly debated abortion, gay rights, political correctness or even the role of public schools in society without Falwell's outbursts and fundamentalist public statements. For this, I suppose, all of us should actually thank Falwell for his contribution to the public sphere and the debates which he sparked.

Right?