Way of the Mind

(Warning: this post is a little more emotional than the norm here.)

Most atheist blogs, plus Christopher Hitchens on TV, have, naturally, denounced Falwell as the hateful bigot he was, instead of “a great man”, like most religious right conservatives keep parroting. The backlash from the latter has been seen, too: whether on TV against Hitchens (again), or in comments on atheist blogs, many people keep saying things like: “you might have disagreed with the man, but he’s just DIED, dammit. How can you be happy about it, you heartless monster? No matter what he did, his family and friends surely miss him. You atheists are really unfeeling, cruel monsters, speaking ill of a decent man, simply because you disagreed with him.”

It’s the old “dying turns people into saints” thing.

Let me see if I can make you at least begin to understand.

Now, I’m not saying Falwell was a child molester, but imagine — just pretend — that it was actually a well-known child molester¹ who’d just died.

Would you, perchance, be saying things like:

- “yes, he did some bad things, but his death is still a loss to the world.”

- “you’ve got to consider the feelings of his family and friends first.”

- “he might have been wrong about a couple of things, but the main thing is that he was always true to his convictions, to the end.”

- “if you speak ill of him — even if you were one of his victims — you are still a heartless, hateful monster. The man’s died, dammit!”

Now… would you say such a thing about a child molester? Just because he died? Would he turn into a good, decent man, just because he is no more, he’s ceased to be, he’s expired and gone to meet his maker, he is a late child molester², and all that?

The answer is probably no.

Now, what if, in addition to being a child molester, he had also been a reverend? Would you think differently of him?

If so, sorry to say, you’re both naïve, and a hypocrite, because you let anyone fool you, no matter his actions, just because he says “God” and “Jesus” often. Which, actually, is what many Americans do, sadly.

Now, as I said, Falwell wasn’t a child molester. But he did what he could, he did everything in his power — and succeeded, in many ways — to make life a living hell for many, many more innocent people than any child molester could ever victimize in his entire natural life. Falwell was a bigot. An agent of hate, of intolerance, of sexism, racism³, homophobia and fundamentalism. He spent his more than 70 years trying to make the world a worse place, trying to make life worse for a great number of people. It was not enough for him to hate them because of his bigotry; no, he had to convince half of America that the imaginary God they believe in also hated those people.

Is that forgivable? Or forgettable? Just because he died? Does death really turn a hateful monster into a saint, or at least a “harmless”, “worthy of respect” human being?

I don’t think so. People shouldn’t forget or forgive what this disgusting little man did, because there are others waiting in line to take his place this very moment. The battle against fundamentalism and intolerance is far from over… and far from won.

1. avoided Godwin’s Law! Yes! [↩]
2. couldn’t resist a Monty Python reference here. Sorry. [↩]
3. yes, that too. He opposed the civil rights movement at the time, though he tried to hide that fact much later. [↩]