Ever since he founded the “Moral Majority” back in 1979, Jerry Falwell probably has a dubious influence of creating a rift between Islam and the West.
By: Vanessa Uy
When Jerry Falwell passed away last May 16, 2007, all my sentiments point to good riddance. For most rational level- headed Americans, Jerry Falwell may seem no more than a minor irritation to accepted standards of civil liberties. Jerry Falwell influenced the creation of PMRC (parents music resource center) back in the 1980’s which bought us the “Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics” stickers on our records/CDs that are still with us today. But it’s much more serious for us here in parts of South East Asia, where Jerry Falwell’s ideas are used by right wing militants- to murder Socialist/Left Wing activists from 1970’s till the present.
To me, Jerry Falwell’s legacy of his “Moral Dictum” of harassing and vilifying the non-Christian members of the human race is tantamount to “cultural genocide.” His “follower’s” utter disregard for environmental concerns brought us global warming which they claim as their right by virtue of “Anglo-Saxon Manifest Destiny.” Now doubt, Jerry Falwell is Al Qaeda’s raison d’être for without Al Qaeda many young Muslims think that they would be wiped out by people like Jerry Falwell before the end of the 20th Century.
Despite of Jerry Falwell’s passing, there are a lot of “Christian Bigots” lining up to take his place like Ann Coulter. She single handedly started a campaign of “cultural genocide” to anyone who doesn’t subscribe to the “Moral Majority’s” views. If she gets enough political power and clout, Ann Coulter would allow legislation of a law that would outlaw anthropology and shut down the National Geographic Society.
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9 comments:
I liked your very insightful blog. It's conventional wisdom that you cannot prosecute what you don't understand. This "Regent University" and "Messiah College" alumnus and legal aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez named Monica Goodling. Basing on her "Alma Mater" does she really know-I mean "really know" that the United States is founded on the ideals on the "separation of church and state"? Does the American Society survive such "Christian Talibanization" like the one you mention in your erstwhile blog:"Who Owns God."If people like these run America, Who needs Osama Bin Laden?
I've been following closely on the slow -but persistent- infiltration of the Religious Right/Moral Majority into the American political system for a number of years now. Sadly, these groups are more concerned with advancing their own agendas and preserving ther "Religious Canon" than the social welfare of disadvantaged Americans. Being 3/4 Anglo-Saxon and 1/4 Oriental, I have first hand experience with "white supremacists" groups like "6th Day Creationist", "Aryan Nation"and "Posse Commitatus." My superficial red hair-green eyes-piasty pale skin fortunately allows me to hang out with them. The docrine of a "White Man's God" is both dangerous and illogical. Not only to American pluralistic society, but also to our environment as well.
Dear Vanessa Uy,
Did you know that this article was (is?) flagged as offensive? I mean is the person(s) responsible for flagging this article ever heard of freedom of expression on the Internet? Sure it's ok for Time magazine to publish an article about the anti-Semitic musings of Martin Luther in their December 31, 1999 issue but what about us "little guys?" What qualifications does one need to criticize Jerry Falwell / Moral Majority? Does CNN's Christian Amanpour qualify? How about Christopher Hitchens? Larry Flynt?!
As the religious institution responsible for the vilification oe the Islamic World way before September 11, 2001 (Will 1984 suffice?), The American Evangellical Christian community were not even subjected to the "inconvenience" that the American Muslim community underwent after 9/11. When Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols "carbombed" the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building back in April 20, 1995, was the Evangelical Christian / Moral Majority community in the US placed "under investigation"? And how about the January 16, 1997 incident on the Sandy Springs, Georgia Planned Parenthood clinic that was attacked by "Christian" extremists? Where's the justice in that? Paging Janet Reno?
This blog is well within the guidelines stipulated by the Electronic Frontier Organization http://eff.org/bloggers . Or does the person responsible for flagging the blog asking for the intervention of Lawyers Without Borders / Avocats Sans Frontiers or Amnesty International. Vanessa Uy, the women of the world owes you one for criticizing a religious institution that's inherently repressive to women.
Sincerely Yours,
Heidi Gail Dadullah
P.S. What's the latest anti-Semitic slur said by Pat Robertson that's addressed to The Daily Show's Jon Stewart?
Is this the same Heidi Gail Dadullah who responded to DW-TV's People and Politics Question of the Week (September 25, 2007 episode) regarding wether volume levels in clubs should be regulated by law? If you are then congratulations for beating me to DW-TV's website. My comment on the matter is more or less the same. I'm not ashamed to admit it but I love loud Orchestral Music, the closer it is to 130 decibels sound pressure level (an assault rifle fired in your hand sound levels) the better. My heroes in the Classical Music world has always been Wagner, Mahler, Beethoven or anyone not afraid to play it out loud.
P.S. Other "Notable People" who don't like Jerry Falwell now includes Republican Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain who called Falwell "A Beacon of Intolerance" back in 2000.
P.P.S. It's "Christianne" Amanpour by the way.
Yes, it was me who responded to DW-TV's People and Politics "Question of the Week" about the government regulation of volume levels in clubs and discos. Marianne Schumann of DW-TV even sent me an e-mail thanking me for responding. In my opinion, it's quite unfortunate that music as an artform is now in parity with smoking in a way that music has the potential to endanger our "auditory health" / hearing accuity. And also Senator John McCain is probably the only Republican I might vote for primarily because he spoke out against the Bush administration's policies on torture / extraordinary renditions.
Will all the Socialist around the world dare ask for their "40 Acres and a Mule" type reparations on how Jerry Falwell instigated a genocide that killed millions in Southeast Asia?
Have you guys seen BBC's Have Your Say in their December 9 , 2007 episode where the guest speaker is the noted evolutionist Professor Richard Dawkins promoting his latest book titled "The God Delusion"? I think Aetheists are the most "Persecuted" "religious" group throughout the history of Western Civilization. It seems like that 1995 spoken word satire by Lydia Lunch and Excene Cervenka titled Rude Hieroglyphics won't be going stale anytime soon. You guys should do a blog on Professor Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. Or what about Pope Benedict XVI / Josef Ratzinger's Nazi-Youth past and his invilvement in the Vatican's commission of the Crimen Solitationis act (The Ecclesiastical Child Pornography Act!) during Pope John Paul II reign.
I assume that the author and respondents of this particular blog are familiar with the works of Professor Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. There is a Filipino writer named Armando Ang whose books might be like Dawkins' and Hitchens' books. Armando Ang wrote "The Dark Side of Catholicism" in which he wonders why "Catholic Learning Institutions" in the Philippines are tight-lipped about the "Spanish Inquisition" or about Tomas de Torquemada. Also "The Dark Side of Unorthodox Protestants" in which Armando Ang talks about the unscrupulous "fund raising" practices of Evangelical / Born Again "Christians" here in the Philippines which reminds me of that 1980's Hair Metal band Poison song "Something to Believe In" and Metallica's "Leper Messiah". And my favorite of Armando Ang's works that I have read so far is "The Brutal Holocaust: Japan's World War II Atrocities and Their Aftermath" with introduction by Dr. Ricardo T. Jose. Basing on what I have learned by reading about Armando Ang's works. I think he got "inspiration" from that 1995 spoken word satire by Exene Cervenka and Lydia Lunch titled "Rude Hieroglyphics". And I also think Armando Ang has thorough familiarity about that top secret Langley "dossier" about Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army's biological warfare experiments in occupied mainland China back in World War II. This CIA "dossier" was only declassified in 1992 and published in the New York Times that same year.
If you can accept my general disdain against Christianity in general. It is because I find their pabulum on altruism a bit trite - with hard facts to back this up. To me, Christianity very much commodified our "Eternal/Immortal Soul" from the "Selling of Indulgences" to money hungry "Glamour Evangelists" of the late 1980's. If history serves as a guide, "Globalization" actually began on that fateful day back in the 12th of October, 1492. I've heard first hand back in 1999 when almost all of Christian World went caca over over end-of-the-world predictions that gave them a licence to go on a tirade against non-Christians and even called His Holiness the Dalai Lama a sex-crazed poligamist and called me a "Satanist" for wearing a "Think Globaly, Act Locally" environmental awareness T-shirt.
When the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Al Gore and the 3,000 or so scientists of the IPCC lead by Rajendra Pachauri, I thought thank God this climate change / global warming crisis will finally be taken by the world's powers-that-be seriously. But reading insightful blogs like this, there's a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that why a few misguided people who use the name of Christianity in order to advance their own political manifestoes sickens me. Have you seen CNN's "God's Warriors" in which Christianne Amanpour interviews a sensible Evangelical Christian pastor who finally accepts that global warming is caused by man-made pollution? It really, really saddens me that Christianity - due to the Faith's power-hungry zealots - is the primary cause of all the world's sufferings. "Climate - Change Denial" like the Holocaust Denial should be made a crime. To be enlightened by the true spirit of Christianity, all of you should check out Liberation Theology websites. I'll promise you'll all be amazed.
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