So long Rev. Falwell and thanks for all the intolerance

Near Lake City, FL - Rev. Jerry Falwell collapsed at his desk today. He was taken to the hospital in full cardiac arrest and later pronounced dead. The cause of death has not been released as of now.

Rev. Falwell is survived by the remains of his "moral majority" movement that combined religion and politics to create the "Religious Right" we've come to know today. The result is what got me to stop supporting the Republican party and call myself a conservative.

Prior to Rev. Falwell's marriage to the political machine, the Republican party was primarily interested in fiscal conservatism, keeping taxes and spending to the bare bones and keeping government out of our personal lives.

Now, thanks to the influence of Rev. Falwell and others like him, the party has come to represent intolerance, closed minds and a down right uppity "Holier then thou" attitude. There is way too much God and preaching in an organization that should have little if anything at all to do with religion.

Thanks to Rev. Falwell and Co. we now we have institutionalized bigotry against gays. We have judges that think they can ignore state and federal law based on a religious belief. Roe vs. Wade is under attack on several different fronts.

And the worse part of all is because of all this, good people, unable to stomach the party dogma are fleeing the party. Which means the new socialist party, also known as Democrats, are probably going to end up with entire ball of wax in 2008.

In spite of that nasty religious-Holier-then-thou-we-know-what-God-wants-you-to-do streak, the Republicans still stand for many of the things I do: Private property rights, gun ownership rights, lower taxes, getting welfare recipients off the dole and working, getting government off out backs, strong defense, etc.

Unfortunately, I cannot go along with the Republican's propensity to invade personal decisions such as abortion, adoption, who you can marry, etc. And these things are directly attributable to Rev. Falwell and the Moral Majority movement. There are other minor issues as well, but that one is the deal breaker.

So Rev. Falwell has gone on to find out what happens after this life. I feel for his loved ones that are probably devastated at his unexpected and very sudden departure. Death is the one on non-negotiable pain in this life.

But I can't help but wonder what lays in store for the good reverend if he was as wrong in his beliefs as I believe he was.

-30-

AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.
- Jerry Falwell