Hustler Publisher Praises Jerry Falwell

Larry Flint “good friends” with Jerry Falwell.

“The Reverend Jerry Falwell and I were arch enemies for fifteen years. We became involved in a lawsuit concerning First Amendment rights and Hustler magazine. Without question, this was my most important battle – the 1988 Hustler Magazine, Inc., v. Jerry Falwell case, where after millions of dollars and much deliberation, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in my favor.

My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face to face you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that. I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. He would visit me in California and we would debate together on college campuses. I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling.

I realize that many people disagreed with Falwell.  Personally, I disagreed with him on a lot of things.  But he was a person of weight and sincerity who has earned the respect of friends and enemies alike. 

RIP, Jerry Falwell. 

1. Falwell was an ass, and I detested everything he was about.  His vision of America not only disgusted me, but it frightened me as well.  I would forbid my children from marrying - or even closely associating with - someone of his ilk. 

   Having said that, today is a perfect opportunity for me to just let it go and forgive whatever wrongs I feel Mr. Falwell has done.  We are all fallible, myself included.  I hope one day when I am gone someone will look upon me and all my own shortcomings with the same forgiveness and compassion.

   I salute the man who passionately pursued what he believed to be right.  We should all strive to do likewise.

   Posted by scott on May 15, 2007 at 2028 hrs




2. Well said Scott from a guy in the middle.  I think Falwell and you are both asses!

   Posted by on May 15, 2007 at 2121 hrs




3. May good people everywhere forgive us both.

   Posted by scott on May 15, 2007 at 2130 hrs




4. Scott- I am already forgiven.  God’s busy and he sent me to tell you that you are an ass!

   Posted by on May 15, 2007 at 2202 hrs




5. Scott- I am already forgiven.

   The forgiveness of your family, your contemporaries, and posterity is what matters; in fact, it’s all the forgiveness there is, and more than most of us deserve.

   Posted by scott on May 15, 2007 at 2208 hrs




6. Scott- It is not about forgiveness of anyone!  It is about what one stands for.  As a conservative and a libertarian, it is obvious we shall seldom meet in agreement on political or social issues.  Getting late, I do wish you well fellow.

   Posted by on May 15, 2007 at 2231 hrs




7. So Scott, if you disagree with someone, they are an ass.  So, Scott, you are an ass.  But you know what, if you met him, and you had disagreements with him, Falwell would still like you.  I guess you are such an insignificant peon that you can’t do the same.

   Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 0030 hrs




8. If you look at and compare the public statements of Scott and Jerry Falwell, it is pretty apparent that one of them holds positions that are internally inconsistent, offensive to the vast majority of Americans and specifically designed to incite hatred and divide rather than unite.

   here’s a hint - It’s not Scott.

   Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 0047 hrs




9. “If you’re not a born-again Christian, you’re a failure as a human being”

   “[homosexuals are] brute beasts...part of a vile and satanic system [that] will be utterly annihilated, and there will be a celebration in heaven.”

   “AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals”

   -Jerry Falwell

   “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”
   -Jesus Christ

   Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 0100 hrs




10. Many a prominent liberal says things that are very offensive, much more offensive than you quoted.

    Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 0747 hrs




11. You forgot the best one of all:  “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 have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say ‘you helped this happen.’”

    I had an epiphany at the time I heard this.  I realized with startling clarity that Falwell and other Americans like him really have a lot in common with the attackers.  They all are religious fundamentalists and political extremists, they believe America deserved what it got - and for largely the same reasons: sin, permissiveness, decadence, etc.

    In fact I credit Falwell and the 9/11 attackers for pushing me toward publicly stating my already-existing atheism.

    Posted by scott on May 16, 2007 at 0804 hrs




12. “Many a prominent liberal says things that are ... much more offensive than you quoted”

    Does that make it okay in your eyes? Do those offensive liberals claim to be spiritual or religious leaders? Do they claim to have some special insight into the teachings of Christ? Do they claim that living life according to those offensive ideas is th only way to avoid eternal torment?

    Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 0827 hrs




13. It’s a very fortunate thing for Jerry Falwell that the God he met when he died is a much more forgiving and compassionate God than the God Jerry preached about for much of his life.

    Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 0828 hrs




14. But seriously, what liberal leader has said something as offensive as claiming that Americans deserved 9/11 or that AIDS is God’s punishment on the U.S. for sinning.

    Based on what I’ve heard of Falwells teachings, he sounds MUCH more like the Pharisees that Jesus condemned than he does the Lord Himself.

    Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 0831 hrs




15. It’s kind of sad that Larry Flint is showing more class than so many of the other liberals out there.

    Posted by Owen on May 16, 2007 at 0857 hrs




16. What’s really sad is that he’s showing so much more class than a man who was supposedly a spiritual leader

    Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 0859 hrs




17. Falwell spent much of his career demonizing large numbers of his fellow Americans.  Why should anyone be surprised that so many of them regard his passing without much warmth?  As ye sow, so shall ye reap.

    Posted by scott on May 16, 2007 at 0914 hrs




18. "But seriously, what liberal leader has said something as offensive as claiming that Americans deserved 9/11 or that AIDS is God’s punishment on the U.S. for sinning. “
    Whoopi Goldberg and Michael Moore come to mind.

    To say that Falwell was a ‘conservative LEADER’ when he said those things is a bit of a stretch.  His faith came from an extreme angle.  If you are not born again you are damned.  Wrong?  I hope so and I am born again.  I believe God is a bit more lenient than that.  However, to compare him and others like him to Islamic extremists, where violence and genocide are preached, is pretty damn offensive.  And no Scott, your epiphany must have come from bad ice cream at the local Dairy Queen, because Islamic Fundamentalists do not want to kill you and I because of sin, permissiveness or decadence (which I agree are the Christian Fundamentalist beliefs of those who thought like Falwell).  They want to kill you and I because we are not of Islam and represent the religion (you not so much, but Atheists are even higher on their hate scale) that has thwarted them most fiercely throughout history.

    Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 0945 hrs




19. Of course there is a big difference between Falwell and the extremists who perpetrated 9/11.  But the parallels are too striking not to be noticed. 

    PS.  You’ll get little traction with me by telling me how much Islamic extremists hate atheists such as myself; after all, Falwell blamed us for 9/11, and a recent poll of Americans (90% of which are Christians) rated Atheists as the by far least trusted minority in the country.

    Posted by scott on May 16, 2007 at 0956 hrs




20. Tuergas-

    I don’t think that you’ll find anyone who really believes that Falwell was a conservative leader.  His views were too extreme even for them.  He was, however, a religious leader.

    Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 1000 hrs




21. djheru, Hey man, you asked for the comparison inferring that he was a conservative leader by asking for LIBERAL leader comparisons.  Now if you had asked for a liberal RELIGIOUS leader I would have suggested Jesse Jackson who has said some pretty crazy things in his time and while he can jump down Don Imus’ throat, he won’t touch a rapper.  Do you think Imus is bright enough to come up with the phrase he used all by himself?  It is a phrase directly out of a rap song.

    And Scott, I find that percentage sad.  I have found that atheists are usually either atheists to be anti-(insert specific religion) or because reason is a more important word to them than faith.  That is something I can respect if not agree with, and certainly trust.  I was not implying anything negative about your belief in my statement.  I was merely referring to the, in my opinion, truth that atheists do not have the cushy fall back of saying “I don’t fear those nice little Islamist extremists, because they have wives and children just like you and me, they just hate those Christians” like some clearly do.  (Yes, I directly inferred without mentioning Rosie O’donnell and it is what I meant to infer)

    Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 1028 hrs




22. 1. Even those who opposed Falwell who knew him speak of his generosity of spirit, so unlike his public persona.  He was saving souls until he and Lee Atwater started mobilizing fundamentalist Christians to vote Republican with a wedge and magnet approach.  Up until then, fundamentalist Christians voted both Democrat and Republican.  Founding Liberty College was Falwell’s biggest legacy.

    2. Mercy is not getting what we deserve.  Grace is getting something we don’t deserve.  We are saved by grace and not by works, whether atheists, agnostics and Islamofascists believe it or not.

    Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 1044 hrs




23. Hey man, you asked for the comparison inferring that he was a conservative leader by asking for LIBERAL leader comparisons.

    I was responding to #10

    Regarding Jesse Jackson, I would strongly argue that he has been a much better influence on his followers than Falwell.  Here are some of his quotes.  Contrast them with the quotes from Falwell

    “I am not a perfect servant. I am a public servant doing my best against the odds. As I develop and serve, be patient. God is not finished with me yet.”

    “It is time for us to turn to each other, not on each other.”

    “Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow-red, yellow, brown, black and white-and we’re all precious in God’s sight.”

    “When the doors of opportunity swing open, we must make sure that we are not too drunk or too indifferent to walk through. “

    “Leadership has a harder job to do than just choose sides. It must bring sides together.”

    “The white, the Hispanic, the black, the Arab, the Jew, the woman, the Native American, the small farmer, the businessperson, the environmentalist, the peace activist, the young, the old, the lesbian, the gay and the disabled make up the American quilt.”

    Quite a contrast to Falwell’s messge.

    Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 1127 hrs




24. OH PUHLEASE!!
    If I cared enough I am positive I can come up with some great sounding lines that Falwell spouted throughout his life, just as I know Mr. Jackson has said some very offensive, to an average white guy, things in his career.  So Jesse is smart enough to have good writers and Falwell was consistent enough in his faith to not use writers. 

    Please do not take the wrong point, IN GENERAL, Jackson’s MESSAGES were very upbeat and Falwell’s were fire and brimstone.  Falwell, however misguided by his pipeline to God belief, stood by what he said as bad as it often was.  Jackson may say we are all precious yada, yada, but he will only help or speak out for you if you fit a certain pattern(read non-healthy white male) and he will only condemn you if you are a white healthy male.  The only part of the quilt with stains on it are the white parts.  That makes him no different than Falwell EXCEPT Falwell had a much smaller following to help(his brand of Christian) and a huge spectrum to criticize, and Jackson really has small spectrum to criticize, the politically correct target; white male majority.

    On another note, I guess Jackson was not such a good choice for comparison, because the lines you gave above were from campaign speeches and boy EVERY politician looks like a caring saviour if you only publish the right lines he read, er uh, I mean said. 

    Lastly this is not a condemnation of Jackson, nor a cry of support for Falwell, I just think they were more birds of a feather than politically correct followers would ever like to admit.

    Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 1201 hrs




25. I agree. I am no great fan of Jackson’s, but I do believe that his message is (slightly, nominally) more in line with the teachings of the Lord, at least as far as my imperfect understanding goes.

    Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 1235 hrs