So Jerry Falwell is dead. It's really hard to talk about. Do we say what we're all thinking? That's it's not such a very big loss? That we're sort of relieved? I wonder how brave people will be. Will Christians stand up and say this man didn't speak for us? He harmed us more than helped? Or will we follow the usual pattern lately of conferring near-sainthood on everyone who dies, no matter what they were up to in life?
My friend called to tell me and said, "I wonder where he is." Well, I said, you know where I think he is, even if you don't like it. But she said she didn't believe in hell, but didn't want him to be in heaven. And I said that I think he is with God, because I believe everyone goes to God, but that doesn't mean he's enjoying himself or very happy about being there - being in God's presence or seeing who's surrounding him. I think, more and more, that purgatory is just getting used to being near the incredible, unbelievable, shameless & offensive love of God.
But I think I heard it said best as:
"Jerry Falwell has gone home to be with Jesus, and we're all happy about that.
And now he can't fuck up the church anymore, and we're also happy about that."
Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer. —Rainer Maria Rilke
About Me
- Stasi
- I am currently staying at home and taking care of my children (born 6/08 and 7/10). In my little free time, I teach and write liturgy. My work is currently available through the clayfire project (sparkhouse publishing, a division of Augsburg). I teach for Fuller Seminary online. I am also very interested in the spirituality of food and how faith impacts the choices people make around eating. I am writing articles and perhaps one day a book on this topic.
Blog Archive
-
▼
2007
(182)
-
▼
May
(23)
- Followup on Ordination Craziness
- One more thing
- Contextualizing
- Ordination Craziness
- Provocative, risky, possibly wrong
- Why the hell couldn't Peter have flown his damn se...
- Ed Bacon's gonna save us from ourselves!
- We and the Father are One
- J'aime "Paris, Je T'aime!"
- Herr Prof Barth was a drunken fart
- More on that grade
- Major bummer
- Passage
- New Quotes
- When life hands you lemons, make a hurricane
- When it rains...
- Trust Issues
- New Steve Carell Movie
- Cool classes
- A word from New Orleans
- SOOOOOOOOO Excited!!!
- GTU??
- Buh bye, Friedrich
-
▼
May
(23)
Cool Blogs and Sites
- bad christian
- barry taylor
- bartholomew's notes on religion
- beliefnet
- bishop's commission on glbt ministry in la
- bitch phd
- blog of daniel
- christianity today
- church gal
- church of the masses
- daily kos
- daily office prayers
- dallas willard
- debunking christianity
- diana butler bass
- disciples from the left
- emerging minister
- episcopal cafe
- episcosours
- ex-gay watch
- father jake
- frank's wild lunch
- get religion
- grist
- hugo
- i was asked
- jesus politics
- killing the buddha
- landonville
- lark news
- Liturgy resources
- locust years
- lofi tribe
- looking closer
- luther at the movies
- maggi dawn
- metacentricities
- public quaker
- ralph the sacred river
- sarah laughed
- scott blasco
- screed
- shawna renee
- ship of fools
- straight not narrow
- Take a bite out of climate change
- the beatitudes society
- the ethicurian
- the gay deacon
- the holy observer
- the jew and the carrot
- the revealer
- the ultimate food timeline
- the velveteen rabbi
- the way of food
- three beautiful things
- thunderstruck
- u2 sermons
- video ut intellectum
- wheaton college glbt alumni/students support
- where he leads
- world religions
|
|
7 comments:
Wow, the church is certainly in good hands with people like your husband.
The lack of respect for this man's family -- from followers of Jesus no less -- is astonishing.
Well said, Feminarian. I've linked to your post:
http://subversivechristianity.blogspot.com/2007/05/may-light-perpetual-shine-on-him.html
Luckily the church won't be in my husband's hands at all. He's just a spouse, not a clergy.
I think his family IS happy that he's with Jesus. I mean that part quite seriously. And he really did a heck of a lot of damage to Christians and the Christian church. So the removal of that is a good thing - we can all start healing now. I mean, how concerned were people for Saddam Hussein's family when he was killed? Or most people on death row? And just because Falwell spewed hatred in Jesus name doesn't mean that it wasn't hatred. And was not representative of Jesus.
Besides, I consider him my brother - part of my family. So don't be astonished at my "lack of concern." I am concerned for those members of the family who were deeply hurt by him. Families have to be honest with one another. If we're not, we let abuse continue through generations. And that's what he did - abuse the family of God.
So think I'm a jerk if you want, but I'm not going to pretend that huge amounts of hurt weren't perpetrated by this man, and that I'm not relieved it's over.
also, go read the deacon's comments - they're very well said and I completely agree, about broken humanness. thanks be to god that falwell is now where he can be made whole.
By the way, I didn't mean to say Falwell was the same as Hussein or a death row inmate. I'm just interested that we get all concerned about the families of some people and not others. Death is death, no matter what a person has done. And it always hurts families. We leave the deceased in God's hands, and we take care of the families.
Your treatment of this was, in my estimation, graceful. I made my attempt as well (http://stantonworks.blogspot.com). It will be interesting to see what history does with Falwell -- and we'll just to wait and see.
Post a Comment