> Hmmmm. While I may not agree with anything he did, I don't find it > necessary to stoop to his level of judgment by putting him down. I'm no > better than he is by trashing the opposing side.....
The problem is that this is the kind of thinking that allows the
religious right to roll over us; we think (know) that we’re
better than they are because of our tolerance, but they just
use that wonderful quality against us.
We support their right to free speech for excellent reasons,
but that shouldn’t mean we support their right to hate others,
or to coerce others into following ways of life that destroy
the lives of people we love.
The time has long since come that we should stand up for
ourselves and speak our minds with equal force. We don’t
risk becoming just like them, because our actions speak
loud and clear: we are right, they are wrong, and history
will tell the story from our side- but only if we win.
People talk about how the 1950s and 60s were “the civil
rights era”. There should not be such an era. All times
are the right time for people to stand up for and expand
the right of people to live freely.
Falwell tried with the last breath in his body to take away
the rights of people I love and cherish, and I don’t think
it’s right that I should just shut up and say he was a
great man now that he’s dead. I despised him in life, and
I despise him in death, not because of his beliefs- which
were his inalienable right- but because of his disregard
for the freedoms of others to believe what they choose,
and to live their lives the way that they feel appropriate.
To lose sight of that is unthinkable.