Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Falwell's Double Standard

Jerry Falwell recently visited our (sometimes) fair state. From his interview in The Winchester Sun:

Patrick: One of the social conservative issues that has gotten a lot of attention this week is homosexuality, because Dr. (Albert) Mohler at the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville has said that Christians should accept that there probably is a biological basis for homosexuality.

Falwell: That's what the article said, but today, if you go to his Web site, he denies all of that.

Patrick: What is your thought on that?

Falwell: I don't think anybody is born a bank robber or an adulterer or a homosexual or you name it. I think we are all born sinners in need of a new birth experience, but I think our behavior is all a matter of choice.

Patrick: There's a lot of science recently that contradicts. (Here Falwell interrupted the question.)

Falwell: Half of those are gay scientists. It's hogwash. I believe that when you're born, you have a clean slate, but you have a fallen nature because of Adam and Eve. Everyone needs to be born again, to come to know Christ personally.

Isn't it nice to be put in the same category as bank robbers? I get really tired of all the implications fundamentalists make about the character of gays, and not just our sexual habits. That, though, could be an entire separate post.

Falwell's finger pointing, however, did not extend to Newt Gingrich:
Patrick: Do you think Gingrich should run for president after his recent revelations to you (about his marital infidelity at the same time he was leading the charge against Clinton over having an affair in the White House)?

Falwell: I think that Newt Gingrich is, without question, the brightest politician in America today. He has forgotten more than most of them know. He is speaking to our commencement exercise in May at Liberty University. John McCain spoke last year. We have not endorsed anyone. But my opinion is that if Newt Gingrich announces, he will immediately be among the top runners.
He sidesteps the question about Gingrich completely, which I find ironic since he'd just likened gay people to adulterers, like Gingrich. Hypocrisy and sexual sins don't seem to be so bad when they're done by your people instead of those people.

The saddest part is that no one in Falwell's camp, nor any of his supporters, is likely to call him on this obvious double standard. This is why I think fundamentalist leaders are more interested in playing 'gotcha', 'mine's better than yours', and getting to treat others badly than in actually doing anything to help people or 'the family', their most cherished words. I think I know who is really demonstrating flawed character here.

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