Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Jerry Falwell RIP

Jerry Falwell died this morning. My condolences to his family and friends. My congratulations to America. Jerry Falwell embodied too much of what is wrong with America. He was intolerant of dissent, resistent to enlightened change, and based on my experiences watching him occasionally on political debate shows, a grand dissembler who rarely dealt objectively with issues brought before him.

Jerry Falwell is now part of our past. This is appropriate, because in many ways he lived in the past. America no longer has that luxury. If history teaches us anything, social norms and ethics must, and do, change over time, even among the religious. With the world changing ever-faster, we can afford even less to be caught standing still, and that is what Falwell was all about.

I once read that progress is made, not through enlightened changes of opinion, but because those holding the outdated view die. Consequently, America took a giant step forward today.

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