Television evangelist Falwell dies at 73

By SUE LINDSEY, Associated Press Writer 11 minutes ago

The Rev. Jerry Falwell, the folksy, small-town preacher who used the power of television to found the Moral Majority and turn the Christian right into a mighty force in American politics during the Reagan years, died Tuesday at 73.

Falwell was found without a pulse in his office at Liberty University and pronounced dead at a hospital an hour later. Dr. Carl Moore, Falwell's physician, said he had a heart condition and presumably died of a heart rhythm abnormality.

Read the rest at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/jerry_falwell&printer=1;_ylt=An0MLpGz9fTxZQZxLtUVl5dH2ocA

Now, I feel bad when anybody dies, it doesn't matter who it is. Even someone like Falwell, who's said some reprehensible things. But I can't forgive someone for blaming America for 9/11, like Falwell did. I'm also appalled that the AP didn't mention this in the article about his death. Here is what Falwell said after 9/11:

"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.'" (http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/14/Falwell.apology/)

So Falwell blamed America for 9/11. It was horrifying to me then, and still is after his death, that someone can use one of the most horrific days in our history (if not the most horrific) as a platform for his hatred and bigotry. Shame on the AP and the rest of the news media for not mentioning this upon his death.