# Good Press for Jerry Falwell??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 25, 1999, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-press-for-jerry-falwell/10025 "1999-10-25T18:58:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SterlingNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@SterlingNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SterlingNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 1999, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-press-for-jerry-falwell/10025/1 "1999-10-25T18:58:00Z")
\Good Press for Jerry Falwell???\ \\The Washington Post:\\LYNCHBURG, Va., Oct. 23—Conservative evangelist Jerry Falwell today apologized to an audience of 200 gays and lesbians “for not always loving homosexuals” but made clear in later remarks that his new initiative to build a bridge of friendship to the gay community is still in line with his fundamentalist Christian beliefs. “My ultimate goal, I’ll make no bones about it, is to bring them out of the lifestyle and to the Lord,” Falwell told reporters following his afternoon meeting with a group led by his former ghostwriter turn gay activist, the Rev. Mel White. … Ignoring the shouts of about 40 anti-gay Baptists who demonstrated outside, some holding such signs as “Jerry And A Fairy Equal Sin,” members of Falwell’s Thomas Road Baptist Church and White’s gay rights organization, Soulforce, mingled at tables set up on the basketball court of Lynchburg Christian Academy. [/quote] Jerry may be finally growing up and mellowing out. [Mutual Apology for Hateful Speech](http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-10/24/241l-102499-idx.html) * * * That isn’t journalism. It’s ping-pong. _—Bob Levey, Washington Post columnist_ ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 1999, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-press-for-jerry-falwell/10025/2 "1999-10-25T19:24:00Z")
I can’t help but remain suspicious. It’s hard to believe someone is able to change stances that quickly and completely. The fact that some of his followers protested the meeting, however, tells me that any extra faith this news might give me in humanity is mitigated. * * * Yer pal, Satan ---
**Author:** ![SterlingNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@SterlingNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SterlingNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 1999, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-press-for-jerry-falwell/10025/3 "1999-10-25T19:29:00Z")
Nah, homosexuality is still evil in Gary’s eyes. He just promised that he will approach gays as humans. Tone down the hate literature. * * * No racoons were harmed in the making of this post. ---
**Author:** ![SterlingNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@SterlingNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SterlingNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 1999, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-press-for-jerry-falwell/10025/4 "1999-10-25T19:35:00Z")
And when I say Gary, I mean Jerry. . . ::hits head on table:: > [@](#): > > The meeting, said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, is “an absolute win-win situation” for Falwell. “He can tell supporters, ‘I’ve just presented the gospel to sinners,’ and for the [wider] public, it helps him look open-minded.” > […] > But Lynn and other longtime Falwell watchers remain wary. “I don’t think this will change any rhetoric in his fund-raising literature,” he said. That is from an article earlier that week. [A Dialogue in Lynchburg](http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-10/22/058l-102299-idx.html) * * * No racoons were harmed in the making of this post. ---
**Author:** ![SqrlCub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SqrlCub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SqrlCub)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 1999, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-press-for-jerry-falwell/10025/5 "1999-10-25T19:54:00Z")
I saw that several days ago. Many of my friends commented upon it. The general consensus was that it was about time that he started squinting rather than his usual eyes closed methodology of the world. I do have to admit that a couple of my “friends” said that he couldn’t wait for Falwell and Phelps to die. While I personally can’t stand them, I figure having them realize that spreading hate is completely wrong. It was not right when (I hate this analogy) Hitler tried to exterminate all the Jews, gays, and gypsies. It is not right now. I applaud him for at least having the decency of finally meeting with gays. Now if we can get Phelps to do the same. The only scary part is that someone will probably pop in to take their place as soon as they become more open to homosexuality. HUGS! Sqrl * * * Move over Satan. 😉 Now there’s something meatier. [http://smallwonder.simplenet.com/COC.html](http://smallwonder.simplenet.com/COC.html) ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 1999, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-press-for-jerry-falwell/10025/6 "1999-10-25T20:15:00Z")
Hugs and kisses for Falwell! I do hope he is sincere. Too many people have forgotten the “Love the sinner” thang which is supposed to follow “Hate the sin”. (Not that I’m really convinced that homosexuality _is_ condemned in the Bible, but I’m far from a Biblical scholar.) I don’t expect him to accept “gay lifestyles”, whatever those are, any time soon, but if this means one less homosexual gets bashed, it will be a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 1999, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-press-for-jerry-falwell/10025/7 "1999-10-26T02:46:00Z")
You know, Strom Thurmond has really changed: [Casual One-Nighter Gives Strom Thurmond Change Of Heart On Gay Issue](http://www.theonion.com/onion3112/stromchange.html) (Thanks to _ **The Onion** _) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 1999, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-press-for-jerry-falwell/10025/8 "1999-10-26T04:26:00Z")
Jerry Falwell was talking to God one night and asked him, “Lord, I’d like to know how much longer I will be on this Earth, so I can make plans. I know you can’t reveal to me the specific date, but can you give me a hint?” God replied, “All I can tell you, Jerry, is that you’re going to die on a gay holiday.” Falwell said, “But Lord, there aren’t any gay holidays.” God answered, “There’ll be one the day you die.” ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 1999, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-press-for-jerry-falwell/10025/9 "1999-10-26T13:38:00Z")
Also,Jerry just bought one of those “new-fangled” microwave thingies! ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 1999, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-press-for-jerry-falwell/10025/10 "1999-10-26T19:13:00Z")
I was thinking of another story in The Onion, but I couldn’t find it in the archives: “Pat Buchanan Woos Gay Vote–‘I Promise I Will Not Incinerate You’” Dr. J ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 1999, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-press-for-jerry-falwell/10025/11 "1999-10-26T23:49:00Z")
My favorite Buchanon remark was by Mollie Ivins (if I recall correctly) when she said, “I wasn’t that impressed by his speech at the convention, but it probably sounded better in the original German.” ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 1999, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-press-for-jerry-falwell/10025/12 "1999-10-28T03:49:00Z")
Mike, that’s close. The actual quote was: “Many people did not care for Pat Buchanan’s speech; it probably sounded better in the original German.” ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 1999, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-press-for-jerry-falwell/10025/13 "1999-10-28T03:51:00Z")
Oops. That’s from Molly Ivins’s column in _The Nation_, September 14 '92 issue.