Open Letter to Jerry Falwell
09.17.01

Rev. Falwell,

How dare you?

How dare you lay blame on Americans for the actions of the terrorists who attacked the US? On the television show "The 700 Club" you said:

quote:

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"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.'"

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How dare you attempt to distance yourself from the millions of Americans you described by saying that those groups "have created an environment which possibly has caused God to lift the veil of protection which has allowed no one to attack America on our soil since 1812." When a group of Muslims attack America, in part because this country was founded by, and is run by, Christians... how dare you try to blame every group other than Christians?

First you insult and assault every member of the groups you named, and all those who support them, by laying blame of a national tragedy on their beliefs. And in the same action, you go against every teaching of love Jesus Christ taught to his followers, and insult every follower whose true desire is to live a Christ-like life. What Would Jesus Do? Jesus would not judge his brothers and sisters, condemn them, blame them for the loss of innocent lives which they had NO involvement in.

In the Bible, John 8:15, Jesus said "You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one." Yet time and time again, you see yourself fit to pass judgment on anyone who does not believe or act as you do, in the name of Christ. You stand up as a leader of an entire community, and go against the most basic tenet of the founder of that community. In doing so, you set a most heinous example for your followers and show the world the hypocrisy of their leader.

How dare you attempt to save face with those groups afterwards with a paper-thin apology of "I would never blame any human being except the terrorists, and if I left that impression with gays or lesbians or anyone else, I apologize."? Do you truly believe that the rest of the nation, Christians and non-Christians alike, should have understood anything other than your laying blame? You made yourself very clear.

You managed to again insult every member of those groups, as well as the intelligence of every American, with an obviously shallow and completely fallacious "apology". And once again, in the same action, debase your faith with a simple lie. As you do, time and time again, you claimed out-of-context distortions of your speech. Simply you lied to cover your true feelings which you have consistently displayed in an attempt to save face with your critics. In reality however, you only lose more and more credibility.

How dare you?

Your use of your pulpit to attack and judge your American brothers and sisters in the name of Christianity is no different then those who use force to terrorize and kill in the name of Islam. While you may not kill those who do not believe as you do, you do attempt to take their lives away from them in the name of a faith which teaches to love and respect them.

How dare you?

I have read your explanation of your comments, posted today on your ministries' website. I was somewhat comforted by what seemed to be a more heartfelt apology. However, that comfort was erased by what you consider to be your mistake in saying what you did, when you did:

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"My mistake on the "700 Club" was doing this at the time I did it, on television, where a secular media and audience were also listening."

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It seems that you share the lament of most criminals in that you're not sorry for the crime, but that you got caught. Your mistake was not wrongly judging and laying blame on those groups, your mistake was doing so in front of people other than your followers.

How dare you continue on, believing you are better than those you named?

You and your followers in Christ are no different than those groups you attacked in the amount of blame you share for this devastating event, which is none.

You and the terrorists, however, are quite the same in the amount in which you disgust me.

Very Sincerely,

S.M. Lein