(Fwd) Fallwell's comments forwarded

Hi all,

Well, my role these days seems to be forwarding messages from my 
campus BB to this liserve and vice versa! I just forwarded the Deepak 
Chopra piece to them, and it crossed in the email with this, which is 
very different. Another of our faculty members forwarded this 
information to our listserve.

I am  trying to "cross pollinate" writings that I believe will assist in 
critical reflection and self-reflection about the 9/11 events.  The 
comments below may be a bit extreme for some, but I think that they 
raise some issues that might (or might not) emerge, in muted form, as 
subtexts in more mainstream national discourses. And we need to be 
aware and vigilant if they do, in my opinion.

Anyway, here are the comments, use them if they're useful.

Best,
Michelle


------- Forwarded message follows -------
Subject:                Fallwell's comments forwarded
Date sent:              Fri, 14 Sep 2001 07:22:54 -0700

I received this if it is of interest

Tom Provenzano
CSUSB, Theatre Arts

tompro@csusb.edu

> I think of Jerry Falwell as one of  Virginia's biggest
> embarrassments.  In my opinion, this man does not
> represent any good qualities that I associate with the
> Christian religion.
> 
> Below, please see the transcript of his comments, made earlier
> today.  Following that is the text of a press release from the
> National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.  I urge you to share
> his remarks with as many people as possible, and the NGLTF
> statement if you are comfortable doing that.  This man is trying to
> turn our national tragedy into a TV sound bite to further his own
> bigoted views.  I sincerely believe that he has finally gone too
> far.
> 
> A transcript of Mr. Falwell's remarks follows:
> 
> "The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this.  And, I know that
> I'll hear from them for this.  But, throwing God or successfully
> with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the
> public square, out of the schools.  The abortionists have got to
> bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked.  And when
> we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad.  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'."
> 
> -- Jerry Falwell, The 700 Club, 9/13/01
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> 
> Sept. 13, 2001 - National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive
> Director Lorri L. Jean issued the following statement today in
> response to Jerry Falwell's assertion that "gays and lesbians,"
> among others, are to blame for the tragedies in New York City and
> Washington, D.C.:
> 
> "The terrible tragedy that has befallen our nation, and indeed the
> entire global community, is the sad byproduct of fanaticism. It has
> its roots in the same fanaticism that enables people like Jerry
> Falwell to preach hate against those who do not think, live, or love
> in the exact same way he does.
> 
> "The tragedies that have occurred this week did not occur because
> someone made God mad, as Mr. Falwell asserts. They occurred because
> of hate, pure and simple. It is time to move beyond a place of hate
> and to a place of healing. We hope that Mr. Falwell will apologize
> to the U.S. and world communities.
> 
> "Our hearts go out to the victims of this week's tragedies and their
> friends and family members. We are thankful to the police officers,
> firefighters, paramedics and other emergency personnel who are
> working tirelessly to lead the relief efforts." 
> 
> 


------- End of forwarded message -------
*****************************
Michelle Golden, Ph.D.
Director of Service-Learning

Community-University Partnerships, TO-43
California State University, San Bernardino
5500 University Parkway
San Bernardino, CA 92407
direct line: 909-880-7642
email: golden@csusb.edu
fax: 909-880-7391