Falwell continues to play the fool, media the
messenger
Don't you think that Jerry Falwell is a nosy, sour, crabby
old goober who ought to be isolated in his fundamentalist cave
and left for at least a decade without publicity or attention
of any kind? I say this because it seems that nearly every month, Falwell
and his troops in Virginia say something so stupid and out of
touch with the real world that it makes all of us shake our heads
and laugh. However, the media seem to get a big kick out of giving
Falwell precious attention and therefore an enhanced image across
the nation. In February, Falwell warned the world that Tinky Winky, one
of four fictional characters on the children's television show
"Teletubbies," was a gay role model that parents ought
to avoid buying for their kids. Falwell based his claim on this
evidence: Tinky Winky is purple and carries a bag that might be
called a purse. After the "Teletubbies" revelation hit newspapers
and television shows, Falwell appeared publicly and said he knew
nothing about Tinky Winky, that this was an issue the editor of
his newspaper had raised and he sort of laughed about the entire
episode. But of course, Falwell had already made his point and
no amount of righteous defense of Tinky Winky could have saved
the poor little creature. Now Falwell and his warriors in Lynchburg, Va., are attacking
Lilith Fair, a high-powered concert tour that drew 800,000 people
last year in locations across the United States. The concerts,
which were designed to showcase women artists, feature such luminaries
as Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Dixie Chicks and Queen Latifah. Falwell's charges insinuate that lesbians attend the concerts
and that most of the women are libertines and certainly irresponsible.
He also claims that the concert will produce even more women who
cannot accept their share of family duties. Falwell, of course,
offers no proof that these things will happen, nor does he promise
to produce such evidence. It seems that it is enough for Falwell to simply voice his
accusations. Then, the media complete the task by publishing his
stupid pronouncements all across the country. Of course, I understand that some editors published these Falwellian
reports because they are comedic, giving some readers a good laugh.
In fact, when I read the item, I smiled and shook my head. Falwell
is so far from my world, so completely foreign to my way of life,
that he has become a comedy act in my mind. In this case, Falwell stands on such sinking sand that he actually
turns to mythology to try to prove his point. He claims, with
some accuracy, that the Lilith character and legend come from
Jewish literature. Falwell says Lilith was Adam's first wife and
that she had problems being submissive and obedient. So, she ran
away and got involved with some male demons and bore their children.
Her kids were such terrible demons that she set about murdering
them. I called a local rabbi, who said the character of Lilith can
be found in the Midrash, a collection of very early rabbinical
commentaries on the scriptures. One should note that the Midrash
is not consecrated scripture, but rather the interpretation by
rabbis of the great stories that come out of Jewish literature. My dictionary says Lilith is: a female demon or vampire that
lives in desolate places; the first wife of Adam, before the creation
of Eve; and a night witch that menaces infants. This possibly accounts for the fact that not many female infants
are named Lilith in our present world. In a Falwellian world,
fundamentalist Christians would completely dispense with the name
because it has been connected to such evil endeavors. But that isn't the point. My concern is that Jerry Falwell
gets way too much publicity from these ridiculous stunts. Suddenly,
newspapers have become his best and cheapest publicity tool.
Clark D. Morphew
Posted For July 10, 1999