An Honest Reaction to Falwell's Death

Posted from Street Prophets:

Tyranny is truly successful when the oppressors so warp the oppressed that the latter does the former's work for them. Internalized homophobia is a prime example, and in the end is nothing more than induced self-hatred.

Mr. Falwell heaped abuse upon GLBT folk, going so far as to blame us for 9/11. There are may queer folk still so convinced of their own worthlessness that at some level, they believe this heinous lie and all the others, too, that we're abominable in God's eyes.

Healing from abuse and its consequent self-hatred begins with the excruciatingly painful awareness that yes, the abuse was / is REAL, and that one does indeed hate oneself. The next step is raging fury - ugly, but necessary - at the abuser(s) who well deserve it.

So there are many today who are gleeful that Falwell is dead; I am one of them. It's a shocking thing to behold, but required for healing. The trick to moving past this hatred is to know in one's heart that there is yet more growth, and that peace / release from pain can indeed be won.

So rather than vilifying those of us who dance on Falwell's grave as part of the cost of healing from wounds he helped inflict, please consider praying for us instead, that we might step deeper into grace and finally into forgiveness, of ourselves, and ultimately of Jerry.

I personally appreciate the raw honesty expressed here and will gladly honor the request to pray for grace and forgiveness. I'm sure there are a lot of people who had similar reactions to Falwell's passing, and hopefully this piece can encourage them to look deep inside and start dealing with the pain that lies directly below it.