Falwell

So Jerry Falwell died, you probably heard. Three days ago. I'm a daily BoingBoing reader, and the ersatz theologians there and elsewhere on the intertubes have cacklingly committed him to hell.

But here's the fantastically redemptive thing about Christianity: even dicks get to go to heaven.

From what I read in the Bible, it's not my call, or my calling, to figure out who gets the eternal brass ring. I do know that murderers, liars, and thieves can all get the nod. Why shouldn't overbearing, unctuous, self-righteous hypocrites? Granted, it might even be harder for them, because it's the repentant who get the Goods. But that doesn't mean it's impossible.

I don't know about Jerry Falwell's spiritual fate. I fear the number of metaphorical millstones he hitched around frightened people's necks. I watched him do more harm than good, to my friends and to my religion.

But we all get slack if we ask for it. We don't have any way to know whether Falwell genuinely asked for slack from Jesus. But if he did, he's got it now.

That means there's hope for lower-order self-righteous hypocrites like you and me and the BoingBoing bloggers.