Leading US conservative evangelist Rev Jerry Falwell has died in hospital in Virginia after being found unconscious in his office, his assistants said.
Doctors gave Rev Falwell emergency treatment at Lynchburg General Hospital but could not revive him.
Rev Falwell, 73, survived two serious health scares in 2005 but had a history of heart problems.
He became a figurehead of the religious right in the 1980s, founded the Moral Majority and later Liberty University.
Rev Falwell was regarded as the father of the political evangelical movement.
As one of the first television preachers, he reached millions on his programme The Old Time Gospel Hour.
Ron Godwin, executive vice president for Liberty University, said Rev Falwell was found unresponsive in his office at about 1045 local time (1535 GMT) after missing an appointment.
Mr Godwin said: "Dr Falwell is a huge, huge leader here in this area and in the nation at large."
Controversial
Rev Al Sharpton said he was deeply saddened and was praying for the Falwell family. He said although he often disagreed with the reverend, they had a cordial relationship.
The BBC's Vanessa Heaney in Washington says Rev Falwell was a controversial figure who offended many.
But his alliance with Republicans in the 1980s was a key help in the elections of Ronald Reagan as president and many political leaders have since continued to seek his support.
Among them is Senator John McCain - a Republican contender for US president - who described him as "a man of distinguished accomplishment who devoted his life to serving his faith and country".
Rev Falwell was a strong opponent of abortion, homosexuality and many other issues that conflicted with his fundamentalist Christian beliefs.
His statements on feminism and race issues often outraged liberals.
In 2002, he sparked anger across the Muslim world by calling the Prophet Muhammad a "terrorist". He later apologised.
Shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks, he said that gays, atheists, civil-rights activists and legal abortions in the US had angered God and "helped this happen".
In 1999, he denounced the BBC TV children's show The Teletubbies, because he believed one character, Tinky Winky, was homosexual.
Tinky Winky can now rest easy. but the damage is still done.
Capitalizt
Jake Benson
I was so excited to wake up and read this as the headline in the NYTimes.
Good day today eh?
ResonantDrag
quote:
Originally posted by Jake Benson
I was so excited to wake up and read this as the headline in the NYTimes.
Good day today eh?
i figure with all the people that he's condemned to hell, this is worth celebrating.
but damn, the man could get some work done.. without his political/evangelical initiatives, bush's approval rating would most likely be below 10% (provided he was in office to begin with).
DJ Shibby
Yeah, I cracked open a bottle of champaigne for this one...
The problem still remains though: his memetic legacy, and the legacy that created him like some sort of out-of-control bacteria culture, lingers on to plague us all.
EvilTree
Well, with this pump finally shutting his yap, maybe the fundies will shut up a bit.
I doubt it though. There are still enough of them out there.
ing oxygen thieves
limin_li
Is this is a punishment for WBC??? Hehe
LazFX
RIP :
I just feel so sad for the man, just like all of those muslims that kill them selves for a god...... getting there and realizing that all is silent..........
