I do not believe that Jerry falwell ever actually said, "Billy Graham is the chief servant of Satan"!
A phone call to my sister this afternoon was really just a family thing ... "How are the kids in China doing?" "Wasn't that picture of Lilia adorable?" "How's the weather in Ocean Shores?" [samo, samo for my sister's location in Maryland!]
But somewhere along the way, I mentioned something about Jerry Falwell's having once made the remark that "Billy Graham is the chief servant of Satan" or something along those lines. My sister asked what THAT was supposed to mean, and further, whether I was even possibly misquoting the Rev. Jerry Falwell.
Well, if I were a betting man and could answer her at this moment, I would say that that particular quote was born of some serious maliciousness that started God-knows-where.
For starters, I might add a quote right here from Billy Graham himself given out just after the announcement of Jerry Falwell's death during this past week:
Admittedly, Mr. Falwell said a number of things over the years that got both himself and his organization into deep kim-chee with just about every left-wing or minority group in America. He was a veritable quotation machine -- and yes, some of them were doozies. But when trying to search down a legitimate source for the now-famous "Billy Graham is a chief servant of Satan" quotation, the best I could come up with was/were several references to "People Magazine 2003" [not even an issue number or month] The quote has been floating about for years, it seems, but in all that time, no one has pinned it down to a legitimate verifiable source.
Many stated that the source was "unattributable" and/or "unknown source."
Yes indeed, the quote has been repeated again and again for many years and everyone seems to believe he said or wrote it, but did he? The Internet is a monster of our own creation that is capable of "creating" truth from untruth--and from the imagination of just about anyone, it seems.
For the record, between Google (my search engine of choice), Yahoo and Dog Pile, the number of hits with the quotation itself (along with Falwell's and Graham's last names) recorded between 90,218 and 117,399 hits. Admittedly, I didn't look at all of them, or even a high percentage of them, but I was unable to find a single direct first-person source in the batch.
Interestingly, I didn't find a single retraction or denial either, but then the dead can't speak out, can they?
But somewhere along the way, I mentioned something about Jerry Falwell's having once made the remark that "Billy Graham is the chief servant of Satan" or something along those lines. My sister asked what THAT was supposed to mean, and further, whether I was even possibly misquoting the Rev. Jerry Falwell.
Well, if I were a betting man and could answer her at this moment, I would say that that particular quote was born of some serious maliciousness that started God-knows-where.
For starters, I might add a quote right here from Billy Graham himself given out just after the announcement of Jerry Falwell's death during this past week:
[begin quote]"Jerry Falwell was a close personal friend for many years. We did not always agree on everything, but I knew him to be a man of God. His accomplishments went beyond most clergy of his generation. Some of my grandchildren have attended, and are attending, Liberty University. He leaves a gigantic vacuum in the evangelical world.
I am praying for his family, and especially the university that he headed." [end quote]
Admittedly, Mr. Falwell said a number of things over the years that got both himself and his organization into deep kim-chee with just about every left-wing or minority group in America. He was a veritable quotation machine -- and yes, some of them were doozies. But when trying to search down a legitimate source for the now-famous "Billy Graham is a chief servant of Satan" quotation, the best I could come up with was/were several references to "People Magazine 2003" [not even an issue number or month] The quote has been floating about for years, it seems, but in all that time, no one has pinned it down to a legitimate verifiable source.
Many stated that the source was "unattributable" and/or "unknown source."
Yes indeed, the quote has been repeated again and again for many years and everyone seems to believe he said or wrote it, but did he? The Internet is a monster of our own creation that is capable of "creating" truth from untruth--and from the imagination of just about anyone, it seems.
For the record, between Google (my search engine of choice), Yahoo and Dog Pile, the number of hits with the quotation itself (along with Falwell's and Graham's last names) recorded between 90,218 and 117,399 hits. Admittedly, I didn't look at all of them, or even a high percentage of them, but I was unable to find a single direct first-person source in the batch.
Interestingly, I didn't find a single retraction or denial either, but then the dead can't speak out, can they?
posted by Dr. Joe @ 5:21 PM
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