by Fran Eaton
Pete LaBarbera says today that the Sun Times' religion writer Cathleen Falsani needs sensitivity training after comparing Jerry Falwell to Tony Soprano.
In a column, "Sigh of Relief over Falwell's Death," she wrote today . . .
"In fact, my very first thought upon hearing of the Rev. Falwell’s passing was: Good. And I didn’t mean “good” in a oh-good-he’s-gone-home-to-be-with-the-Lord kind of way. I meant “good” as in “Ding-dong, the witch is dead.”
Pete, being the gentleman that he is, wasn't strong enough in his public display of righteous indignation on behalf of Rev. Falwell.
For her outrageous public confession of bigotry and hatred, Falsani should be fired from the Sun Times. If the Sun Times continues to give her a venue for such hate speech, they are akin to CBS allowing Imus over the air waves.
She has lost all credibility as a journalist and especially as a writer on the topic of religion.
LaBarbera's comments below the fold . . .
Chicago Sun-Times Writer Cathleen Falsani Needs Sensitivity Training after Comparing Jerry Falwell to Tony Soprano
You can write Cathleen Falsani at [email protected]; or write a letter to the Chicago Sun Times (phone: 312-321-3000) at [email protected].
In fact, my very first thought upon hearing of the Rev. Falwell’s passing was: Good. And I didn’t mean “good” in a oh-good-he’s-gone-home-to-be-with-the-Lord kind of way. I meant “good” as in “Ding-dong, the witch is dead.” – Cathleen Falsani, “Sigh of Relief over Falwell’s Death,” May 18, Chicago Sun-Times
I wrote Cathleen Falsani to say how sad it is that a religion columnist would so cruelly denounce and defame a man shortly after his death. (More of that HERE.) The Religious Left — of which one could now safely say Falsani is a member — prides itself on its compassion, but when it comes down to it, they can be quite mean and guilty of the same harshness and “hate” of which they accuse others. It reminds me of the pro-abortion-rights liberals who fancy themselves as compassionate people who look out for the downtrodden (”the little guy”) — and yet can’t face their own hypocrisy in zealously defending the “right to choose” to kill society's most helpless people: the unborn.
Sometimes Christian-identified writers and reporters go overboard in attacking Biblical traditionalists to show their media peers that they’re not a tool of the stereotypical “religious right.” Maybe that’s what happened here. Whether or not that’s the case, it's tragic that Falsani, a Wheaton College grad, has sunk to this level. This is an ugly and tacky piece of writing that exposes the hypocrisy of self-righteous liberals and the disdain of the media for traditionalist Christian leaders.
Like many in the Fourth Estate, Falsani needs sensitivity training and would surely benefit from a sabbatical at Falwell’s Liberty University. She should be removed as the Sun-Times’ religion columnist (at least she is no longer a religion reporter for the paper), but that won’t happen because most of the paper’s staff probably loved her column. Nothing like beating up on the ‘fundies,’ dead or alive, to burnish your credentials in the media. (Now, writing a fair column about a man or woman who has left homosexuality behind, through the power of the same Christ that Falsani professes to follow, that’s another story….)
Congratulations, Cathleen: you scored some more points with the Left, but you did so at the price of your own dignity, your Christian testimony, and to the detriment of your once noble profession.– Peter LaBarbera
The following is excerpted by Media Research Council’s “NewsBusters” blog, by Tim Graham (emphasis added). You can read Graham’s entire piece by clicking HERE, and Falsani’s nasty column HERE):
