JERRY Falwell died aged 73 at his office a fortnight ago, and the world lost a good example of the relationship between faith and hate.

Falwell was not a fierce, cruel man. Chubby, round like a steamed bun, I imagine that he laughed a lot, was warm, and could chat intimately with people. But there is something in the society in which he lived—America in the 20th and early 21st centuries—that makes Bible-banging Christian pastors like Falwell