I just Came back from a Funeral, and the Pastor brought up SARAH PALIN

[TexasLady]

I am just disgusted. My now deceased ex mom in law wasn't even real political. Nor was she that religious. This moron, who just -kind of- knew my ex father in law back when he was young, and has also passed, mentions Sarah Palin?!?!?! Mumbled something about how THEY say she's white trash, and wow that must have meant we were REALLY white trash growin' up back on the 'hill', then he chuckles. :puke: WTF?????

What in the hell was this idiot doing bringing up my kids' grandma alongside THAT woman's name? She wasn't a church goer, and voted quietly. oh, and SHE WAS A DEM.
I am still in a state of disbelief. Fuckin moron.

[gateley]

1. Wow. nt

[ingac70]

2. I woulda cussed him out. n/t

[TexasLady]

5. After the service, it was graveside, I walked past him

stared him down and shook my head. It was neither the time nor the place, and he's an old Baptist preachin FOOL.

[codjh9]

31. I understand... sure would've been nice if you'd nuked him, though.

[mitchum]

43. I think "old Baptist preaching fool" is redundant

my condolences for your loss

[codjh9]

44. Ha ha - ain't that the truth! Yes, my condolences for her loss as well.

[TexasLady]

49. lol and thank you

[Joanne98]

3. Outrageous!

[YOY]

4. I would have stood up in the sermon and asked why he was saying this

and mentioned that this is incredibly disrespectful to the deceased.

[SoonerPride]

6. You should write a polite letter telling him to go to hell.

Seriously

[XemaSab]

7. Sorry the pastor was so tacky.

:(

[President Decider]

8. Listen, you really need to pull him aside and have a one-on-one come to Jesus "no pun intended"

Tell him that was totally uncalled for and that you were actually offended that he would inject politics into something so personal to you ...

[TexasLady]

14. Im the ex daughter in law, and my ma in law and I

weren't really that close. HE was the idiot that looked bad. GRR Im just disgusted.

[SoonerPride]

15. Write a letter. It will make you feel better.

A pointed, firm, and tactful letter really works.

Even if it doesn't change the recipients behavior, it will make you feel better.

[Arkansas Granny]

19. Good advice. It might also make him think twice before he pulls a stunt like that again.

A funeral is certainly not the place to inject a political statement.

[eshfemme]

9. That's just fucking low.

For that pastor to take the time when people are GRIEVING to do some political prosetylizing. Yeah, that's taking advantage of someone in their grief and is almost like trying to brainwash people.

Just ugh.

[aquamarina]

10. You should call him or the leader at his parish and complain

Tell him how innapropriate it was to bring up politics at your ex mom in law's funeral. Unless we start speaking up, they will continue to think it's okay to do this.

[LynneSin]

11. Turn him in for Tax Code violations

Or at least withhold any payments you might owe for the services.

[blondeatlast]

12. That's pretty vile. Wow. Bad enough at a Sunday service, but at a FUNERAL?

Good thing it wasn't my family or the pastor might have needed last rites for himself. Wow.

[faithfulcitizen]

13. Wow, and she was a Dem...how disrespectful.

[TexasLady]

16. She and I were/are. Her kids are all McCain Palin lovers.

I was outnumbered. 90 to 1.

[faithfulcitizen]

26. I'm sorry. That's disgraceful. I don't care what political party one belongs to,

people (especially pastors) should show deference to the deceased. And if he did not know her political leanings, he should have kept his mouth shut.

[4_Legs_Good]

17. I HATE when this kinda thing happens

It makes me sick.

Sorry you had to go through it, and very sorry for your loss!

David

[rsmith6621]

18. Who is Sarah Palin???????

..........WHO!!!!

[samuraiguppy]

20. how distasteful

[Captiosus]

21. Things like this are precisely why

I do not agree with the idea of allowing religious institutions to talk politics and retain their tax exempt status. I know that was a topic of some discussion earlier in the year, at least in the MSM.

I'm sorry but I hold separate of church and state as sacrosanct.

Pastors of an active parish should not be using their religious pulpit to officially endorse a candidate or host political discussion for or against either party. Politics have no place in discussing the passing of someone, or the baptism of someone, or a weekly sermon discussing the gospel.

[DefenseLawyer]

22. I have seen that kind of thing happen quite a bit.

usually it isn't political, more religious, where some fire and brimstone guy gets up and preaches at a service for someone that was an atheist or just not religious. You just roll your eyes and say "Oh he would have loved that."

[chill_wind]

23. How big is the town? You might write an Op ed in the local paper

about the political opportunism and embarrass him in front of his local flock a little.

Or perhaps contact someone in his governing church body's higher-ups. Pastors have bosses, too.

[TexasLady]

24. Love this idea

I can keep it anonymous, and still use the events to make my point.

[ShortnFiery]

25. Best wishes for your future efforts TexasLady.

Just when I think that the right wingers could not behave any more "inappropriate" ... you convey this horrid opportunistic event.

Thank you for conveying another tidbit of evidence that nothing is below some people. For shame? Indeed. :(

[blogslut]

45. I second this idea

A Letter to the Editor.

Of course, in my town, we have to give our name and the city where we live or the paper won't print the letter. They also call to confirm. However, unless the letter is full of hate language or just plain crazy, that paper always prints LTEs.

[TexasLady]

50. crap. I think it's the same in ours.

And I would run the risk of hurting further her family members. Perhaps just writing him a personal letter would be best, though I doubt it would do one iota of good. Im in red Texas, don't forget. Me and my two voting aged kids are about all the blue there is in the family.

[blogslut]

51. I hear ya

I'm in the Panhandle. Four years ago, Democrats around here spoke in whispers. But this year, at the caucus, we were busting out the seams. Just the same, I still feel I have to be careful what I say in public. These people have guns, ya know. :hi:

[marshall]

27. People can be buried without a preacher, esp if they aren't religoius

I don't think anyone should feel like they have to have a preacher mumble a few platitudes over the coffin. Now might be a good time for everyone to make a notation in their will about how they want their funeral arrangements handled so that such a fiasco will not reoccur.

[TexasLady]

29. You know, I had that very discussion with my children

They are mostly grown, and I made certain that they knew how I felt about 'my time' when it comes.

[krabigirl]

38. Yep. I've added that to my will. I don't want a religious service for my funeral.

I know I'll be dead and it won't matter, but I won't have some preacher pontificating about crap I never believed in. Ugh.

[mitchum]

46. I have already made clear that there will be no pulpit-dwelling grifter muttering over my bones

[zulchzulu]

28. Write a letter to the local bishop

That was uncalled for... not that anything will happen, but that's just disgusting.

Sorry you had to deal with that...

[GoddessOfGuinness]

30. Why is he bringing up white trash at her funeral?

Seems horrifically disrespctful to me. I'm sorry for your loss. :hug:

[TexasLady]

40. I think that is what floored me even more than the political

crap. Gee, asshole, thanks for lumping my family into yours with that speech. Yeah, they were poor, so damn what. Idiot.

[Beregond2]

32. Donate money to the Obama campaign in his name.

[Neecy]

33. I hear you

At my sister's wake in April 2005, a group of family 'friends', all Republicans, used the occasion to stand in a group and loudly condemn and mock Bill Clinton for the better part of her wake.

I was in a complete daze that night - she had died young and unexpectedly - and all I thought about was when, right after the 2004 election, she showed me the blue Hope bracelet she'd bought to protest Bush's reelection. She loved it. It was on her wrist at the wake and this is what this group chose to jump on - and provoked their long diatribe against Clinton. I've never seen such disgusting behavior by a group of so-called "Christians" in my life, disrupting someone's wake because they didn't agree with the political views of the deceased.

I'll never understand the right-wing mindset. I'm sorry this happened to you as well. It seems they look for the most painful, vulnerable moments to strike.

[renate]

36. I thought what happened at the OP's ex-MIL's funeral was bad, but

:wow:

To talk politics at a time like that is tacky and hurtful enough unless she had been an activist and they were agreeing with her, talking about how hard she worked for a cause, etc--but to talk about politics that opposed hers, and probably opposed those of the family and closest friends... that is beyond twisted. There just aren't words. I'm so sorry... to be grieving for an unexpected loss is hard enough, but to hear her being disrespected at her own wake... unimaginable. I just don't understand people sometimes.

[Neecy]

39. it was horrible

My mother and older sister are both Democrats, and I spent most of the night trying to steer them away from the GOP trash-talkers because I didn't want them more upset than they already were. My brother in law - her husband - heard it but he was in no condition to take them on.

Wingnut hatred just has no boundries. These people are all professionals, solidly middle class and educated. Yet someone like George Bush can make them lose all sense of decency.

[AspenRose]

41. And this is exactly why we collectively need to hit back and not be meek

They are accustomed to being loud mouthed and obnoxious, often at the most inopportune times, and it's about time we called them on it. ENOUGH is ENOUGH.

[progressivebydesign]

34. That's disgusting. Please consider writing him a letter soon, letting him know it's wrong.

He needs to consider his comments in the future.

[Raine]

35. You really should write him a letter telling him

that bringing up politics at a funeral was very disrespectful and insensitive and didn't belong in a service that was to honor a dead woman. I wrote a letter to the minister who conducted my father's funeral thanking him for the way he handled the funeral. It seems to me that it is perfectly reasonable and fitting to write a letter stating your feelings in how the service was conducted.

[mscuedawg]

37. That was uncalled for...I'd have a hard time not telling him so...

[FatherTime1408]

42. I'm sorry, that sucks.

I went to a funeral once where the preacher talked about how being filled with the spirit makes all Christians act the same way, kind of how all gays act the same way with their mannerisms and speach patterns. WTF? WHY?!

[phoenixriz]

52. How inappropriate

I really think this needs to be addressed: 1. The preacher bringing up a political party, mixing church and state and 2. just as importantly, using the words white trash at such a sensitive time. A letter could be written to him with a cc at the bottom of the letter to the denomination that he represents. It would let him know that others who don't agree with him are aware of his actions and pained by it. I would also mention that the tax exempt status had been violated and you are considering reporting his actions to the state government.

If you are uncomfortable using your name, just sign it as a concerned mourner. You don't even have to tell your relatives that you wrote it.

Thank goodness you have this DU community to share your discomfort. I am so sorry that you had to be subjected to this insensitive person.

[TexasLady]

54. Firstly Welcome! Phoenixriz

and secondly, thanks so very much for your advice. And absolutely thank goodness I have this wonderful place to share.

[anneboleyn]

47. As some of the others here have suggested, I would tell him it was very inappropriate in the context

After all, this was a funeral, when the point is to remember and celebrate the life of the person who died, not to mention politics! Please.

[ibegurpard]

48. Disgusting

Completely innapropriate.
I would have a word with him and say that someone's funeral is no place for politics.

[crazy_vanilla]

53. just tell him to F off

in private, of course, out of respect for the dead, which, apparently, he didn't have

[MamaDem]

55. Make a donation to NARAL in his name and have a thank you card sent to the church

so the busy-bodies in the church will see it. I grew up in a southern Baptist church in the south and they love their gossip!!! Especially the office ladies.

BTW, no longer a Baptist - converted to United Methodist and attend a VERY progressive church in Orlando that I just love.