Politics & Public Funerals

Wow! I think I've fully recovered from the tournament (sleeping 'till 1 the next day was helpful). Everything went very well. I achieved my personal goals, and on top of that... I got to finals in Extemp!! Needless to say it was a wonderful first IE tournament of the year.

The topic of my finals speech was very interesting: "Should funerals of notable citizens be platforms for political speech?" My answer was no. Unfortunatly however, I had failed to keep up with the news a few weeks ago and thus missed out on the story the question was based off of: Coretta Scott King's funeral. Needless to say, since the tournament I've researched her quite a bit, and what I've found is quite discusting.

Before I get on to why I am so repulsed by the media's coverage of this story, let me give a little background for anyone who hasn't followed this story (like myself!). Coretta Scott King was a notable political figure in the area of human rights. At her funeral just recently, former president Carter gave a speech in which he bashed Bush and the republican party for the handling of Katrina, and the FBI's illegal wiretapping. According to World magazine, the thin thread he used to tie all of this to Mrs. King's funeral was that "He also noted that 'the struggle for equal rights is not over,' saying that 'those who were most devastated by Katrina know there are not yet equal opportunities for all Americans.' "

Though I didn't cite this particular example in my Extemp speech, I still stand behind the principles I argued. A funeral should never be the platform for political speeches. Why? Allow me to answer that question with another... What is a funeral all about? [Aside from the possibility of it being a Christian funeral,] a funeral is all about the person who has died. It's about them and it celebrates their identity. The message that is sent across when a funeral is used for a political speech is that that person is a property of the government. Value of the individual and individual rights is one of the biggest things keeping the United States distinct from a communist nation. As an American, my identity is my own, not the government's.

Sadly, the news media has jumped on the Republican party saying that they have no right to "wave fingers at" the Democratic party for this speech. In debate/logic terms, this is called a Tu Quoque fallacy (basically a latin name for saying "you do it too"), and it is running rampant.

As Christians, this issue should not be viewed as distant and having no personal significance. For us it is even more important that we stand up against this to ensure it doesn't happen again. Our primary identity is as a citizen of heaven... not of earth, nor even of the United States.