Memorial services and pep rallies
There has been a fair amount of praise for Obama’s speech from the right, which is a positive sign. But one criticism keeps popping up. Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson summarized it when he said that “you can either have a pep rally or a memorial service, you can’t have both at the same time”. Having watched the speech, I was a little puzzled about this. Then I realized that Protestant don’t do funerals like Catholics. There is no Mass of the Resurrection where the community comes together the pray for the dead and commend their soul to God. Protestants don’t believe in praying for the dead, because prayers for the dead presuppose that penance plays a role in salvation. Instead, Protestants do memorial services where you are supposed to say nice things about the person, in a solemn and dignified manner. If that is the way to mourn the dead, then an exuberant celebration might be inappropriate. But I saw last nights event not as a quasi-funeral service, but as a civic attempt to unite people. This is virtuous its own way, but is in no way close to a funeral. It’s funny how these elements of a Protestant mindset are so entrenched in the culture that they go unnoticed.
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It is simple. You can have both. He just wants to criticize.
Why do you look to the President when things like this happen?
My views lean conservative and I tend to disagree Obama at times, but I thought Obama’s speech was great. He deserves to be commended for it. Great tone, great message. Very presidential.
But I can see the “pep rally” criticism – the T-shirts (which was not Obama’s doing, so I don’t fault him) were too much in my opinion. The governor being booed is to be regretted, but there’s always someone who’s going to do something inappropriate in a group as big as that. I don’t have anything against exuberance, but I thought maybe a greater sense of solemnity was proper (which probably would have been more easily conveyed in a smaller venue – but then again, it was nice to have a big venue to accommodate everyone.)
The “pep rally” aspects were probably not part of the White House/Obama team’s plan. Those appear to be things from the University side of the issue.
I will say I don’t think the event had the sort of atmosphere and decorum that was likely intended. Memorial services can be celebratory in some cases, but I don’t think that was either the intent or the ideal in this case.
I don’t think this was meant to be anything at all like a pep rally or campaign event, but unfortunately it had some similarities to those, and I think the some in the crowd and some of the planners are at fault for this. By an large Americans, particularly those of college age, tend not to know how to act at any sort of serious major public event. There experiences are largely limited to sporting events, concerts, pep rallies, and political rallies, so if some thousands of them get together in an arena, are given T-shirts like they do for the student section of basketball games, and then decide it is a good idea to yell, chear, boo, and applaud; well no one should be suprised.
What does Catholic vs. Protestant have to do with it? The argument is that when the President is making such a somber and thoughtful speech on such a sad occasion, it seems ludicrously out of place and uncivilized for people to keep interrupting with cheers and applause.
Catholics don’t do “memorial services”. It’s a Protestant thing.
I don’t think I have a “Protestant mindset,” and I thought the reaction of the crowd to the president was sometimes not appropriate for what the president was there to do. I would characterize it as “ludicrously out of place and uncivilized.” It just seemed like the crowd was extremely exited to be in the presence of the president, and they got carried away.
The “pep rally” label is a wrong characterization of the event. As I watched it I observed people releasing emotions that would be natural in that setting. There was a lot of pain in that room and words have power to give hope and start the healing process. It seemed to me that the people in that room, just as we, passionately want an end to violence. It wasn’t a pep rally, rather, it was the passionate desire for hope and peace to develop from this horrible example of human violence.
While I disagree with the President on some pretty major issues, I believe he is basically a good man. I think it is likely that some of his supporters, whether our of loyalty or fervor, took the opportunity to make the event a bit more than a just memorial service. One of his staff (Rahm Emmanuel?) has said words to the effect of “always take advantage of a crisis”, apparently to make political gains. They are his political advisors, after all.
My take is the speech was very good and I’m glad the President gave it and gave it so well. I’m happy the country is generally responding to this tragedy as a call for more civility and unity, even when we disagree. It is long overdue.
As a disabled veteran, I wish we had seen such a response after the Fort Hood shootings last year, but I understand the country tends to see soldiers getting shot as a possibility they signed up for.
The President gave a wonderful speech. But the whole event was handled in a very inappropriate way. I heard it on the radio and the other people in the car (proud supporters of the President, some of them) were all looking at each other in disbelief. I believe at one point Janet Napolitano literally said “Thank you, Tucson!” Like it was a rock concert.