No one disliked Nancy. Quiet and shy but a hard working student and a loyal classmate with a cute little smile, she graduated with me and 130 friends from Duchesne High School in 1975.
High school is but a small part of life. She went on to marry, becoming a mom and grandma. She enjoyed a nice career, earning a Six Sigma Black Belt. She was a Girl Scout leader. She was a member of the St. Ann Sodality at her church, active in the Ladies Auxiliary of the Knight of Columbus, a volunteer to good causes and a friend to many.
So, at her funeral this past Friday, why was the priest’s Homily about Ronald Reagan?
Oh, the guy at the microphone explained that a parishioner had recently given him a book about Reagan and Pope John Paul II. Still, that didn’t seem the right topic before a church full of family and friends celebrating a good life cut short by cancer.
Alas, I think I have an answer. Most of us get the standard issue funeral sermon. I’ve heard the same clergyman give the same talk at three funerals in just over a year. Time and again I’ve listened to orations which scream “insert name here.”
And, Nancy’s service was in St. Charles.
Unfortunately, even a great Democrat can’t beat a very bad Republican in any race on the west bank of the Missouri River. Last year, the bitterest race in the county was the Republican primary for state senate in District 2 (organized labor supported a hard-core Republican in that contest). Donald Trump got 60% of the vote in St. Charles County last November, even as many long-time GOPers called him ‘unstable’ and a RINO [Republican In Name Only].
Add to that the dogma that one cannot be a good Catholic and a Democrat [start with Archbishop Carlson’s columns from September 2016 in the St. Louis Review, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/catholic-church-democrats-go-to-hell_us_581c1493e4b0d9ce6fbb1c3d and end with http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/democrats-conspiracy-the-catholic-church/ ].
The result? A ‘safe’ standard-issue funeral Homily praising the life of Ronald Reagan.
Now, I could remind us of the horrible pain Reagan’s reign of terror inflicted on organized labor and the poor. Or, I could detail how as hurtful as Reagan was, well, today he’d lose the party faithful to Ted Cruz and Rand Paul.
Instead, let’s just remember that the road back from Crazyville passes millions upon millions of everyday people. Good people who lead good, productive lives yet never delve deep into politics, or, pick just one issue as basis for their votes. Until these folks open their minds, sorry, get used to more winning candidates modeled on Governor SEAL and The Donald.
The resistance remains difficult work.
Submitted by Glenn Koenen, WCD Member