My sister and I were discussing whether this funeral was a personal or state event. It’s a bit murky in a country where theoretically we don’t have a state religion to have these events that are religious by nature but also for the country. So then was the family required to invite (or allow?) Trump to attend if they wanted to have it at the National Cathedral? Which is not a government building but an Episcopal Church building. We don’t know the details about who decides what about services there. Does government protocol have to be followed in these situations? I suppose they do, but do they have to? Carter was a Baptist. I was surprised to have Episcopal prayers over the casket on arrival and departure, though much of the rest was not any particular liturgy. Perhaps that was something the Cathedral asked for?
I was also surprised that no one thought about how it would look to not have any women speak given Carter’s support of women. I think it was mostly incidental – Ford had designated his son to speak, Mondale’s daughter who might have brought his words is already dead, despite Carter’s support for women the White House aides he was closest to were mostly men, etc. I would have had a daughter or female granddaughter read the scripture, but maybe they didn’t want to. I wondered about the theological beliefs of the grandson who did, because he used a very conservative version of the Bible, not the NIV or NRSV, which are the versions Carter taught from when he taught Sunday School most recently. And when he said “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” rather than “children of God”, he paused and looked over at the family. I wondered what that was about.
I hope the family found the services meaningful and that there isn’t conflict about scripture in the family. I was glad to be able to join with others electronically to say a formal goodbye. The charitable donation I feel the best about of all I have made is the one I made to the Carter Center to help eradicate guinea worm. If he did nothing else in his life, that alone would have made it one of the most consequential lives ever lived.