Free Republic

All human cultures have traditions around death. In the western world, we have wakes and funerals, obituaries and tombstones, private or public burials. Famous people get retrospectives on the evening news; prominent politicians may lie in state at a capitol rotunda. It’s the printed word, however, that’s most interesting to me. There’s a rule that governs all these retrospectives and obituaries: Never speak ill of the dead. It’s a reasonable standard, clearly written with some eye – conscious or no – to the Golden Rule. We hope nobody will speak ill of us when we die, so we don’t speak...

Mercy! No more!

Richard C. Holbrooke, 69, passed away Monday after doctors conducted the surgery to repair a tear in an artery in his heart. Most recently he served as the President’s point man in the highly volatile Afghan-Pakistani war zone. World leaders today mourn the death of a diplomat who led the end of the Bosnian war on the 15th anniversary of the peace deal he helped design. Deal Maker Of Respect In 1995 Mr Holbrooke seized the opportunity presented by the Bosnian/Croatian military prowess against the Serbs and the Nato decision after the Srebrenica massacre to finally intervene with air attacks....

<p>Here is a collection of the eulogies delivired by the various speakers.</p>

Funeral Rightsby Leon J. Suprenant, Jr.Originally published by National Catholic Register, June 8-14, 2003One of the pivotal virtues for Christian living is hope, by which we trust that God in His infinite mercy will one day welcome us into His eternal Kingdom. We realize we’re not there yet, and that we need to persevere to the end. One of the sins against hope is presumption (Catechism, no. 2092), which takes many forms. One form of presumption, commonly witnessed at funerals, is the attitude that in the end God will forgive us irrespective of our cooperation with grace. According to this...