Faux Pas

At a funeral one is supposed to deliver a eulogy, not a diatribe based on one’s personal obsessions. That is why Aretha Franklin’s family is miffed about this pastor’s 50-minute speech. The fellow should have known better. He had presided at numerous funerals before this one. But, apparently he saw a chance to air his views, and he took it. As any PR practitioner could have told him, that is a no-no. There are conventions in many aspects of life, and a funeral is for celebrating and mourning the death of a loved one, not for discussion of grievances with society. Maybe the pastor has learned his lesson but his faux pas was on an international stage before millions of bereft. He might not get another chance to do better.