Thanksgiving Eve Tributes
A Brief Reflection on Recent Losses (R.I.P. Rosalynn Carter and John Walsh)
My brother has just finished writing a fitting tribute to First Lady Rosalynn Carter and to Democratic political strategist/titan John Walsh. I highly recommend you check it out whenever he gets around to uploading it.
To his reflections on the Carter family, I would like to add my own. First, like her husband, First Lady Carter was a kind and decent public servant, not to mention a tireless advocate for the poor, the neglected, and the marginalized. In her case, she is best known for standing up to mental health stigma. She stared down the political risks of doing so and she succeeded in introducing the issue to a mainstream audience. Without her, I am sure that later mental health advocates like former U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy would be in a much more politically perilous position.
Mrs. Carter was a woman of true Christian conviction. Whereas religious right often likes to pretend to “uphold Christian values,” the Carters were (and are) true “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Their Christianity is the one that brings the stranger home, that visits the prisoner, and that cares for the sick (cf. Matthew 25:35-37).
In Rosalynn’s case, she took this all one step farther: she actually hired a wrongfully convicted murderer to serve as a White House nanny. In fact, that controversial move later became the basis of a lifelong friendship (https://time.com/5919091/rosalynn-carter-mary-prince-white-house-nanny/).
But I digress. Unlike the hypocrites that populate the religious right today, the Carters had compassion for more than unborn fetuses. They spoke out on our broken prison system, condemned our use of torture during the War on Terror, and demanded that we combat rampant poverty and income inequality at home and abroad. While the Republican Party aided and abetted the greedy, the rich, and the powerful, the Carters firmly cast their lot with those left behind.
The Carters did real charity work. They founded organizations like the Carter Center, and worked closely with organizations like Habitat for Humanity. Most importantly, they did so without constantly drawing attention to themselves. And when others took on the easier causes—or took the ones best suited to advance their political careers—the Carters took on the harder and less politically rewarding ones. Why? Because it was the right thing to do. And that’s what it means to follow Christ.
And if we’re gonna talk “family values,” I think the Carters and their 77-year-long marriage was far more representative of that than Jerry Falwell Jr,. Unlike Falwell and his wife, President and First Lady Carter actually respected each other as people, as partners, and as collaborators. And they stuck together through it all, “in sickness and in health.”
So, at First Lady Carter’s passing, we mourn with her husband. Rest in peace Mrs. Carter. As Simon & Garfunkel once wrote, “our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.” We can only hope that you can provide us as much help up there as you did down here.
R.I.P. Rosalynn Carter and John Walsh.