Not With This Picture

After seeing the picture of Joe Biden kissing his granddaughter on the top of the head at his son’s funeral used as “evidence” of his impropriety, I had to compose a response, even if I never share it beyond my Writing Workshop blog.

I do have concerns that Joe Biden has a reputation for being “touchy-feely” and seems not to always respect personal boundaries. I refuse to get into playing “your guy is worse than my guy” as that says more to me about the depth of the moral morass of our society than any of the “guys.” More importantly, it is a distraction from the point that I feel compelled to make, which I will illustrate with an experience from my pastoral career.

One congregation I served held a funeral for a young person (who had grown up in and still had family active in the church) who had committed suicide after killing an acquaintance and a police officer called to the scene. TV stations sent camera crews who wanted to record the service and reporters who wanted to conduct interviews. We told them they could not record video or audio or conduct interviews on church property. They set up across the street seemingly to record those who were coming and the procession at the end of the service. Since it was not a “private” service, a couple of reporters may have come in with the mourners and taken some notes. None of that indicates any approval of the young person’s tragic behavior, but I continue to believe protecting the privacy of a grieving family, community, and congregation was not only right but imperative.

When one enters public life (entertainment, sports, politics, etc.) a certain amount of privacy is lost. However, regardless of political persuasion, I believe that invading the Biden family’s privacy in this way in their time of grief is highly inappropriate. Regardless of other personal boundary miscues Joe Biden may be called to answer for, using this as “evidence” is reprehensible and unacceptable.