RIP Jimmy Carter

[Ironhold]

https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-carter-dies-18c198c20352c835bca3eec276020dd7

It's been confirmed that President Carter has passed away.

[LDSGator]

He spent his life doing more volunteer work than anyone I can name. RIP

Edited December 29, 2024 by LDSGator

[Vort]

RIP. I suppose it's appropriate that he died while a Democrat was president. Not a very effective president in my estimation, but seemed like a truly decent human being.

[mirkwood]

Good man, terrible President.  Truly charitable which is extremely unusual in a (former) politician.

[NeuroTypical]

The '70's were the golden age of understanding what Democrat leadership got you.  The term "stagflation" got coined, as we had both 15% inflation and decreasing GDP.  Years of US hostages staying hostages.  Malaise.

But like Gator said, Jimmy Carter seemed to redeem himself outside of the presidency.  Overseeing free elections in troubled nations and many other things. 

And how many famous people can we name who retire back to their home town to teach sunday school at a small parish?  Well, one.

RIP Jimmy Carter.

[pam]

Like Mirkwood said...not the best president but he was a giant of men when it came to his humanitarian work.  

[Phoenix_person]

15 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

And how many famous people can we name who retire back to their home town to teach sunday school at a small parish?  Well, one.

Carter's ministerial work was one of my favorite things about him, tbh. He was willing to call out his fellow Christians for being unChristlike just as he was willing to call out the oppressive regimes of Islamic nations like Iran. I'd probably still be a Christian if more Christians I met were like him.

[NeuroTypical]

2 hours ago, Phoenix_person said:

He was willing to call out his fellow Christians for being unChristlike

Just reading what folks are remembering about him, apparently he did quite a bit to diminish the notion that Southern Christians and racism went hand in hand.  I can't tell whether it's because folks saw him speaking out against racism and realizing southern Christians aren't so racist, or if he actually managed to help decrease the amount of racism in southern Christianity.  

I have some early childhood memories of Carter.  I knew my parents and neighbors liked him and everyone at church and school didn't like him.  

Edited December 30, 2024 by NeuroTypical

[LDSGator]

6 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

or if he actually managed to help decrease the amount of racism in southern Christianity.  

 

For all the good that he did, and he did a ton of it, no one ever said “I’m not going to be a racist because Jimmy Carter told me not to.” Was he anti segregation and pro civil rights? Of course. But it would be a stretch to say he decreased racism down here.   

[Traveler]

Like many on this forum – I believed Carter to be one of the greatest individuals to become president.  I believe his problem was to trust those in his party that put party (politics) ahead of country.  Thus, the problem of his presidency was not him but those that surrounded and advised him.

I believe that he was the only president of my lifetime that was faithful to the lady he chose to be his first and only wife.  There are very few leaders that during difficult times can be honest with themselves as well as effective leaders (like Moroni in the days of Alma).  I regret that we have no such leadership in our country currently.  Our culture seems to favor rebellious bad guys (and ladies).

 

The Traveler

[NeuroTypical]

1 hour ago, LDSGator said:

For all the good that he did, and he did a ton of it, no one ever said “I’m not going to be a racist because Jimmy Carter told me not to.” Was he anti segregation and pro civil rights? Of course. But it would be a stretch to say he decreased racism down here.   

I'm pulling heavily from my chilldhood here.  I grew up in the 1970's, and whenever I think about those years I'm continually amazed at how racist they appeared compared to our 'enlightened modern sensibilities'.   It was everywhere.  My nonLDS dad and his Democrat Union buddies with their endless jokes and stories and descriptions.   My dad and his WWII vet buddies at the American Legion cookout with their beer and steaks and worries about how "the country is goin' 'ta hell because of all those" n-word people showing up in places they shouldn't.  The LDS grown ups and their handwringing about interracial marriage would result in babies with birth defects.   The elementary schoolyard and it's endless ignorant evil horribleness.  I refuse to go into more specifics because I haven't heard that stuff in decades, and it needs to stay dead. 

One thing I picked up early, was how any of those groups could be stunned into an ashamed silence by someone outside of the trusted group overhearing it.   I was hardly some righteous cultural warrior, just a gullible kid who wanted to make sure I was hearing correctly, so I knew how to say the right things.  But I ended up getting every set of eyes in the room locked on me, and I assumed I had done something wrong.  When I was with my dad and his friends, I was the mormon kid.  When I was with the mormons, I was the son of that beer drinking heathen.  When I was with my friend's republican parents, I was that union democrat boy.  I learned to keep quiet when people were talking race or woman issues, because whenever I tried to be part of the conversation and say the racist thing I just heard, it was an immediate record-scratch conversation killer.  I didn't understand what was happening until decades of hindsight.

It was endemic, and it perpetuated in secret, with trusted friends.  Say it out loud in the sunlight, where people could hear, and the notions scattered like cockroaches.   Real, actual racism, where you just assume your color makes you better than another color, can only exist in circles of people who think they are good people, until someone outside of the circle notices.  Then it withers and dies.

I can only imagine what some of the good Christians of smalltown Midwest America felt when one of theirs, a born-again peanut farmer, became president and started talking openly about how racial discrimination is wrong and evil.  Absolutely there would be people who felt personally called-out and swiftly changed their tune.  

Edited December 30, 2024 by NeuroTypical

[LDSGator]

22 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

   Real, actual racism, where you just assume your color makes you better than another color, can only exist in circles of people who think they are good people

The worst evil is always created by people who think they are good people. I totally agree there. 

[Just_A_Guy]

Carter also publicly denounced Trump as an illegitimate president elected via Russian interference.  More to the point, IMHO, he offered full-throated support to Roe and to abortion-on-demand.

Hearing all these conservative paeans to him is a little surreal—like hearing people praise Arthur Zander for his service as an LDS branch president and completely gloss over the fact that Zander supported Naziism and excommunicated Helmuth Hubener.

Carter may have been a complex character who did some nice things and succeeded in making sure that a camera was there while he did them.  But I would venture to guess that when the eternal balances are weighed and self-deception becomes impossible, his role as a powerful and consensual apologist for elective baby killing will weigh heavily on his conscience; and the Grace he spent a lifetime seeking will only come after much more pain than he thought possible.

[pam]

6 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

Carter also publicly denounced Trump as an illegitimate president elected via Russian interference.  More to the point, IMHO, he offered full-throated support to Roe and to abortion-on-demand.

Hearing all these conservative paeans to him is a little surreal—like hearing people praise Arthur Zander for his service as an LDS branch president and completely gloss over the fact that Zander supported Naziism and excommunicated Helmuth Hubener.

Carter may have been a complex character who did some nice things and succeeded in making sure that a camera was there while he did them.  But I would venture to guess that when the eternal balances are weighed and self-deception becomes impossible, his role as a powerful and consensual apologist for elective baby killing will weigh heavily on his conscience; and the Grace he spent a lifetime seeking will only come after much more pain than he thought possible.

Interesting because I remember an interview he did oh maybe 15 years ago where he talked about his party and how he wished they were more anti-abortion except in the case of rape, incest or risk to the mother. 

[Just_A_Guy]

1 hour ago, pam said:

Interesting because I remember an interview he did oh maybe 15 years ago where he talked about his party and how he wished they were more anti-abortion except in the case of rape, incest or risk to the mother. 

Sadly, his response to Dobbs contained none of that. 😞

[LDSGator]

8 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

Hearing all these conservative paeans to him is a little surrea

Part of it has to do with conservatives (non Maga) generally being more polite and decent than liberals. When Reagan died liberals opened up champagne. 

Edited December 31, 2024 by LDSGator

[Just_A_Guy]

3 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

Part of it has to do with conservatives (non Maga) generally being more polite and decent than liberals. When Reagan died liberals opened up champagne. 

Interestingly, one of the things I saw recently was a transcript of an old video where someone asked Carter what he thought his greatest failure as president was, and his answer was “letting Ronald Reagan gain the presidency”.

I mean—what a petulant little snot.  Seriously.

[LDSGator]

3 minutes ago, Just_A_Guy said:

mean—what a petulant little snot.

Me calling anyone a petulant little snot is hypocrisy cubed, so no comment. 

[Just_A_Guy]

10 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

Me calling anyone a petulant little snot is hypocrisy cubed, so no comment. 

No, no—it takes one to know one.  That’s why I’m ideally situated to comment.

[mirkwood]

I was not aware of Carter's abortion stance.  😡

[Just_A_Guy]

1 hour ago, mirkwood said:

I was not aware of Carter's abortion stance.  😡

https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/2022/carter-center-statement-on-roe-v-wade.html
 

 

[mirkwood]

17 minutes ago, Just_A_Guy said:

https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/2022/carter-center-statement-on-roe-v-wade.html
 

 

Evil stance.

[LDSGator]

1 hour ago, mirkwood said:

Evil stance.

https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2024/12/29/jimmy-carter-and-venezuela-the-good-the-bad-and-the-complicated/
 

He also appeased Hugo Chavez. A man responsible for untold amounts of evil in the world.   

[Carborendum]

14 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

... he offered full-throated support to Roe and to abortion-on-demand.

8 hours ago, pam said:

... he wished they were more anti-abortion except in the case of rape, incest or risk to the mother. 

Wait... a politician changed his position on something for political gain?  Say it ain't so.

 

Edited December 31, 2024 by Carborendum

[NeuroTypical]

On 12/30/2024 at 11:49 PM, Just_A_Guy said:

Hearing all these conservative paeans to him is a little surreal

Mine comes from a desire to love thy neighbor and not speak evil of the dead.   I suppose practically it comes from a lifetime of witnessing folks hear about the death of someone with opposite politics than them, and watching them spew bile and nastiness and anger and filth at the occasion.  I don't ever wanna be like that.  Ashamed of the good LDS folks in my life I've heard badmouth people on hearing about their death.

It's like dang folks, if Trump is being more Christlike than you are, don't you have some self-reflection to do?