I have been fascinated by a large series of reels on social media following the death of Dolly Parton. They show Dolly Parton as a brilliant star of entertainment, mostly through her music but also in her films, and as a quick-witted, endearingly self-deprecating, very humourous interviewee of many TV talk shows. She was also a canny businesswomen who stood her ground against men in the entertainment world who tried to make more dollars from her than they deserved, and with her wealth, Dolly was an outstanding philanthropist. To cap everything off in the tributes through the past week, not one person has a bad word to say about her. In fact, lots of warm, sincere eulogies have been made paying tribute to her goodness and greatness as a wonderful human being.
The Living Church offers this report which points to the possibility of the calendar of The Episcopal Church incorporating formal remembrance of Dolly Parton:
"Episcopalians are paying tribute to the artistry and philanthrophy of Dolly Parton, the singer, actress, and songwriter whose rise from poverty to becoming a country music legend and successful entrepreneur draw admiration from a broad swathe of American society.
On Threads, the Rev. Rachel Kessler, rector of Harcourt Parish in Kenyon College, is advocating for Parton’s commemoration in the Episcopal Church calendar on the day of her death, August 25, at the age of 80."
By contrast, I have seen on X comments made by sincere and genuine Christians that Dolly Parton is most certainly not in heaven because she was not a true and wholehearted follower of Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour, the implication being that she has in recent years erred and strayed from the faith of her upbringing, perhaps due to her warm and inclusive embrace of the LGBTi community, to say nothing of a more or less universalist approach to the salvation of all.
We could get stuck in the weeds of the theological suppositions and presuppositions involved in either positing Dolly Parton should be fast-tracked into ecclesiastical calendars or that we (somehow, when we are not God) have a sure and solid ability to determine that Dolly Parton is in the place opposite to where many, many people around the world assume she is.
My thinking (for what it is worth) is twofold.
First, we should celebrate the goodness and greatness of this remarkable human being. She was amazingly talented. She was very, very kind - as many children who have benefitted from her generous book programme delivering books around the world are testifying to, to say nothing of many other beneficiaries of her kindness and generosity. In so celebrating, we could usefully look at ourselves and ask whether we are doing all in our power to do as much good in the world as we can - that is what Dolly Parton did, and she did it with a large dose of personal humbleness. Thanks be to God for her example.
Secondly, we should consider carefully the character she exhibited in her generosity, her inclusiveness, her kindness and her unwillingness to engage in tit for tat meanness. (Romans 12:9-21, the epistle reading for Sunday 30 August 2026, Ordinary 22, is most apt as a lens through which to assess the quality of her character.) If Dolly was a true Christian, then something very, very Christlike shone through her bubbly personality. If Dolly was not a true Christian, then something very, very Christlike shone through her bubbly personality. I am happy to leave it to the God of heaven how he views each and every human being, from the most famous to the least well-known. But I think it might be avoidance if I stop there and do not ask of myself, am I the best self I can be in the light of my belief that the way of Christ is the way to God and to human flourishing? Am I allowing Christ to work on every aspect of myself to transform my heart so that I too have a generous, gracious, kind, warm and relentlessly loving approach to all people I meet?
Might such questions be better questions to ask in relation to the life of Dolly Parton than asking whether she is or is not with the Lord Jesus Christ?
11 comments:
Absolutely, Peter. Well said.
And when does the drive for sainthood - to say this or that person is a "saint" - start to look like a sort of elitist Christian roll of honour/hall of fame? Plus the inevitable Christian bun fight and judgmentalism on what is a saint and does this or that person truly qualify?
All are called to be saints, to take our place in the communion of saints, rather than projecting our own light onto others.
Oh yes, well said Peter.
I've just read a heartwarming tribute to Dolly from Jenn Budd, a woman from Alabama who's endured much (including life as a U.S. border patrol agent, where she was treated terribly).
"I’ve felt a kinship with Dolly since I was a small child. Born in 1971, I grew up in northern Alabama, to the east of the Appalachian Mountains that ran through her home in Tennessee."
https://jennbudd.substack.com/p/dolly-is-the-way
So heaven is a reward for being kind? All the time I thought eternal life was an unmerited gift to those who lamented their own righteousness was as filthy rags and turned to the merciful sin-bearer. How very Pelagian these (former) evangelicals.
It seems to me +Peter made no claim to sit in judgement on Dolly’s spiritual state, apart from suggesting we follow her example.
But Jesus said, ‘A good tree cannot bear bad fruit’ and told us to look for fruit in our appraisals of others, and we surely need that fruit ourselves. It is quite possible that Dolly had found the ‘unmerited gift to those who lamented their own righteousness was as filthy rags and turned to the merciful sin-bearer’ and her life was the result? Seeing that life as Christlike is not necessarily Pelagian!
Thank you, Moya, for your comment. I very carefully wrote, "I am happy to leave it to the God of heaven how he views each and every human being, from the most famous to the least well-known."
I thought my comment was Christianity 101: that eternal life is never an achievement on the basis of works but a gift received by faith. The thief on the cross had no works to commend himself to God's mercy. Many of us understand this as a doctrine but find it hard to believe in practice. That is why Pelagianism is indeed the default setting of former evangelicals, and churches that don't want to offend the agnostic masses go along with the natural assumption that eternal life is a reward for some conspicuous natural virtue, not a gift bestowed on beggars. Is this why the Church of England buries an atheist like Stephen Hawking in Westminster Abbey?
We should indeed be 'happy to leave it to the God of heaven how he views each and every human', since no individual's eternal destiny is disclosed to us. 'But has Scripture given us no clues on how God does look upon us? Not even to a dying thief on a cross? 'What shall it profit a woman if she gain the whole world of entertainment ...' one might say in reply.
In short, you can imitate a person's good works but not their errors. But how do you tell the difference? Something to ponder next time you laugh along to 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'.
Poor Pelagius, forever the kicking boy of miserable, life-hating theology :(
Dear Willaim (whom I presume is "Anonymous" here),
Of course we should imitate someone's good works but not their errors.
I have seen plenty of evidence of Dolly Parton's good works on social media since her death. I am aware that some home in on some things she has said as evidence of her (theological) errors but I have not personally seen evidence that I (or anyone via news/social media/lack of actual direct conversation with her) can deduce from, that she was, in her inner heart and mind, in theological errors in matters pertaining to personal salvation. Hence my wariness about making a judgment call.
Posts about Dolly from people with connection to the "The South" are so interesting. This one is by an Episcopal priest I've exchanged notes with occasionally, The Rev Brooks Cato "Snarky Episcopal priest with Opinions".
Don't Mess With Dolly
https://brookscato.substack.com/p/dont-mess-with-dolly
Homelessness in New Zealand.
This guest post is worth reading, published via David Farrier.
Why Do We Have To Live Outside ~ by Aaron Hendry
https://www.webworm.co/unhoused/
Actually, Mark, abandoning my own righteousness and following Jesus with his righteousness is not ‘life-hating’ but life-giving, whatever people have conveyed about it. Was Jesus ever life-hating?
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