Ever been to a funeral where the preacher screams at the bereaved? [View all]

Just returned from one, and I felt so sad for the grieving family. If you think about being a "Christ-like" leader, wouldn't you want to comfort and be a rock for the family in their time of sorrow? Wouldn't Jesus be kind and calm and loving? Wouldn't he show compassion?

Or would Jesus puff out his chest like a banty rooster, scream at the top of his lungs and try to "save" the bereaved through intimidation, bullying and gossip? Would he use the time like a sledgehammer to beat up on the broken?

The preacher at this affair is a person I formerly had some respect for. But when he started gossiping, condemning and hurting the children's ears with his cruel diatribe, I completely lost all respect for the man. He made it about HIMSELF rather than about the family he was supposed to be leading.

In his own ignorant, self-absorbed, I-am-correct-about-everything-and-anyone-who-disagrees-with-me-is-bound-for-hell way, he thinks he is going to frighten people into sharing his beliefs. That doesn't work, and neither does pretending YOU are god, because you don't know anything about anyone based purely on gossip or your own understanding. "Don't judge" is something his ilk will never put into practice, because without judging others as "sinners" while he claims purity, the guy has nothing.

What he fails to see is that his pride is one of the greatest sins of all. His thoughtlessness is also a sin. His gossiping is a sin ( and I've heard him gossip plenty, as he condemns everyone else. ) I'll guarantee that if Jesus actually showed up to visit him and the other men around here who strut around as if they are gods themselves, they'd run him out of town for the color of his skin, as these are the same people who think God thinks it's okay to be racist!

"Do unto others" means you comfort and care for the grieving; you don't make them feel worse just because you've got the floor.

Another gentleman spoke up about his beliefs, but he did so in a loving, calm and compassionate way. I certainly don't mind people who have strong beliefs, and I condemn no one for not sharing my own views, as that is no person's place, but it angers me when I go to funerals like this one.

"Why do the heathen rage?" is what I was thinking the whole time he was screaming at everybody. I prayed to the Divine to give the family peace despite the guy's selfish behavior.

TL;DR: Does anyone know WHY some preachers feel it is appropriate to scream hellfire and brimstone at funerals? Is it mal-adapted ego? Desperation? A complete disconnect from acceptable human behavior? The thought that you have a captive audience, so YOU will play god his own self and make them suffer for God's sake? What?