A recent rash of public destruction has captured my attention. You’re aware of it. Riotous groups are demanding that certain statues be removed from public sight because they commemorate past Americans who owned slaves. Confederate General Robert E. Lee is high on the list of men whose statues have been removed either by lawless mobs whipped into a frenzy or by cowed government officials in the dead of night.
On its surface, that might sound reasonable to some. No one I know is sympathetic to the disgusting practice of holding another human being as property.
Slavery was wrong then and it is wrong today. But the deeper issue at stake is that we are removing the memory of fellow Americans who happened to live in a different era and are now on the wrong side of what is often called “chronological snobbery” – the propensity of some to condemn with vigor the actions of another without considering the norms of the bygone era in which a person like Lee lived.
Robert E. Lee – and many others who fought and died on the Confederate side – loved the Lord Jesus. He was a war hero in the Mexican War. He treated people with respect, including people of color. His legacy should be celebrated in this country, not marred by Marxist crowds that hate what America stands for.