Jun
20
2019
Thursday, June 20 2019
Just a few days ago I was driving in a part of my home city that I hardly ever frequent. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a very impressive, very large, stone monument. It was an elaborate display, including very large plaques and pictures honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I stopped by to check it out and saw that the monument was apparently erected in 2016. I wonder how much longer it will be there. Don’t mistake that to mean that I don’t think King’s legacy is worthy of honor or recognition. I do. I just also know that we are living in a sorry era where everyone’s legacy has to be run through the social justice warrior approved purity test, and if some offensive way be found in these figures of history, they must be dutifully expunged from our national consciousness: history pages scrubbed, monuments removed, statues torn down. How sadly ironic that a movement that gained steam by destroying Confederate soldier monuments may soon mature into obliteration of Dr. King memorials. Why, you ask? What did King do to offend the sensibilities of 21st Century woke, enlightened, progressive activists? Well, this:
Don’t misunderstand. This isn’t just about adulterous affairs. From Clinton to Trump, both sides of the political aisle have proven their willingness to overlook infidelity. No, King’s sins are far more egregious:
Yikes. Personally, I’ve written before about my own views on statue removal and legacy erasing before. Every human is fallen and in some degree reflects the sinful spirit of their age. So it seems we must either remove all statues, monuments, and memorials to these imperfect people who went before us, or we begin collectively teaching and understanding that monument and statue building can be less about worshipping individuals who are every bit as flawed, abhorrent, and sinful as we are, and more about acknowledging and remembering the part key figures played in our country's epic struggle to create a "more perfect union." But even on the sliding scale of ambiguous morality that we live with these days, surely abiding and approving of rape surely ranks up there with abiding and approving of slavery? And if it does, the woke allies of the progressive left can’t suspend their #MeToo hashtag activism and let King slide by unscathed, can they? |