Perhaps this is just the wrong week to try to not be political lol.
This whole deal in Charlottesville is literally hitting
close to home, especially with a petition for a rally next month in Richmond.
I’ve been reflecting the last couple days on the
relationship between my religion and my politics. American Christians --liberal or conservative -- have strong feelings about their political beliefs,
and I’m certainly not immune to that.
Tensions and tempers are particularly high around the issue
of removing statues that represent part of our history. The opportunity to
pause and reflect on exactly what my relationship to culture as a Christian should
be is staring me in the face, and I’ve given it some thought.
One of the great things about the kingdom of God is its
ability to transcend culture and government. As a Church, we can wage spiritual
war in any culture and under any government.
Which implies that we also shouldn’t be too attached to our
culture or government.
I was, initially, against the removal of statues of
Confederate generals; after all, it’s part of our history. Besides, I’m not a
fan of changing something just because someone is offended by it.
Enter Scott Adams.
The reason for my fascination with him is because
he provides an alternative viewpoint that I don’t find anywhere else. I don’t
agree with everything he says, but he is a uniquely smart and insightful man
that provides fairly consistent commentary on current events.
Scott Adams posted a video with his take on the removal of Confederate statues. The first point he brought up was, “Why don’t we remove
statues of FDR since he imprisoned Japanese Americans in internment camps?”
Wow, great related point.
Dealing with this from a persuasion perspective (his niche perspective), he stated that America’s “brand” is basically “freedom and
opportunity.” We pro-freedom (anti-slavery) and pro-capitalism (anti-communism).
But there are people who see these statues and, because of their life
experiences, interpret them as continued evidence that America is racist.
(I don’t believe America is racist. There's a lot of thought behind this belief, but for the purpose of
the blog, I’ll leave it at that.)
The true America is a set of ideas about freedom and
opportunity. It is not the dirt that we live on nor is it encompassed in the objects that adorn it.
If removing the statues helps someone who has been impacted
by cultural differences or had personal experience encounters with racism view America as less racist, then I’m on board:
“So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will
never eat meat again as long as I live--for I don't want to cause another
believer to stumble.” (1 Corinthians 8:13)
History is not being re-written (that’s still in the books), so calm down, Chicken Little.
A great way to go about this would be to auction them off to
private citizens/organizations (hat tip to NattyZ).
All that being said, I feel that Mayor Stoney’s idea to provide context to the statues on Monument Ave is a great compromise between changing
nothing and changing everything.
