Something that has become increasingly popular in our modern culture is the desire to destroy the memories of those who have built up our societies. Those who came before us now have the worst aspects of them brought to the forefront as society indulges in a cleansing pseudo-holy ritual.
In their eyes, the only way to wash our hands of the sins of our society is to destroy those who have created the very society in which we live. This starts by destroying those who have come before us. In the words of Karl Marx “The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living.” In order to make way for revolutionary change, those dead generations must be forgotten and scorned.
It is true that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and even Abraham Lincoln suffered from major vices. They were racists who often fell short of what it means to be a good person. However, they were also great men who occasionally transcended the evil of their day. That is more than what most people will do in their lives.
While they committed evil, the virtue that they pursued led to the eventual eradication of that evil. The words of Thomas Jefferson were used by MLK to defeat the racism that he advocated for. The lives of the forefathers whom we honor were not spent promoting vice. They were spent promoting virtues which led to the eradication of the vice that they participated in. They moved us forward morally, socially, and politically. They are the reason why we can look back and criticize what they participated in.
In his new book, 12 More Rules for Life; Beyond Order, Jordan Peterson points out that when humans imitate others, we do not imitate their exact actions. Instead, we embody the “spirit” of those we are imitating. When we tell our children to imitate George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or Abraham Lincoln, we are not telling them to imitate every action that they took. We are telling them to imitate their “spirit.” We want them to be great speakers, leaders, politicians, warriors, and men.
If we tear down the statues of the men who have bequeathed to us a free society built upon the rule of law, then who will our heroes be? If perfection is the prerequisite for being admired then no one short of Jesus or Mary is fit for a reward. However, the people who attempt to destroy the memory of those who they irrationally hate are not typically fond of Christianity.
In Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke scolded the French with the quote “Spartam nactus es; hanc exorna.” (You have obtained Sparta adorn it). We admire people who have taken their heritage and improved upon it. Whether that heritage be a country, a philosophy, or a religion. Those who have sought to improve our society and produced results that we enjoy today are fit for admiration.
Those who seek to tear down statues are weak and arrogant individuals who think that if they existed at any other time period, they would be just as morally virtuous as they are now. They think that they are heroic when all they do is destroy what has been given to them.
The fruits of the labor of past heroes should not be cast aside because they had faults. We should continue to encourage people to emulate the spirit of their action. Only in this way can meaningful change, stability, and justice occur at the same time.
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