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Christian historian David Barton says the people calling for the removal of confederate statues – which they see as symbols of a hateful, oppressive, and racist past – very well may be sowing seeds for an even more hateful future.
Yesterday, Rasmussen Survey published a survey taken over the weekend that found the public does not agree with some politicians and much of the media who are calling for the removal of symbols, monuments and statues that are in any way related to slavery.
They found that 88% of all likely US voters oppose removing Washington and Jefferson statues, preferring we keep them and learn from the past.
More than 90% oppose changing or removing Mount Rushmore.
Clearly the press and the militant Left are out of step with the citizens of our country.
Steve Jordahl, with One News Now, wrote an excellent article yesterday, which includes quotes from my friend David Barton. Rather than summarize it, I have shared his entire article as published by One News Now.
"Social justice warriors" and other left-wing activists are fighting – often violently – to remove such statues around the United States. In one case splashed across the media last week, activists in North Carolina erupted in cheers of victory as the confederate statue in front of the Old Durham County Courthouse toppled to the ground (pictured above). In a furious effort, protesters then spit on and kick the crumpled metal.
Christian historian David Barton of WallBuilders argues that the activists might not be doing the country a favor.
"Even if you take the monuments down, it does not change the history," he tells OneNewsNow. "And [with] the monuments, you're able to say, You know, that person right there is not a good person. Look what they did. So there are lessons that can be learned from it."
The protesters weren't alone in their vitriol. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday described Confederate statues in the halls of Congress as "reprehensible" and called for their immediate removal. "If Republicans are serious about rejecting white supremacy, I call upon Speaker [Paul] Ryan to join Democrats to remove the Confederate statues from the Capitol immediately," the California Democrat said.
Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) also announced he would be sponsoring legislation to remove those statues. There are currently 11 statues in the Capitol honoring figures from the Confederacy, among them Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee.
And, as President Trump predicted, some are now calling for the toppling of America's founding fathers. This is CNN analyst Angela Rye:
Rye: "George Washington was a slave owner, and we need to call slave owners out for what they are, whether we think they were protecting American freedom or not. He wasn't protecting my freedom .... My ancestors weren't deemed human beings to him. And so to me, I don't care if it's a George Washington statue or a Thomas Jefferson statue or a Robert E. Lee statue, they all need to come down." (See video)
Barton says Rye might want to check her history.
"George Washington was bound by laws that he did not like and did not want," Barton points out, "and he's the guy who signed two federal anti-slavery laws. But his home state of Virginia would not allow him to free his slaves till he died – which he did."
And according to the historian, the same laws applied to fellow Virginian Thomas Jefferson, who was described by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a hero who fought against slavery until the day he died in 1826.
"There's a real problem when you start denying the history of your nation," notes Barton, "and a lot of that is because you don't even know the history of your nation."
It was philosopher George Santayana who famously said: "Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it."
Be informed. Be Discerning. Be Faithful. Be Prayerful.