Famous Cathedral Says Goodbye to Confederate Monuments

Secretary3rd

Was not this applied to the Jewish faith in Germany in the early 1930's. Where anything Jewish was burn to the ground. When anyone Jewish was killed. Not a time in history that any German wants to remember as well as those from other countries who also had a hand in killing Jews. Those who want to hid history will do anything to leave a blank in history in any given period in time. Then you rewrite the history books to reflect a bitter civil war that killed 100's of thousands to a paragraph, then to a page, then it becomes little more than a skirmish. It is like our family history where the family history is stain by a relative who went against society and did something out of the norm he was on the other side in the civil war.

eliud colbath

Most of these people that want to take our history away don't realise that it's their history.I would bet that if they were given a history test on the United States most of them would flunk. They don't know that they are history itself. They are being lead and played by others.Hate is their ignorance.Can you imagine the stories they could tell their chidren.How wonderful it woud be for them to learn the truth.Without this signs how could we teach our children how to turn hate into love.after all.What does man live by? LOVE.God Bless you all.

eliud colbath

Most of these people that want to take this history

Robert T Butler

Well, my friends you want to remove the windows because someone is offended by them. They've been there since the construction of the cathedral in 1907 and your just now getting offended by them? Hellen Keller is buried there , she was from tuscombia ALABAMA are you going to petition to get her exhumed and moved because she was from the SOUTH? a lot of people are making a big deal of something REDICULOUS and minor. How many people here now have been around 1907, how did it take a full CENTURY to get offended. This is totally ABSURD.

Bro Dave

This has become a very contentious issue when it doesn't have to be. Historic depictions; statues; et. al. are there as reminders of our past whether we like them or not. When we try to whitewash history, we are only creating resentment in part of our society. We saw the results of that resentment rear its' ugly head this summer. President Trump has a valid point in asking where do we draw the line on our historic memorabilia. George Washington had slaves, and he is also known as "The Father of Our Country." We live in a world of contradictions, and I believe it serves us well to keep the past in mind while working to improve our tomorrow.

Clyde Hodge

No intelligent person blames the grunts, or judges them for their service. Regarding Viet Nam, folks enlisted fully believing they were doing it for God and Country: Their elders and leaders had assured them of that. The Red Scare, Commies, Pinkos.... were supposed to be the enemy. It was all lies. They were duped with propaganda. It was a racist war declared by the wealthy for fun and profit. So, I'm confident there were many heroic Southern patriots who also thought they fought for God and Country, but they were lied to: It was a racist war declared by the wealthy for (keeping all their) fun and profit. Never blame a grunt for the lies, propaganda, betrayal of trust of their political and religious leaders. Don't blame a grunt for believing he's doing the right thing because of one's trust of authority given, wrongfully, to their political and religious leaders. Then again, some soldiers just hated minorities and thought that only white folk should have any rights (both wars). Blame them: They are still here, climbing out of the slime when almost no one is l;ooking to push the same old racist, ignorant, divisive, hateful, deplorable crap.

John Owens

I'd just like to say-- I don't know personally know anyone who would say that slavery is anything besides deplorable. WHATEVER happened to cause anyone to arrive at this country in times past, if they had not arrived, by whatever means, the people alive today would not have ever been born had not circumstances been what they were at that time. So, all things work together for good for those who love the Eternal One. War, slavery, hardship, potato famines, all of it. We are here now and BLESSED TO BE HERE. If you don't feel that way, there is a whole planet where you can move around. Even if you want to be a slaver. There are countries that still practice that. Some still do it here. It is called human trafficking. If you ain't doing anything about that, moving statues and flags and stuff is just hypocritical posing.

Clyde Hodge

I never said most whites owned slaves, just that nearly to a man their income completely depended upon the disgraceful institution.

Next: Our ancestors owned slaves, as did probably every human's ancestors of this planet, but my nation's slaves were treated better than the Irish indentured servants were. A slave kept his family, and could earn enough income/possessions that he could purchase his freedom. When the was was over, All of our slaves became equal citizens of the Creek Nation. With the exception of the Anglicized Chickasaw, we "Civilized Tribes" of the South did not practice the cruelty and sadism of the Anglo style of slavery, nor did we take efforts to marginalize them or oppress them after the war was over. That is a matter of well-documented fact.

Finally: Your "Your premise is false as testified in census data. Please do a little research," is laughable. You have been fed BS and were told it was cotton candy. Real research means going to the source, not hearsay from Brightbart. There would be one owner, the head of the household who owned the patent deed on the slaves. So, counting all the white men, women and children who were family (how many,5? !0? 20? 40? Per slave owner?) or employed who did not OWN the slaves, but certainly were their legal masters. So, both of your paltry and poorly sourced assumptions are incorrect, specious, and smack of bias. Research takes more than one source and a thinking skill or two a well.

Keep researching; you might find things are different from what you've been told. Good luck. Growth is good.

Andrew

the winners get to write history... statues and stained glass windows like this don't deserve to be removed...and NO they are not the same as Hitlers naziism. to promote racism and all the other claims you would have to put up posters, books, advertising, etc it would have to be voiced by the clergy, government. etc. a statue , battle flag, or stained glass window don't speak. they don't represent what you would like to make them represent. yes you can rewrite history and try to tell the public that certain things were bad or didn't happen (Japan and WW2) .parts of the world vilify the stars and stripes, to them it represents all of their preceived ills. do you think they are wrong ?/right? the stars and stripes represent hedonism and slavery,the lack of respect for other cultures etc. those who want to deny history remove it from public view, assign it made up representations... are no better than those who assign concepts to other countries standards/flags,statues etc. it seems that everyone hates everyone else...stop it, see things as they are... a battle standard is just that,a battle standard, a pride in your history is just that, pride. a respect of your forebearers is just that, respect. if you deny people their inailiable(sp) rights do you deserve yours should circumstances change ? history is just that,history..it has changed..it is no longer the norm (for good or ill) we have learned and no longer do as those in the past did. there is no need for NEW representations but the old are there to remind. PS the first ( in modern times )africans were sold into slavery by other africans.

denise knight

The monuments should NOT be removed. We need to be reminded of history 1. so we will know the truth of our roots 2. so we can celebrate past victories and get ideas for the present 3. so we can be reminded of wrongs and mistakes and learn not to make them again.

Revisionist history is a dangerous platform.

Lyn

When and where have the victors of a war allowed the losing side to commemorate their their philosophy with all kinds of statuary, flags, and organizations? This was war. A war to reunite the United States. The North won. But the South, 152 years after being beaten, celebrate a system of States rights above and beyond legality, allow for the KKK, wear and display the confederate flag, and promote racism, etc.

One person commented that Germany does not applaud Nazism. Not only do they not allow Memorabilia, it is ILLEGAL!!! And they lost the war as did the American South. The Confederate MUST conform to the laws and practices of this nation. They lost. Get over it and become a true American. We have no need for more hate in this country.

Jim D.

Ugh! Thank you to Johnny D and Dawn P for trying to bring this back around to what the article is actually about. This was not meant to prompt a debate over why the Civil War (War between the States, War of Secession, that thing we did a long time ago... whatever you're happy calling it) was fought. It was about the removal of stained glass windows depicting confederate generals from the Washington National Cathedral. As far as the war itself, keep this in mind:

North = Union = Good = Winners South = Confederacy = Bad = Losers

For the purposes of this discussion, we don't need more details than that.

Now, as for the windows, or any other monuments or memorials that have to do with whatever, it is up to either the owner of whatever governing body has authority over such things. In the case of the Cathedral, it is up to the parishioners and leaders to make that decision. It's a private entity, and they can do whatever they want.

If we are talking about the statue in the city square or in the park, that is up to the citizens of that municipality and city council. For state capitals, that decision falls to the citizens of that state, it's governor, and the state government. If there are protesters that are flooding in from far-away places to do nothing by make trouble and protest, they should be rounded up, charged with creating a public disturbance, inciting a riot, destruction of public property... whatever. They do not have anyone's best interest at heart. They are just there to make trouble.

Of course, this is just about who makes the decision on such things. The component that should also be considered is what the ramifications are when such monuments are removed. As George Santayana wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Whitewashing the landscape of monuments, statues and plaques may only be the first step. What happens when history books are edited to reflect an alternate history? Books that contradict the "new" history are banned and burned. Eventually, the old history becomes a distant memory only in the minds of the oldest of us that remember what we were taught in school... before the Revisionism. The world will be ripe to a Civil War "for the first time"... Again.

If you don't think history repeats itself, look at all the empires that once existed. Sure, we are aware of the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire... those are the biggies. But there have actually been nearly 200 official empires throughout history. And they are all gone. Why? Because each failed to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors.

The truly sad part is that all the hubbub over a bunch of glass, stone, brass and wood is ridiculous when you consider there are living, breathing people out there that would appreciate just an ounce of the effort these dopey protesters put out to make trouble. In my opinion, we have learned nothing, and we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past sooner rather than later.

Dawn Pisturino

Anybody who is so intolerant and offended by a statue, a picture, or a piece of cotton, as to have a total melt-down, is mentally ill. You cannot erase history, no matter how hard you try. The Jews keep the Holocaust alive to make sure people remember. Blacks should do the same and be proud of their accomplishments -- not dwell on being a victim. These radical movements make me dislike and lose all respect for these people. And the federal government recognizes Confederate veterans as true American veterans. It's all nonsense.

Johnny Doeseph

I am personally for keeping them up, but anti protesting to keep them up. Taking them down won't change anything, so it's a waste of time. Protesting it is also a waste, because while others may want to waste their time, I refuse to waste mine. The fact is several great confederate generals opposed slavery, but fought confederate out of loyalty to the south. The confederate flag is also commonly used as a symbol of southern pride, not so much a racist symbol anymore.

Clyde Hodge

Yes, Jackson off the twenty. He was impeached for stealing money from the treasury to fund the Trail of Tears for all Native American Folk who during the RELOCATION to Oklahoma, over one quarter of all Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, and Chickasaw in the world suffered and died. That, after the Supreme Court had recognised these folk as sovereign nations, and declared the relocation unconstitutional. My Ancestors. The genocidal, sick son-of-a-bitch deserves no sanctification on currency. He was a dirty, deceitful maggot. Read more at https://www.themonastery.org/blog/2017/09/famous-cathedral-says-goodbye-to-confederate-monuments/#SRMIItz5ZtiOhrGY.99

Clyde Hodge

Yes, Jackson off the twenty. He was impeached for stealing money from the treasury to fund the Trail of Tears for all Native American Folk who during the reelection to Oklahoma, over one quarter of all Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, and Chickasaw in the world suffered and died. That, after the Supreme Court had recognised these folk as sovereign nations, and declared the relocation unconstitutional. My Ancestors. The genocidal, sick son-of-a-bitch deserves no sanctification on currency. He was a dirty, deceitful maggot.

Clyde Hodge

You say the UnCivil War was not about slavery. Yep, instead, it was about states' rights; the right to retain slavery.Pretzel logic propaganda to promote racism and genocide. Show me one history professor living today at an accredited university who professes otherwise.

Clyde Hodge

Oh. So, evidently someone is equating the Taliban with we who are intolerant of racism, genocide, and slavery because we wish to dismount these symbols of human persecution. But, Racists put up those monuments and stained glass. The Taliban are evil because they are intolerant of other religions, and history has nothing to do with it. They rub out evidence of other religions. They slaughter and enslave innocent people. The Taliban are religionist, nationalist, and racist intolerants who believe they are better than others, just like the slave owners of America who quit the Union. The Skinhead/KKK/White Nationalists/White Supremacists are our Taliban. It is evidenced by defiantly erecting symbols of the ignorant, foolish and hateful justifications for cruelty and tyranny over another sovereign soul because of caste, class or race. It is not, by very definition, the folk who wish to END the shameful, overt, glorification of Class, Cast, and genocide. There is a difference between censorship and relocating symbols of hate off of their oppressive propaganda pedestals. Any logical person knows that.

Bill Fox

If you don't like what the National Cathedral is doing, don't donate. It was built by and supported by private contributions. It represents the best of intentions and the worst of results.

Preacher Man

For those who think they know their history, go back and read the Emancipation Proclamation. Mr. Lincoln banned slavery for the Confederate States only. He wanted to cut down on the Confederate manpower resources. Slavery was alive and well in the Union States until after the Civil War. But, the majority of Americans, unread regarding history, claim the Lincoln was the Godsend who abolished slavery. The cold truth is, there was no slavery under the rebel flag. That's more than you can say for the British flag or the American flag.

Jackie

IF I were of African decent I would not want history rewritten. I would fear that without these visual reminders history would be repeated. And before someone makes a snide remark about me not knowing what I'm talking about let me state that my ancestors were Irish and German Jew. I can match any groups horror stories.

Carolyn Jean Evans

These windows were put in place in 1953, not in 1863--They were part of a push back against the Civil Rights Movement. Most of the Confederate Statues and monuments date from the Civil Rights Period of the 50's and 60's or the Jim Crow era..not from the time of the Civil War. They were deliberate attempts to infuse a false nobility in "The Cause" and to continue the subjugation of people of color, of which I am one according to the Jim Crow Laws...although I have the fair skin of my Irish ancestors. I think that if the statues and monuments remain, they should also include a statement as to when they were erected and the reason behind them...the real reason.

Lori Lassiter

Museums preserve history. The belong in a museum, not "lording over" people.

Ed

I don't think these windows ever belonged in a cathedral, a house of worship, to begin with. They are lovely windows and should certainly be preserved for history, but not in a church.

Amanda McCreless

I disagree. If the government takes down one monument they should take down all religious or political monuments.

Steve

I keep seeing on here as well as other places that Confederate soldiers and ALL of the south during the Civil War as TRAITORS..... Therefore they ALL should be removed. OK our founding fathers were called traitors (yes even by other colonist) during the time of the American revolution. So do we start taking down statues of Washington, Jefferson, etc??????Do we ban the American Flag?????

Chad Ali

The statues are American history. People need to wake up and find something else to complain about. I believe that they should stay where they are and if people do not like them they should move. So what are we supposed to do remove all George Washington and Andrew Jackson statues because they and many of the founding fathers were slave owners. The past is the past move on and grow up already because we can not change the past. God bless America

william n Hodges

As on Facebook you should have a place on each of the statements and replies were we can mark we agree or not with the statement. It would quickly show how many people like or dislike statements made and be more accurate in showing how our group feels.

Mike L

Monuments and statues lionizing traitors and losers do not belong on public land. Huzzah to those private institutions removing memorials to those who committed treason against the United States Those who want to keep memorials and monuments to traitors and losers should buy them from the local governments and erect them in their own yards.

wayne k.

The taliban also like erasing by destroying history that doesn't fit their belief system. those who ignore history are often forced to repeat it. history is something to learn from, not hide like it never happened.

Rev. T. King

There's a difference between erasing history and ceasing to celebrate the lives of people who did not make a positive contribution to it.

Minister Anthony Longstreet

To take down anything that reflect racism is a plus. But it is my opinion that as long as the issue of racism and the issue about the confederate flag has been talked about you would think that they should have been took down those materialistic things that resembled racism since they are people who represent God. God do not uphold the abuse of mankind.

Tom B

Once again i ask you to stop the censorship...thank you...Tom

Tom B

This is clearly revisionist history...as long as there is no active promoting of slavery, prejudice, bias, etc, by parents, schools and theological institutions, this mania to destroy statues is just another excuse to rile people up...every country has historical figures and icons of which it would not be proud today...as has been sung: teach your children well...Tom

Clyde Hodge

Some interesting folk ask, "Where will it stop?" It stops as of the first day of the War of Secession (Not Civil, it wasn't, not between the states, for the Confederacy claimed to be a country...). Washington's monuments are not in danger when Stonewall Jackson is taken down just because they both had slaves. All that is straw man bull is full of false equivalency. Those generals who fought for the South were merely traitors, and anyone but the poor grunts who fought and died for these slave owner secessionists were merely traitors, too. Washington, though a slave owner was a founder, not a traitor to this country. Washington was a traitor to Great Britain, but he won. I don't know of one statue,or any memorial for that matter, of King George III anywhere in the USA. The Tories got over it. No one wants to become a British colony again. Secondly, Separation between church and state is on a dangerous precipice when tax dollars fund religious edifices in the first place. Not a cent should go to any religious organization in this country that isn't given as personal tithing. These gross constructions mimicking Eurocentric Christianity and its colonialist structures are an abomination to the First Amendment. That said, any stained glass window in any religious edifice that has anything but religious scenes relating solely to that religion is a non-sequitur. To think that racist radicals had so much power in the Fifties to get those stained glass windows in that church, nearly a century after the the War of Secession scares the booboo out of me. That is not history, it is a feeble effort at visual propaganda supporting racism. Simple. Clear. Obvious. While some racist artist included "Read the Bible" in his stained glass window, he obviously didn't bother to read the Constitution. The vast majority of Whites either owned slaves, were part of the family that owned slaves, or their income was inextricably woven into the inhuman industry of slavery and its products. The Deep South's only real reason to leave the Union was slavery. Period. The rest is window dressing and myths. That said, "The Day They Drove Ole Dixie Down" is an apt and justifiable song against the unnecessary abuse by the North in it's self-righteous fervor. Sheridan's scorched earth policy in the South on his swath of destruction to Savanna was seen as inhumanly cruel even by Northerners as adding insult upon injury of a population. The post-war "Reconstruction" was a barrel of fish every carpetbagger from the North was sure to profit by just shooting into it. The oppression of the White population evidently was real, and it seems not many from the North objected to the South's new (albeit somewhat justifiable) subjugation. That breeds hate, loathing, and revenge that was soon taken out upon the black population as an easy target. After winning the war and helping free Black folk, Sheridan demonstrated his hypocrisy by going back to the West and murdering Native American Indians with glee and impunity. Sherman is just the murdering racist who won. As a citizen of a Nation of America's First Peoples, I think that this genocidal maniac's sculptures should be taken down, too. (Well, at least the ones depicted after the Uncivil War.) Lincoln and Sheridan were surely racists. They just won. They surely ain't saints. Their countenances have no place in religious art or displayed in a religious edifice either.

Kathleen Baird

The best comment I have seen regarding the Confederate statues glorifying those who sought to destroy the United States, in order to keep their right to own human beings as slaves, was this: Would you look at it as just "preserving history" if Germans put up statues of Hitler to honour the man who killed millions because he deemed them to be sub-humans?

Mark

Will it matter in 5 years? Will/does it change history? Aren't these the questions?

Alicia

This is a cathedral....a church. Why are there images of anyone other than those relevant to the religion? Sorry....these windows don't belong and should be replaced by something relevant.

As for taking down all statues of Confederate generals: No.....Leave them alone! These men were a part of our history, good, bad or indifferent. Instead of taking them down, use them as tools of learning. Slavery was not the only issue of the Civil War. This happened over a hundred years ago. We have grown as a nation in many ways, one of which is to know that slavery should never happen again. Instead of taking down these statues, commission new ones to stand along side them. Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Dred Scott....all deserve to be to stand in bronze the part they played in history. Teach the good with the bad.

It's become a joke to take down statues/monuments and change names of buildings, streets and schools simply because the person these things were named after were slave owners, or fought for the Confederacy. Washington and Jefferson may have owned slaves, but they were the product of their time but, owning slaves was not ALL they did!

Where will the insanity end? A theater in Tennessee will no longer show Gone with the Wind because it's now considered "offensive". An elementary school must now change it's name because it's named after the Lynch family, who donated the property to build that school. There's a call to ban To Kill a Mockingbird because it's "racist". Where does it stop????

Robert Sherman Nix III

It don't look like it made an issue until the media made it a political issue and it is a violation of the civil rights of Confederate people who has rights in these matters that other people have partially or totally but the Confederate people absolutely have rights to these Confederate images

Robert Sherman Nix III

The problems about Confederate issues is they are almost Revolutionary War period in which slander and defamation is used against the Confederates who lacked motives that modern day people hate them as themselves display, therefore the actions of the Church show ignorance, bowing to secular pressure, or they are hypocrite's and haters. If previous generations did not see hate symbols but regular symbols of their nation, then it is only today viewed as hate symbols from insistence by anti-Confederate schools have taught it as such, when in fact it is a symbol of the nation. There were not only one race and if so these actions by the Church likewise inflict hate against the people rather than reconciliation and denial of the United States and absolvement of the Unite States for its crimes and wrongs in the Civil War by emptying itself upon the South to carry all the blame, which is unjust and a lie. Once secession was confirmed by the States, the Civil War proceeded by Lincoln to force them into the United States by force and bloodshed, and in that process the slavery fell by men being away at the battle front, which is not unethical except if criminally applied, so that it is just as true to say the Confederacy ended slavery by fighting in the Civil War as to say the same for the Union . Another pitfall the Church is putting itself into, is that the current political anti-Confederate hysterics has nothing to do with post-Civil War reunion and reconciliation, but is cheap hate and utilized by Communist and others who have no stakeholders in Civil War images, such as later immigrants which the Civil War had no bona fide connection in all the facets of dynamics, but are only taught that Confederates were victimizers which is a lie. Many Indians were Confederates and it I'd similar to when someone just becomes a hate mongers and fictionalizes crimes and characters of a another generation of current people which is slander and libel and hate mongers because it is a lie, and in that case all the African flags should be removed from America for their own slavery if this justice it makes a liar of truth.

Robert Sherman Nix III

Robert Sherman Nix III

No, I do not agree with removal of Çonfederate images as they have naught to do with racism but secession. The Civil War was not fought for slavery. And for that matter slavery was a worldwide economic reality for Negroes on Negroes also. To remove images is hypocritical, stigmatizes Southerners, and makes scapegoats of the South in the face of and against historical reality. The Church makes itself into a liar as the Confederates were patriots that the other regions of the United States were versus, and that these images illustrated reconciliation and not the conflict the Church is saying is motivation of their actions, but in opposite the images are representative of reconciliation and healing of the rift in the nation, and not emblems if racism but denote honesty of the Confederates. Therefore you might as well remove the building because you are trustworthy to administer justice, as it is a hunt against Confederate apropos and nothing to do about church shootings or flags used in such things but is anti-Confedederate and wronging the people in their graves by labeling them in a criminal way. Do you forget Negroe Confederates ? Because thus action is lying under assumption Confederates were not Negroes and it spreads the lies that Confederate images are versus inclusiveness when in fact the anti-Confederates garner some value of hate mongers in choruses against minority Confederates that stood up to the bullying United States tyrants and regional president Lincoln so that the Civil War was region against region not about slavery except some northern people could not obtain slaves, which was all colors, and these actions reinforce lied in society about history of slavery, a black on black establishment , as if it were Confederates that iniated slavery, so that the Church is choosing a lie to support.

Lee Boutell

Statues, monuments, decorative windows, plaques and other items that celebrate the Confederacy do not belong in public spaces without providing historical context to explain what they represent and detailing what happened to our country because of the abomination of a racially-based system of slavery. These monuments do belong in a museum--we do need to realize how strongly the attitude of racism and white supremacy remains to this day. We need to be able to see how so many southerners have tried to re-interpret and re-define the reason for the Civil War as a fight for "state's rights." So we should put these plaques and monuments in a museum and provide explanatory context.

But these monuments do not belong out on the street or in other public spaces. Being in public spaces implies support for what they represent--slavery, white supremacy, rebellion and according to the US Constitution, treason (taking up arms against the USA). Why should we publicly honor racism, rebellion and treason? If you choose to honor the Confederate rebellion or white supremacy you can do it in the privacy of your own home, but not in public. And to a large percentage of Americans, the display of Confederate items is disgusting, appalling and insulting, similarly to how Jews view the Nazi flag.

After defeat of the Nazis, Germany outlawed the display of Nazi flags or other items associated with Nazis, including doing the Nazi salute. Nazi leaders were tried and convicted as war criminals. The USA did not go so far as to outlaw the Confederate flag or other items and did not put the rebels on trial (although many northern leaders had insisted that this be the case) but the fact that the issues of slavery and systemic racism are still being debated and causing problems 150 years after the Civil War suggests that perhaps the government of the USA was far too gentle with the treasonous rebels after the Confederacy was defeated militarily and surrendered. Some may argue that creating monuments to the rebellion should have been made illegal in the first place.

Instead of trials and laws being made after the war, Abraham Lincoln wanted the nation to heal. He insisted that we forgive, re-build and try to heal the country that was so violently torn apart . Apparently his wish for healing this divided country has never been fulfilled.

Rev. John

Where are we going? If we remove the statues, stained-glass windows, what's next? The Tombs of the Unknown Soldiers? This is OUR history. The history of OUR great Nation! If we keep removing the monuments, we erase how our Nation was built, we sacrifice the memory of the people who gave their lives for our freedom. What do we have left?

I can understand the pain that these may mean to people, but to grow, we need to face the pain of the past to grow into the future. If we ignore what has happened in the past we are doomed to make the same mistakes. I can see no sense in removing them.

James

Look for trouble and you'll find it. Look for a reason and you'll find it. Do we really know the history of the Civil War? Do we really have the understanding to say it was only, only due to slavery? So being lead around by your noses. More than half of the earth still has slavery. America was one of the first to outlaw it and the north had slaves far after the Civil War. The largest slave traders and breeders were of African decent. Not to mention European people were slaves as well. Not only in America. Not saying that the Civil War or slavery wasn't, isn't horrible, yet this is just like religion and the constitution. Freedom of religion, not from religion. Freedom of expression, not from expression. My grandfather always said to keep your nose out of other people's business. So if we don't live there ;yep "butt out!" let's try not to point to an issue in a negative way. Let's be thankful we learned from our past and honor the changes we made and the lives lost to change. Even by having memorials of it. Lets do what is next.

Ray

1984 is here, a tad late but here.

Jean Hill

I thought we were adults on this site who attempted to respect each other despite differences in opinion, faith, etc. I see Rev. Hoagie attacking HSW as a communist because HSW didn't like the windows in the National Cathedral. This makes me think of the Westboro Baptist Church tactics, and I hope HSW isn't intimidated into shrinking from the fray. Having said that, I will share my OPINION about this issue. Opinions are neither right or wrong, they just are, like feelings. We cannot erase history. It happened. It has been commemorated in many movies, books, and museums. We don't need to glorify the Civil War in which so many Americans died on both sides. I doubt if we're going to forget the Civil War for many many years, judging by the persistence and resurgence of white supremacy and bigotry even, apparently, in the White House. I don't think stained glass windows glorifying the Civil War belong in any church. Just my opinion. I was raised in the South, but I was educated as to the fallacies being taught and lived in many places in the South - I believe we are all created equal - ALL. And nobody is more equal than anyone else, as my father used to opine, tongue in cheek...

hsw

I've seen the windows in the National Cathedral. Each time I found them garish and out of place in a house of worship. I think they did the right thing.

rebadams7

Everything should be held in context. There is a place to remember those fallen soldiers there is a place to remember how our country was torn asunder and put back together. The history we do not know is the history we are doomed to repeat. The more you point out differences the more prominent and divisive they become. We are allowing outside forces to determine our truth and our history instead of our own country and our own conscience leading us. I am very sad R

Doug Barron

The National Cathedral; those who oversee it, srand for nothing; so the will move with popular whim, in order to be politically correct. Jesus was NOT politically correct! Shalom.