SPECTRUM: Memory and the need for monuments

The subject of monuments will not go away; nor should it. Monuments are an important tool in our remembering. Properly disciplined, our memories are a very good servant of the future. Public monuments remind us of what has happened. They remind us of both the things we have done right and the things we have done wrong.

I have visited Washington, D.C., several times. During my visits I have made them into opportunities to visit our nation’s great monuments. Each monument has provided me with an opportunity to stop, read inscriptions, and ponder the human experience that we call the United States of America. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the president of my childhood and youth. He was an eloquent speaker. He left us many quotes to remember. His memorial is appropriately a series of statements we all need to remember. “I have seen war. I hate war.”

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!”

All the monuments are truly impressive. Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr. Among these great monuments, one left me more moved than any other. It was the Viet Nam Wall of Honor. There are no eloquent words to remember. It is a long wall covered with names of Americans who died in that horrible conflict. The long list of names memorializes a conflict that was wrong, immoral and a blot of shame on the record of our nation. The egregious war in Viet Nam must never be forgotten. At the same time it is appropriate to honor those who gave their lives in that misguided conflict.

World War II, the Korean conflict, and the Viet Nam war are all in my memory bank and inform me constantly about conflict and the search for peace among human beings. This memory bank along with the teachings of Jesus from Nazareth were in my mind when a protest about the removal of a memorial took place in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Our war between the states, that we call the “Civil” War, was even worse than the war in Viet Nam. In doing research about my family, I found that two Bess brothers moved from North Carolina to Southeast Missouri. One became a slave owner; the other became an abolitionist. Their families killed one another during that stupid war.

As bad and as ugly as that war was, I would argue that we should never forget it. I would argue further that the war between the states should be properly memorialized. Statues of Robert E. Lee are proper and should not be moved or destroyed. We need statues of Robert E. Lee just like we need the Viet Nam memorial in Washington, D.C.

Robert E. Lee was not an evil man. He was a conflicted man, caught in a period of history when there were no clean hands or winners. Americans killed one another. I am not a historian, but I know enough about Robert E. Lee to know that he was both honorable and despicable. Every statue of Robert E. Lee ought to be an opportunity for serious discussion about the evil and tragedy of slavery. Every child who grows up in America should be involved in the discussions. Not just slavery but every denial of freedom and equality should be put aside permanently. This is truly our American heritage. We must forever remember.

I write as a devoted follower of Jesus of Nazareth. He was committed to the doing of justice. I must also be devoted to the doing of justice. However, when I write of justice I do not mean the same thing as many Americans mean when they call for justice. The typical American idea of justice is for there to be punishment equal to the crime committed. In contrast the justice for which Jesus called is achieved when everyone is made whole. I understand that the American definition of justice is the law. The Jesus definition is my faith commitment and the Christian witness to the non-believing world.

The key to the Christian understanding of justice is forgiveness. Forgiveness says that the past is the past and that every moment in time is the right time for the new beginning. It is the ultimate clean slate.

A corrupted version of Christian justice is to “forgive and forget.” Forgetting is not possible and not healthy when attempted. Nothing is ever forgotten. Typically those things that we say are forgotten are not forgotten but buried. When buried the forgotten material takes charge of a person’s subconscious and reigns supreme. Christian forgiveness never suggests forgetting. Rather it declares past sins/misdeeds/errors benign and powerless over the future.

Monuments are a reminder and a witness to history, good and bad. Properly used, monuments are special preparations for the new beginning, the new day with opportunity for every persons.

I cherish the Viet Nam memorial. I likewise honor and respect the Robert E. Lee statues.

We need to get on down the road with healthy memories and abundant forgiveness.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.