Shaming False Devils

 Slavery and the treatment of African Americans especially in the south left a scab on our nation’s history.  It is a scab that will always remain and serves to remind us of the injustice that was inflicted on our society.  Lately, certain people have been picking at that scab, perhaps trying to erase those painful reminders.  Statues have been removed, names changed, fingers pointed, boycotts urged, and people shamed.  But picking at the scab has reopened old wounds.  We can no longer freely interact with one another for fear of touching nerves that have been over-sensitized.  A sense of separation has arisen, an us and them awareness, counterproductive to the unity we might seek.

 

The University of Wisconsin-Madison recently removed a giant boulder that had been a campus landmark for nearly one hundred years because a 1925 Wisconsin State Journal article used the N-word in describing it.  No other record of this terminology to describe the rock could be found anywhere except for this one particular newspaper article.  Now in 2021, someone has decided that the boulder needed to be moved because it could be offensive.  The only victim in this case is the boulder itself.  It didn’t ask to be described in this manner by some crude long-forgotten journalist.  Thinking that relocating this massive rock somehow makes the world a better place is just plain ridiculous.

 
Closer to home, Valparaiso University has changed its nickname from Crusaders to Beacons reportedly because groups such as the Ku Klux Klan began using words and symbols associated with the Crusades.  Again, this is political correctness run amok.  One can make a derogatory connection to most any person, place or thing if one tries hard enough.  Suppose we uncover an article that claims beacons were once used to hunt down runaway slaves at night.  Would the university be compelled to change its name again?  Where do we draw the line?  Someone will always claim to be offended.
 

We know what it is to worship false gods.  They were prevalent in the Old Testament and we have our own today.  The problem lies not in the idol itself, but in the manner in which it is beheld by our human intellect.  The symbols being removed today can be regarded as false devils, objects perceived to be connected with some past evil, but really having nothing to do with the evil itself.  Finding them has become a modern day witch hunt, a quest to make a sinister association to formerly respected icons.  Removing them is like placing a band-aid where a wound has long since healed or never actually existed.  It simply calls renewed attention to a painful past event.

 
We Americans have it too good.  We should be thankful for the many blessings we have and stop nitpicking about names, statues, symbols and everything else that has no bearing on our future.  Playing the victim is never a good strategy.   Until we regain respect for human life, our society will continue to spiral downward.  The Catholic Church has the answers but few will listen.  In the meantime, hang on for dear life.