(08-14-2017, 06:39 PM)jagibelieve Wrote:

(08-14-2017, 06:10 PM)TJBender Wrote: The idea of removing a statue because it's "offensive" is no less repugnant than naming a school after the founder of the KKK as a reaction to the Civil Rights movement. That said, and even if we put the idea of being "offended" aside (we should), Confederate generals, officials, soldiers, they're all traitors. They all spent four years committing high treason against the United States. Their monuments and the flags that represent them should be removed from public land and donated to private museums, memorials, places where they can go to be teaching tools instead of government-sanctioned methods of honoring traitors.

Again I ask.  Where does it stop?  We have renamed some schools here in Jacksonville because the name of the school was deemed "offensive".  I can somewhat agree with that, though I don't totally buy it.  RJ was correct in the fact that new schools were built and named after Confederate Generals or other figures as a result of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950's and 60's.

My question is this though.  Why is the name of said schools all of the sudden "offensive" 4 decades+ later?  Why rename the schools after all this time?  Are they not a part of the city's history?

How long have these Confederate statues and monuments stood?  Why is it that they are somehow all of the sudden "offensive" and need to be removed?  As far as The Confederate Generals, officials, soldiers they were exorcising their right under the Declaration of Independence at the time.  They never committed "high treason" against the United States.  As a refresher, take a look at this bit.

Quote:We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. 

The Confederacy was simply following the Declaration of Independence.

Putting that argument aside though, where does it end?  Should the Hart Bridge be renamed?  Should the city be renamed?  Should the river be renamed since it does have ties to Catholicism?

Where does the madness and PC stuff stop?

Perhaps people should be more focused on teaching their children about the history of this nation, both good and bad, and less on trying to erase it all together because they find it offensive?  The best way to learn from our many mistakes isn't to erase them from history. It's to teach our kids about them so that they aren't repeated. By trying to wash them away like this, we're not doing future generations any favors. But, we're pandering to the politically correct crowd, so they've got momentary satisfaction....until they can find the next thing to be offended about. It never ends.

We're already on the slippery slope, so the suggestions you make above, as absurd as they sound right now, no doubt they'll be in the cross hairs of our easily offended snowflakes in the near future.  Look for St Augustine to be ground zero for the eradication of any religious symbolism.  You've got a major Catholic presence there with the Basilica and the Mission Nombre de Dios representing major anchors in the community.  These must be dealt with because they no doubt offend a broad swath of the progressive community.

---