The British historian Arnold Toynbee once said, “History is just one damned thing after another,” but that’s clearly not the case in the writing of the events that have occurred. As another historian once wrote, every new generation must rewrite history in order to imagine the future. Clearly in attacking the Smithsonian’s presentation of the American past, the White House is trying to imagine a future that denies the existence of how we developed as a Nation in order to create a future in is image.
Its report, “Saving America’s Story,” begins with a quote from Lyndon Johnson, whose faith in our future is so far removed from the present occupant, it is not to be believed. This document claims that the Smithsonian has moved from history to activism, that is, it has not presented the sanitized version most of us learned when we were children.
Claiming the Smithsonian is “anti-white,” pro-illegal immigration, and pro DEI, the writers hark back to a time when we did not learn about the destruction of Native Americans or even the horrors of slavery. After all, didn’t those enslaved persons learn skills here? Indeed, every generation must rewrite history, interpreting of the events of the past, in order to consider what we should be in the future, but to blind ourselves to those events will only enable us to consider a future that is narrow and ultimately undemocratic.
Prayer for the Day
Searching for the truth, we are told falsehoods,
Looking for the light, we are given only flickers of flame;
We know, O God, our history has both glory and shame,
And acknowledging our sins is the path to repentance.
Hold us, O Lord, as you held those who sinned against you,
So we as a people may truly be reconciled with one another.
In the name of the One who calls us to search for truth,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”
George Orwell, writer (1903-1950)
Study the past if you would define the future.
Confucius, Chinese philosopher (551-479 BCE)
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark says from of old,
Things that we have heard and known, that our ancestors have told us
We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation
Psalm 78: 2-4a