Tearing down statues of people who lived more than a hundred years ago accomplishes nothing. If someone feels threatened by these statues, maybe they need to talk to a professional to find out why. Statues are statues. Unless they fall and hit you on the head, they are harmless. Denying history should not be something acceptable. Meanwhile, the insanity continues.

The Daily Signal is reporting today that Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia, where Washington became a founding member in 1773, will remove his memorial and a similar one to Robert E. Lee. Neither of these men were perfect men, but they were honorable men who followed their consciences and tried to do what was right.

The article reports:

The church’s decision to remove the plaques puts it at the center of a nationwide debate over the display of memorials to important American historical figures whose acts or statements didn’t comport with today’s social norms. Many groups have protested against public memorials to Confederate generals, such as Lee, and also to transformative presidents, such as Washington, Andrew Jackson, and even Abraham Lincoln.

The memorials at Christ Church in Alexandria were placed at the same time in 1870, months after Lee’s death. City residents chipped in for the plaques for both leaders, whose families had for many years been generous donors to the church’s endowment.

The Rev. Noelle York-Simmons, rector of the church, told The Washington Times the decision to take down the memorials was made by “unanimous vote” of the vestry, or church leadership committee. Church leaders say the plaques will come down by next summer, but no decision has been made as to how they will be displayed in another part of the church grounds.

As noted in the article, this is a debate over “…important American historical figures whose acts or statements didn’t comport with today’s social norms.” We need to remember that we cannot look at history through the lens of today. Slavery was a horrible thing,–but it is a chapter in our history. It is also a chapter that we chose to close as a nation.  We also need to remember that slavery is still acceptable today in many of the Muslim countries in the world. The Islamic religion has no problem with the idea of taking non-Muslims as slaves.

George Washington was an honorable man. His reluctance to be crowned king of America gave us the republic we cherish. To tear down the person of George Washington is to tear down one of the pillars in the foundation of America.