Quote of the Day: History and Monuments

 

“You can wipe out entire generations, burn their homes to the ground, somehow they’ll find their way back. But if you destroy their history, you destroy their achievements, then it’s as though they never existed.” — George Clooney in the movie The Monuments Men

I love this movie, the humor, the actors, the message. The true story that the movie is based on, however, is far from funny.

Great works of art from around the world — sculptures, paintings, priceless heirlooms, altar pieces — were stolen from museums, family homes, synagogues, and churches, intended to become the personal, prized possessions of Hitler and his regime. Thousands and thousands of important pieces of history were loaded up on rail cars and trucks to be shipped to storage facilities, salt mines, and various other hidden places — pieces of civilization that told the story of culture, country, faith, an era, with all its flaws, its magnificence, its talent. In the event of military defeat, it was all ordered destroyed.

I am reminded today that there are those who want to stamp out history, the good and the bad, as though it never was, and they cannot be allowed to succeed. Sometimes bad ideas start out small, by silencing political or personal opinion, escalating to a movement that can snowball into the destruction of pieces of history as though it never was. Whether it’s the incredible story of Syria, the beginnings of an ancient civilization, and the great Buddhas, all destroyed by ISIS, to culture today that is allowing the banning of books, from To Kill a Mockingbird to Dr. Seuss, or tearing down and defacing monuments as a proper way to make a statement.

By attempting to sanitize history, we lose a message to learn from, whether it be slavery, war, religion, literature, and symbols of the birth of the greatest nation on earth, the United States — it’s struggles — it all has value.

 

Hitler and Stalin tried to seduce the world into believing in a fake equality for all – that essentially destroyed freedom and equality for all, killing millions and enslaving millions more.

Poland survived when it ceased to exist on a map, absorbed into communist Russia, by going underground and keeping their history alive quietly through poetry, stories, plays, songs, regular holy masses, and sheer memory. When the cold war ended, Polish Solidarity, the unions, built the bells for the first church. All the Christian churches were destroyed by the communists. The bells were forged from iron and sweat by a free people.

Poland became free from communism not so long ago in the 1980s. Listen to the sound of freedom:

May we hold fast to our history, our founders’ messages, our monuments, and teach new generations their value, as well as the value of a conversation, a difference of opinion, the whole story of our freedom, not just pieces, and never take history for granted.

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There are 12 comments.

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  1. Stina Inactive
    Stina
    @CM

    Absolutely! Beautifully written, FSC.

    • #1
  2. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Spot on.

    Pity “real” conservatives are quick to join the left in removing statues.

    Cancled my NR subscription over that one.

    • #2
  3. Ralphie Inactive
    Ralphie
    @Ralphie

    I liked the book better, and it helped to read it before seeing the movie. But I still liked the movie and am glad you posted about it.

    Cicero said “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?”

    Art is history.

    • #3
  4. KentForrester Coolidge
    KentForrester
    @KentForrester

    Ms. Cat, we on the right side need to keep writing essays like yours, full of common sense and historical reminders.

    The Left has gone off the rails on this issue, and we need to keep our train on the track.

    Good job, Front.

    Kent

    • #4
  5. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    KentForrester (View Comment):
    Ms. Cat, we on the right side need to keep writing essays like yours, full of common sense and historical reminders.

    The Left has gone off the rails on this issue, and we need to keep our train on the track.

    Good job, Front.

    Kent –  “Front” here : -) thank you all for the nice comments – Can anyone recommend similar books, movies and texts as reminders or even teaching tools? I am always learning, and hope we can all counteract the misinformation so prevalent out there in cyberspace…

    • #5
  6. Trink Coolidge
    Trink
    @Trink

    Front Seat Cat:  May we hold fast to our history, our founder’s messages, our monuments, and teach new generations their value, as well as the value of a conversation, a difference of opinion, the whole story of our freedom, not just pieces, and never take history for granted.

    AMEN.

    Beautiful post “Front” :)

     

    • #6
  7. lowtech redneck Coolidge
    lowtech redneck
    @lowtech redneck

    My only regret is that I have but one like to give.

    Outstanding post, FSC.

    • #7
  8. ShawnB Inactive
    ShawnB
    @ShawnB

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):
    Spot on.

    Pity “real” conservatives are quick to join the left in removing statues.

    Cancled my NR subscription over that one.

    That was my initial reaction, too.  But I thought again about it when I learned when and why many of these statues were put up.  Some ought to come down because they were placed there by those who in essence were trying to thwart the results of the Civil War and reconstruction amendments to the Constitution.  Pretty much anything put up in the South during the Klan era should be suspect.  We should have statues to Grant, Sherman, Lincoln, Sheridan, Douglass, etc. throughout the South.  What bothers me about the deconstruction movement though is that their motives aren’t remotely pure.  They are anti-American, not anti-confederate.

    • #8
  9. Thomas Anger Member
    Thomas Anger
    @

    The present drive to deny history is part of the broader movement to impose uniformity of thought by denying to the targeted group its sense of uniqueness and its badges of greatness. It is an ages-old and successful strategy, which puts the targeted group on the defensive and divides the targeted group by seducing many of its members into joining the cause, in the name of “liberalism”. Thus the eagerness of media elites, academicians, collegians, and others who are swayed by “correct” opinion to join the lynch mob that is baying for the blood of heterosexual white males of European descent — retroactively and prospectively. Then, having succeeded in dominating that target group, it will begin to purge the “impure” from its ranks, probably starting with heterosexual white females of European descent.

    • #9
  10. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    If you’re interested in providing a quotation for our Quote of the Day Series, we still have four openings in November. Why not sign up right now?

    • #10
  11. Ralphie Inactive
    Ralphie
    @Ralphie

    Thomas Anger (View Comment):
    The present drive to deny history is part of the broader movement to impose uniformity of thought by denying to the targeted group its sense of uniqueness and its badges of greatness. It is an ages-old and successful strategy, which puts the targeted group on the defensive and divides the targeted group by seducing many of its members into joining the cause, in the name of “liberalism”. Thus the eagerness of media elites, academicians, collegians, and others who are swayed by “correct” opinion to join the lynch mob that is baying for the blood of heterosexual white males of European descent — retroactively and prospectively. Then, having succeeded in dominating that target group, it will begin to purge the “impure” from its ranks, probably starting with heterosexual white females of European descent.

    Brilliant.

    • #11
  12. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    So, after watching the trailer, I asked my wife, who happens to be a visual arts librarian, “Have you heard of The Monuments Men?”

    She quickly dug into a pile of DVDs on the coffee table where she has brought them home with the intention of watching them, “You mean this one?”

    So, we watched it tonight. Good flick. I loved the present of the American flag scene.

    • #12
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