On Monuments, Idols, and Rights.

revjimbo
revjimbo
Aug 22, 2017 · 3 min read

There has been a lot of conversation lately in our public discourse related to monuments. Especially ones that celebrate the Confederacy.

One popular evangelical Christian megastar, who shall go unnamed, recently used the Bible to say that “memorials” are a good and worthy thing, so let’s just keep with the status quo. I think however that he has confused the difference between a memorial and a monument, especially monuments that were constructed specifically to celebrate the confederate cause.

I do think that monuments have different meanings for different people and we are not likely to ever agree on what exactly a particular monument “means.” Some say the monuments of the Confederacy merely reflect and celebrate the heritage of the South while others say they were put up as a continuing form of rebellion protesting the strides our nation took towards civil rights.

I don’t pretend to know what any particular monument might mean to you or to anyone else for that matter, but lately I’ve been thinking a lot about a particular issue identified in 1 Corinthians 8 that arose in the early Christian church.

The early church had to deal with an issue related to idols. The variety of gods and their representations were many in a society that was polytheistic. Many of these gods had meat sacrificed to them which was later made available for public consumption.

Paul clearly says it’s no big deal to eat such meat. After all those gods are not real and they are in no way equal to the God we worship in Jesus Christ. But still, there are some who for whatever reason have not yet come around to Paul’s point of view. They feel like eating such food is a dishonor to God and that it defiles them to eat it.

Paul tells those who agree with his view, “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak.” He suggests they should refrain from eating such meat if it causes a problem for another person whose conscience is violated by it.

What does this have to do with the issue at hand? Well, monuments have an ascribed value and meaning, different to many people for different reasons. Monuments also can quickly become idols, which is apparently obvious in how we will cling to them for dear life and will defend them with every fiber of our being.

If my monument and my right to keep up said monument has become a rally cry for white nationalists, neo-nazis, and racists then perhaps I ought to consider that my right might very well need to give way to the good of taking it down, in a goal that serves the common good of our nation. Why should I keep something up that is a stumbling block to those who would use it to rally others to their evil cause?

If my monument and my right to keep up said monument continues to fuel a spirit of divisiveness in our land between whites and blacks and its presence is identified as a means of continuing to pour salt on the wounds of a once enslaved people, then yes, my right might very well need to give way to the good of taking it down, in a goal that serves the common good of our nation. Why should I keep something up that is a stumbling block towards the pursuit of truth, justice, freedom, and liberty for all?

And finally, if my monument and my right to keep up said monument becomes more important to me than the common good of our nation or what my love and support of it might communicate to others, well then perhaps that right (and the monument) has become an idol.

Paul says it pretty bluntly, “When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.”

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revjimbo

Written by

revjimbo

Musings of a PC(USA) minister on the intersection between faith and politics. **Views may not represent those of the church I serve. Read at your own risk.

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