{"id":9804,"date":"2019-07-06T22:29:24","date_gmt":"2019-07-07T02:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=9804"},"modified":"2019-07-06T22:37:11","modified_gmt":"2019-07-07T02:37:11","slug":"looking-at-history-through-a-contemporary-lens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=9804","title":{"rendered":"looking at history through a contemporary lens…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve been intrigued as of late as to how we judge things now. Specifically, there seems an increasing trend to apply filters from today<\/strong> to assess circumstances from before.<\/strong> There seems diminishing room for the allowance of the truth that \u201cwe don\u2019t know what we don\u2019t know\u201d \u2014 meaning our predecessors on this planet did not know <\/em>then<\/em><\/strong> all that we know <\/em>now.<\/em><\/strong> And so we\u2019re tempted to re-examine circumstances centuries old through a contemporary lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is that right? Is it wrong? Does it provide an accurate perspective?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are so many examples here \u2014 and I write this hesitantly, knowing we really won\u2019t do the entire topic justice \u2014 but let\u2019s quickly take note of two examples from last week, before applying the lens question further\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Charlottesville, Virginia, the city council voted to remove Thomas Jefferson\u2019s birthday as a local holiday. With Jefferson\u2019s prominent place in American history in addition to being the founder of the University of Virginia, he has long been especially revered in our 10th state. He also owned large numbers of slaves and reportedly fathered children with another slave after his wife passed away. In a separate council vote, they then declared the city will instead celebrate “Liberation and Freedom Day,\u201d marking the emancipation of the enslaved at the end of the Civil War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also last week, Nike, Inc. pulled a shoe from the shelves. The sneaker featured the \u201cBetsy Ross Flag,\u201d promoted with the 4th of July. First unveiled in 1792, this flag is one of 27 designs our country has utilized over the course of our existence, used primarily for celebrations of our nation’s birthday. It has been prominently displayed at multiple presidents\u2019 inaugurations, including at the first inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009. Nike pulled the flag at the urging of athlete\/activist Colin Kaepernick, who said the design was offensive because of the flag\u2019s perceived association with an era of slavery and with some white supremacist groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how do we walk through this wisely? How do we respect and learn from history without discounting all that\u2019s associated with history? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern scholars find things now<\/em> that we didn\u2019t realize were bad then.<\/em> I am pondering, therefore, if the previous lack of awareness justifies now diminishing the worth of an era, person, or person\u2019s contributions. And then we go further\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we picking and choosing? Are we picking and choosing when to be offended and what we will discount and disregard?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s go to another era, but still acknowledging racial sensitivity and how hurtful that has been to so many\u2026 to 1859 to be exact\u2026
\n
\nI recently came across a bewildering insight within the works of Charles Darwin. While Darwin never seemed to deny the existence of God in some way, contemporary atheists have given Darwin credit for making it possible \u201cto be an intellectually fulfilled atheist.\u201d Darwin\u2019s perceived signature work, \u201cOn the Origin of Species,\u201d has specifically substantiated the atheistic reasoning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book and its concepts are taught at educational institutions across the globe. As one who believes science and faith totally go together and actually support one another, I respect and appreciate the academic banter of what may be true and what may be not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I wonder if those who advocate for the entirety of assertions within Darwin\u2019s work would think the same if the book\u2019s complete title was instead used. I wonder if it would be so widely acclaimed\u2026 or if our contemporary lens could\/should again be applied\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would that be right? Would it be wrong? Would the lens provide an accurate perspective?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complete title of Darwin\u2019s book is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darwin believed that some races were evolutionary superior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friends, there is so much we don\u2019t know; this is a complex topic, and by no means is the Intramuralist an expert. More than anything, here we ask questions and encourage the always asking of more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when a contemporary lens magnifies the ignorance and\/or foolishness of those of our predecessors, what are we to do? \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And\u2026 we must also humbly ask\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What will future generations say about us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been intrigued as of late as to how we judge things now. Specifically, there seems an increasing trend to apply filters from today to assess circumstances from before. There seems diminishing room for the allowance of the truth that \u201cwe don\u2019t know what we don\u2019t know\u201d \u2014 meaning our predecessors on this planet did … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “looking at history through a contemporary lens…”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9804"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9813,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9804\/revisions\/9813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}