There has been a lot of discussion recently about what to do with statues of Confederate soldiers. That discussion has even evolved into discussions about our founders and other individuals who have previously have been revered throughout our history. While there can be discussions about those, I want to focus this podcast on how we view Confederate soldiers.

At the center of the controversy are the statues of General Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, General Stonewall Jackson, General Pike, and others of the average Confederate soldiers. Needless to say, the discussion is so polarizing that neither side willing to entertain the possibility that they are wrong. Let’s briefly describe the two arguments.

One side of the discussion insists that the statues were meant to revere a time before the abolition of slavery in the United States and are reminders to the descendants of slaves of the horrors their ancestors endured. They say that because these men fought on the side of the Confederacy to preserve slavery, their legacy should be removed from the public square.

The other side is just as entrenched in their position that the statues represent history, regardless of how we perceive it, and art and should be preserved. The argument that removal of the statues is tantamount to surrendering to mob rule is bolstered by the fact that these statues have remained even in cities that liberals have controlled for decades. They could have been removed at any time if they were offensive, but were not.

There are the arguments. Presented clearly and concisely without bias. So, now let’s look at the issue from a third perspective.