Unforgivable

"At the end of the day, none of us will really pass the purity test. Even the ones ripping down and destroying statues. God help us."   

A man whom is a frequent speaker in the Twin Cities area has an interesting story and history. He make a big mistake when he was younger. So big, he spent many years in prison. But now he is out, he has turned his life around, paid his debt to society, and hell bent on doing good for the rest of his days. But - is he truly forgiven? He can't vote. He has this blot on his record. As good as this man in right now, and he is very good, is he truly forgiven?

We are in the middle right now of a very important national debate. And it all started with a demonstration in Virginia over a Civil War statue. Then all of a sudden, everyone with a history in this country is suspect. All history is being scrutinized. Everyone is getting the acid test, the purity test. And many of the people in our history are not passing the test. Get ready folks - this is far from over. 

We already know some black minister in Chicago asked the Mayor to remove a statue of George Washington. Why? Big time slave owner. Was that a sin back then? Probably would have been, but it was common. What about all the good things Washington did for this young country? Tough toenails. As the saying going, one "oh crap!" wipes out a whole bunch of good things done. The verdict on Washington? Unforgivable.

Next up? The signers of the Declaration of Independence. It is a bit unclear how many who signed this founding document were slave owners. One area I looked at thought it is was only 1/3 of them. Another thought it was 41. In any event, if slave owners had been exempt from signing the Declaration, we would have been in big trouble - and probably also still living under a king.

What we have learned from seeing how our President has been pummeled is instructive. One can have nothing to do with owning slaves, not belong to a hate group, not be a racist, and still be guilty as sin. Just ask President Trump. Our national purity test continues. Forgiveness for the unforgivable? Not here. Not now. 

Two of the darlings of the Democrats are also in the on-deck circle. The architect of the New Deal and the builder of the Great Society. FDR may have helped us win WW II, but he unlawfully imprisoned thousands of innocent Japanese Americans while doing it. Unforgivable. LBJ may have signed the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 as well as crafting the Great Society, but how he treated and talked about people of color behind the scenes was cruel beyond description. Unforgivable. 

Just like many of the people we learned about in the Bible were flawed, many of the people in our history were also flawed. My thought is once we get done re-writing our national history, and getting rid of everyone who does not cut the mustard, we will then go after the Bible. Lots of work to do there.

Speaking of the Bible, besides being full of flawed people, the Bible also has a very important lesson for all of us. We are not to live in the land of the unforgivable - rather we are to practice total and absolute forgiveness. Why? Because we all need it.

At the end of the day, none of us will really pass the purity test. Even the ones ripping down and destroying statues. God help us all.