Faith Matters | Don’t let ‘history’ keep us from growing our understanding of the world

One of the more obscure commandments is the one against making “graven images.” It seems to refer to a time long past when people worshiped idols, so of no relevance to us now. It is interesting, though, that the Israelites and much of Jewish culture long resisted creating physical representations of creatures of any kind, even as artwork.

I thought of this in light of the recent controversies over public commemorative statues. Many have been removed, torn down, or defaced, and not just in this country but in other places, as well. All of this is part of a growing movement towards greater honesty about our history and its key figures.

In a recent Zoom church book group discussion, we talked about the challenge and necessity of honesty. In school we are usually taught that history is about what happened in the past. In reality, however, history is always an interpretation of what happened in the past. History takes the form of stories we tell ourselves about the past, showing how we value or judge people and events.

One of the places these “stories” are found are the statues that populate our parks and other public spaces. They are typically erected to give recognition and honor to persons or events as part of our historical stories. But happen when the story changes, and not for the better? That is the dilemma we are facing today. New books are published all the time, altering our view of the past. Statues—in stone or metal—are not so easily “adjusted.”

Do we “worship” our carved images? Have they become our idols? It sounds outrageous yet the vehemence of the reaction to the loss of some of these statues shows this is touching something deep within us.

Removing images of those we thought of as heroes challenges our stories about the past and our understanding of it, but it also challenges how we understand ourselves. That’s when things get tense because we identify with our heroes. When one of them is literally knocked of its pedestal, we feel personally challenged.

I think that identification is what the early Israelites and their descendants understood to be a problem. Interestingly, not only did the God of Israel not like idols but God also didn’t want images made of him. God, who is the source of creation, truth, and value, cannot be contained or pinned down by us, as much as we might want to. God is always a step ahead of us and beyond our grasp.

Commemorating our past and honoring our heroes is natural and even important, especially as a way to lift up our cultural values. We need to be aware, however, that “freezing” those memories, in granite or bronze, may later entrap us and hinder our ability to continue to mature and grow as a people. As time goes on, our stories need to change to reflect new discoveries and understandings. To come together now as a people, we need new stories that recognize, include, and value everyone.

Faith Matters is written by members of the Bradenton clerical community. Doug Kings is pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Holmes Beach.