To the editor:

Those who think that tearing down statues related to those who were connected to slavery must not think they are breaking any statutes because they think they are people of stature or those who have not sinned themselves. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Those who break down statues are breaking the law and are not people of stature but criminals and violent protesters because they are destroying public property and something that doesn’t belong to them; just like those who have done this in George Floyd destructive demonstrations around the nation.

An even greater accusation should be leveled against those in authority who allow this destruction and lawlessness to take place. I would argue that those removing historical statues because they are seen to represent some immoral part of our country’s history regarding slavery are actually making immoral history themselves and are making it possible for that history to repeat itself; in fact, it’s a more insidious kind of immorality, i.e., they are judging those who have lived before us and they are robbing those who follow us in future generations of a reality that evil did and does exist and that it is worth noting so that it will not be repeated. Should the same thing be said and done about other immoral actions in peoples’ lives? If so, then nothing would be beyond the purview of these self-righteous people. All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.

Carl Burkhead,

Lawrence