DC Diaries Part I: The Idolatry of our Fathers

When most people envision the D.C. skyline they think one thing: monuments. From the Washington Monument to Arlington National Cemetery, our Nation’s Capital is filled with statues, buildings, walls, and the like dedicated to men we deem virtuous enough to enshrine. One of my classes in D.C. explored the cross between history and monuments for much of the semester. Before we even had our first lecture we were instructed to take the two-mile walk from Arlington National Cemetery to the Washington Monument, documenting what we saw, and what we didn’t see, along the way. There are a few things that stand out when you take a closer look at the monuments and memorials: 1- most are paying homage to a war, 2-virtually none pay homage to women, 3- all the individuals represented (Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, etc.) are laced with some controversy regarding their personal “moral” fiber in light of more recent historical claims.

So what does this say about our culture? I’m not here to unveil a senior thesis on the subject, but I do think that in lieu of our celebrity culture and 24-hour news cycles, our fascination with monuments erected to dead guys (because there aren’t any for women to even pick on) is tied in to how we continue to elevate public figures to “God-like” status. We continue to build men up, only to watch them fall. There’s no need to list the names, turn on the nightly news or SportsCenter and you’ll get at least a few examples. Back in Thomas Jefferson’s day, there was no CNN or E! News to cover a scandalous affair with Sally Hemmings, no Politico to pick apart every political theory he published. While I was attempting to explain to our class during a lecture at the Jefferson Memorial why I didn’t think it was right to worship the Founding Father the way that we do, one of my classmates asked me how, if we could only build monuments for those who were morally “perfect,” would we have any monuments at all? His rhetorical question summed up my thoughts exactly. Thanks Andrew.

These days, we’re happy to practically begin erecting monuments to our favorite public figures before they’ve even hit mid-life status. Then, when they begin to fall, we gawk with horror at how such men could let us down. All the while never placing any responsibility on ourselves for demanding access to their “private” lives through tabloids, reality T.V. shows and entertainment news. We don’t have this luxury with monuments; the men we’ve put on display as tourist attractions are literally set in stone. It’s up to the history books to decide what to write in, or leave out (the Texas legislature apparently understands this one). Perhaps Jefferson was a blatant racist, so we’ll just leave those quotes off his monument walls and claim one need understand the “historical context” of the time to rationalize his actions. While these monuments do represent some great moral achievements, I don’t think they should be worshipped for the man on display. Elevating the man makes them a constant torment for society, leaving us to clamor for the next great man to build an alter for and then sulk in defeat when we continue to find out he’s as imperfect as the rest of us.

Watching people flock to the monuments shows how desperately our society is striving for worship. Unfortunately, we settle for mere mortals.