|
 |
Quit Rewriting History
The far left and far right seem hell-bent on using history to drive their own narratives and convert followers. It's time for a renewed perspective on how we approach the real American story.
|
| |||||||||||||||
 |
President Trump announced an executive order last week that will target Smithsonian Institution programs that push “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology.” The order claims there has been a “widespread” attempt to shed a “negative light” on American history, and that ideologues have replaced “objective facts” with a “distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”
This is a perfect example of right message, wrong messenger and method. It is well within reason to acknowledge the damage done to America’s social fabric, spawned by (to use Trump’s own words) the “woke left’s” crusade against American institutions over the past decade. From the 2020 BLM riots to antisemitic college protests to the censorship on college campuses, they haven’t exactly been the purest agents of change. That said, from his character to his approach, Trump doesn’t have a leg to stand on, and his abuse of executive orders shines a light on his own betrayal of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Although Trump claims his war against leftist activism is in defense of American principles, ironically, there is no president in recent history who’s disregarded our Constitution like he has. Consider this week’s report about a Maryland father with protected legal status who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. Instead of reversing this horrific mistake, the Trump Administration doubled down, claiming U.S. courts lacked the jurisdiction to bring him home. His reckless abandonment of this man’s right to due process was yet another example of his blatant disregard for the rule of law and Bill of Rights.
Just as the Horseshoe Theory depicts, the far left and the far right have more in common than they realize: In this case, both would prefer to retell history through a biased lens, with the goal of advancing their own narratives. Both sides think their cultural goals must be achieved through coercion or force…which is, historically, deeply un-American. Furthermore, it is anathema to the conservative principles the Republican Party was built upon.
The reality is, America is a storied nation with a complex history—full of both glory and sins. Light and darkness. Brilliance and failures. This is why it’s more important than ever to remember the words of philosopher George Santayana: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." In order to succeed as a nation, we must study it—all of it—learning from both our triumphs and mistakes. In our new era of “alternative facts,” it’s the only constructive way forward to a better America.
Join the Next AVC Book Club!
 |
The next AVC Book Club will be Mondays at 8pm from April 7 to May 19. Register here.
Pastors: Join Our Next J29 Coalition Webinar!
 |
Curtis Chang will speak on “The Hidden Sub-Tribe of White Evangelicals (and why they are crucial for our future).”
What Else We’re Reading
New York Times: “The Donald Trump Leap of Faith”
David French: "[Trump's] bond with evangelicals isn’t just a result of flawed theology. It’s a result of the broken culture that flawed theology helped create. And in some parts of American Christianity the theology is so flawed, and the culture is so broken, that evangelicals don’t see Trump contradicting their values at all — he’s exactly like the men and women who lead their church."
New York Times: “Some Conservative Voices Raise Alarm Over Trump’s Immigration Tactics”
“Influential figures on the right have largely cheered on the opening months of the Trump presidency. But as the administration has rushed to carry out deportations as quickly as possible, making mistakes and raising concerns about due process along the way, the unified front in favor of President Trump’s immigration purge is beginning to crack.”
Washington Post: “Waltz and staff used Gmail for government communications, officials say”
Trump’s national security adviser is trying to manage his way out of a crisis. But new revelations about his team’s operational security are piling up.
The Atlantic: “An ‘Administrative Error’ Sends a Maryland Father to a Salvadoran Prison”
The Trump administration acknowledged on Monday that it had taken a Maryland father with protected legal status and mistakenly deported him to El Salvador, but said that U.S. courts lack jurisdiction to order his return.
New York Times: “Why the Right Still Embraces Ivermectin”
Five years after the pandemic began, interest in the anti-parasitic drug is rising again as right-wing influencers promote it — and spread misinformation about it.
Associated Press News: “Trump executive order on Smithsonian targets funding for programs with ‘improper ideology’”
President Trump on Thursday revealed his intention to force changes at the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order that targets funding for programs that advance “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology.”
NPR: “Trump is 'not joking' about third term, though Constitution says he can't serve”
“When asked if he was joking about another presidential run, Trump said, ‘No, no I'm not joking,’ according to NBC News.”
The Dispatch: “‘Liberation Day’ From What, Exactly?”
“Politically, the idea of deliberately making things—like, literally, all the things—more expensive, when you were elected in large part due to popular exhaustion with inflation, is so irrational it’s like the economic policy equivalent of a Dali painting.’”
Thank you for subscribing to American Values Coalition newsletter.
| ||||||||||
