When will it end? Our society continues to build statues to men and women we admire for some reason or another. Or we name streets or buildings after them only to discover years later that they did or did not do something which causes protests resulting in the removal of the statue or name. It is almost like we are making idols of them, and then we find out they have feet of clay.

From time to time, “society” performs an assessment of these people, and as a result of that assessment, many times the name of the street, building or the statue to them is removed. When will we learn that perfect people do not exist? Many of us have feet of clay, and none of us are perfect. The result is a statue, street or building placed in honor of a person may eventually have to come down or be changed.

Today, it is people who were Confederates. Tomorrow it may be George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy and even Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. None of these people were without sin, and one day those things named for them may change, and their statues may be brought down.

We need to stop building statues and naming streets, towns, colleges, and buildings after individual people. As we continue to view history with different eyes, many may eventually come down. Why can’t we allow “goodness” to be the motivator and reward for all good works and let God with his eyes and heart be the final judge rather than man?

— Gordon Correll

Salisbury