Mr. Southmayd--you may want to read Pryor's "Reading the Man," about R.E. Lee. I would say it might change your opinion about stains. John Maass, Ph.D. On 12/12/12, Jeff Southmayd<[log in to unmask]> wrote: Amazing that Robert E. Lee remains the one great unstained American. SOUTHMAYD & MILLER4 OCEAN RIDGE BOULEVARD SOUTH PALM COAST, FLORIDA 32137 386.445.9156 888.557.3686 FAX [log in to unmask] ********************************************************** > Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2012 21:52:19 -0500 > From: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: (VA-HIST] "The Monster of Monticello" > To: [log in to unmask] > > In his novel, The Human Stain, Philip Roth notes that one of America's > oldest communal passions is to indulge in the "ecstasy of sanctimony." We feel > good and morally superior by condemning the moral failings of others, past > and present. I think it is particularly important for those of us > dedicated to a study of the past to guard against falling into the dangerous > condition of the "ecstasy of sanctimony." It affects those on both the right and > left wings of the political spectrum. > > Peter Henriques > > > In a message dated 12/11/2012 9:42:10 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, > [log in to unmask] writes: > > Thank you! Very few extraordinary men have totally clean slates of > behavior. It seems a bit juvenile to condemn the man and everything he > accomplished instead of condemning the (disappointing and unexpected by "fans") bad > behavior as a part of that human being. The emotion about this subject never > ceases to amaze me. Expecting our heroes to be saints is very concrete > thinking. > > Sent from Melinda's > iPad > > On Dec 11, 2012, at 9:18 AM, Steve Corneliussen <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > > > Mr. Barger complained that Monticello's "emphasis...on slavery issues" > comes "at the expense of Mr. Jefferson." To me that seems upside down. The > emphasis in fact honors Mr. Jefferson. > > > > Mr. Jefferson matters because self-evident but challenging truths > matter. It's too bad that Monticello, like the rest of us, failed for many > decades to begin elucidating and respecting the lives, dignity and contributions > of individual Americans obscenely oppressed by fellow Americans -- > including by Mr. Jefferson, the paradoxically slaveholding human-rights idealist. > > > > If Monticello had continued its former Gone-with-the-Windism on slavery > late into the last century, if the curators had persisted in obscuring > Americans' lives on that mountain, it would have been the foundation's civic, > historical and moral negligence that would have come at the expense of Mr. > Jefferson. > > > > But they got it right. Good for them. Good for self-evident truths. > > > > Good for Mr. Jefferson. > > > > Steven T. Corneliussen > > http://www.fortmonroenationalpark.org/ > > http://tjscience.org/ > > http://www.physicstoday.org/daily_edition/science_and_the_media > > > > ______________________________________ > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions > at > > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > ______________________________________ > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions > at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > ______________________________________ > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html