05-02-2012, 08:10 PM
Some years ago I delivered a major paper at a Lancer conference in which I argued that Dealey Plaza, as much as Gettysburg or Little Bighorn or the Alamo, is not only hallowed ground but also a battlefield.
I quite seriously proposed that the site be renamed the JFK Assassination Battlefield National Monument.
I then called for us to find ways to "return the fire."
Make no mistake: The proposed desecration of the site of John Kennedy's assassination -- or, if you prefer, crucifixion -- is just that: the act of denying a place its sacred nature.
This is not primarily about defacing evidence.
This is a spiritual matter.
As such, it is hardly unprecedented in American history. It is akin to the widely celebrated desecration of a sacred mountain in the most sacred land of the Lakota peoples: Imagine if post-Renaissance Rome had been sacked by barbarians who proceeded to paint crude likenesses of their chieftains over Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.
It happened here.
It's called Mt. Rushmore.
The Thieves' Road passes through Dealey Plaza.
I quite seriously proposed that the site be renamed the JFK Assassination Battlefield National Monument.
I then called for us to find ways to "return the fire."
Make no mistake: The proposed desecration of the site of John Kennedy's assassination -- or, if you prefer, crucifixion -- is just that: the act of denying a place its sacred nature.
This is not primarily about defacing evidence.
This is a spiritual matter.
As such, it is hardly unprecedented in American history. It is akin to the widely celebrated desecration of a sacred mountain in the most sacred land of the Lakota peoples: Imagine if post-Renaissance Rome had been sacked by barbarians who proceeded to paint crude likenesses of their chieftains over Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.
It happened here.
It's called Mt. Rushmore.
The Thieves' Road passes through Dealey Plaza.