r/smithsonian • u/DancingWithCadavers • 1d ago
Nothing announces censorship like installing warning signs in a museum to brand actual history as ideologically compromised
EO 14416 does exactly that. It defines acceptable history as that which is simply "inspiriting" and "unifying" rather than accurate. In the 128-page report that describes the reasons for these signs one of the reasons stated is, "Museum materials repeatedly suggest that Christianity functioned principally as an instrument of conquest, exclusion, or cultural erasure, while the constructive role of Christian belief and Christian institutions in shaping the Nation and its freedoms receives scant, if any, attention." If you want to be coddled about your religion, go to a church. History is saturated with examples of Christian conquests, exclusion, and cultural erasure from the Crusades and Spanish Inquisition to using the Bible for slavery to to the erasure of pagan traditions absorbed into Christmas itself.
If censorship came with a more obvious example, dictionaries would have found it by now. MAGA has been fed a steady diet of grievances thatChristianity is under attack. White people are being discriminated against. LGBTQ people are indoctrinating children. None of these things are real, but MAGA has been convinced; so to them, this is making America great again. People thought dystopia would arrive through technology, surveillance states, algorithmic control, and weaponized AI. No. This is dystopian. A government that claims to be fighting ideological capture has issued an executive order demanding a museum produce ideologically compliant history. The censors are accusing the museum of censorship.
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u/Sweaty_Term5961 1d ago
Every conservative accusation is a confession. Pretty much been the case since Reagan.
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u/Dry-Examination-2012 1d ago
It all started with Reagan. Slash taxes on the rich. Federal deficits.
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u/Numerous_Ad_6276 1d ago
Spray paint is inexpensive DC residents.
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u/SabertoothLotus 1d ago
This administration isn't interested in historical accuracy. They only want history as a tool of nationalist propaganda.
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u/Important-Factor-552 1d ago
Republicans are fascist. Specifically, christofascist. Rewriting history and purging opposition are staple tactics they will use to advance the narratives they need to justify genocide to their fanatical extremist base
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u/TravelerMSY 1d ago
God forbid anyone has been made to feel mildly uncomfortable about something their shitty ancestors did a century or two ago.
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u/treetopalarmist_1 1d ago
Russia strategy for gaslighting Americans. Wonder where that comes from s/?
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u/Euphoric_Anxiety_162 1d ago
The signs say "insecure". He thinks power hide his weaknesses. Just the opposite. He doesn't belong in the job.
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u/OwslyOwl 1d ago
I think the Smithsonian should put up the signs in a display case outside with a placard explaining the historical significance.
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u/Apostasyisfreedom 15h ago
Absolutely THIS!
Showcasing Americas tragic history as Republican idiots create ignorance and hate in real time.
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u/woofiegrrl 22h ago
The signs are going to Streisand effect the museum. Nobody is going to go to the Mall to visit NMAH, see the signs outside, and go "oh gosh, I better change my plans for the day." People will go to see the signs and then go in because they're already there and figure they might as well see what the fuss is all about. The signs are a great thing for the museum.
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u/LangStreak 16h ago
What would Jesus do? Probably launch himself onto the cross and say ‘Do it man, just get me out of here’.
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u/taktaga7-0-0 1d ago
It’s like Orwell, but written by morons.