CT Blue

I just stumbled upon this article, which I consider somewhat shocking (given our current march toward fascism) but great and long past due news.

The Thomas Paine Memorial Association (TPMA) is pleased to announce that on December 27, 2022, President Biden signed a congressional bill to endorse a monument dedicated to the life and work of Founding Father Thomas Paine.

Under the leadership of Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) and Congresswoman Victoria Spartz (R-Indiana), House Bill 6720 was included in the 2022 Omnibus Package. The package was passed by both the House and Senate in late December 2022.

TPMA will now begin working with the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission (NCMAC) on advancing the project with a goal of unveiling the monument in 2026, which would coincide with the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

First, a digression: When I was in fourth grade the nun at Our Lady of Sorrows School told us she’d give a prize to the person who submitted the most book reports in the course of the year. Whenever you submitted a report she’d put a little book shaped piece of paper next to your name on one of the walls in the classroom, so you could see where you stood in the competition.

I knew I’d be in a tough fight to win the prize, as there was a girl in my class who I knew would be stiff competition. I think I read at least 60 books in the course of the year, just barely edging her out (if memory serves). I think in the end both of us got a prize-a holy picture or something, hardly worth the effort. The next year, after summer vacation, I got back to school and couldn’t read anything on the blackboard. All that reading got me my first pair of eyeglasses.

But back to Tom Paine. At some point during that year I found a copy of Howard Fast’s Citizen Tom Paine amongst a number of other books in a cabinet in our basement. I don’t think any other book I’ve ever read had anywhere near the impact on me as did that book. In retrospect I wonder if the nun was a little unhappy that I had read a biography of the guy that Teddy Roosevelt dismissed as that “filthy little atheist”. It certainly reinforced my already considerable religious doubts. Within a few years I’d read all his major works, including Common Sense, the Age of Reason, and The Rights of Man.

Fast’s book is one of my most treasured possessions. I’ve kept it with me ever since, though I would hesitate to read it again, as who knows if it would live up to my memories. In any event, from the day I read it, Tom Paine has been my political hero, a guy who was consistently right (in the sense that he was consistently politically left) who had the courage to buck not only the British government but the prevailing religiosity of his times. He wasn’t an atheist, but he likely would have been had he the benefit of today’s science. He endured imprisonment in France because he refused to back the execution of the king and was ostracized when he returned to the U.S, despite all he had done for this country. He stuck to his principles, refusing until the end to disavow The Age of Reason despite the numerous religionists that hectored him on his deathbed. (I should add that while this is something I remember from Fast’s book, I don’t vouch for its historicity.)

Besides pushing the nation toward independence, and opening the minds of the educable to reason, he proposed a system of benefits akin to social security, was against slavery and unlike others who questioned slavery never owned one (looking at you, Jefferson), and was for women’s rights. No one deserves a memorial in Washington more than does Paine. Of all the Founders, he most closely practiced what he preached. I can only say I’m surprised that any Republican signed on to the memorial, but perhaps that speaks to their historical illiteracy. I recall being livid when Reagan quoted him, which he did on many occasions, because I was absolutely sure that Thomas Paine would have abhorred St. Ronnie. In any event, it’s good to see that the Confederate statues that are coming down in the Capitol may be replaced by that of at least one person who truly believed in human equality, religious freedom, and democracy.

By the way, if you want to donate to the Memorial Association, you can do so here.