Millennial Catholic Chris Crawford writes:

We can recognize bravery while also embracing a more important truth: Bravery ceases to be virtuous when exercised in an unjust cause. We need not valorize the men who took up arms against the United States in defense of the system of slavery….

Lee left the fate of slavery in God’s hands and scarcely found any means toward abolition “justifiable.” Nearly every action he took — personally, politically, militarily — preserved slavery….

The bronze statue of Lee stands near the field of the deadliest day of battle in American history. Lee and his army invaded American territory and might have been able to fundamentally change the direction of the war if they had found success there.

Across the ocean, foreign powers required a Confederate victory to justify recognizing the Confederacy. In Washington, President Abraham Lincoln had drafted and shelved the Emancipation Proclamation. Not wanting the public to view the proclamation as a desperate wartime measure, Lincoln would not sign it until the United States secured one more victory….

Lee deserves a place in our museums and in our libraries. His actions should be examined at our national battlefields and in our classrooms. He even has a pristine resting place at Washington & Lee University, an institution he capably managed during his postwar life. His horse, Traveler, rests nearby.

Let them rest there.