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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCongregation of R.E. Lee Memorial Church discusses changing church’s name (VA)
By Rachel Lucas - Virginia Today Weekend Anchor
Published: August 17, 2015, 1:38 pm
Updated: August 17, 2015, 1:40 pm
... The congregation of R.E. Lee Memorial Church will discuss changing the churchs name at its regular business meeting Monday evening.
The R.E. Lee Memorial Church was named after one of its devout members. Robert E. Lee. The church was named in his honor in 1903.
The church did not give a specific reason for the discussion, but one church member said this is not the first time the naming of the church has been addressed ...
http://wsls.com/2015/08/17/congregation-of-r-e-lee-memorial-church-discussions-changing-churchs-name/
ladjf
(17,320 posts)He was it's most famous member. That would have been the case even had the civil war not happened.
He was an honorable man.
struggle4progress
(118,298 posts)at Washington College; and its name, like that of the college, was changed after Lee's death
There's no reason to think Lee would have been president of Washington College, except that he became well-known as a result of the civil war
And since he already had a nice big house called "Arlington" near DC, he would have been unlikely to move to elsewhere (to Lexington, say) except for the fact that some people replaced the lovely gardens of Arlington with many civil war graves
Gidney N Cloyd
(19,842 posts)gratuitous
(82,849 posts)I've attended services at Savage Memorial Presbyterian and Hinson Memorial Baptist churches, both named for prominent members of the respective congregations.
There is obviously a potential problem in doing so, just like there are potential problems with naming things for any prominent personality. Disneyland has had to take down its statue of Bill Cosby. Penn State had to remove the statue honoring Joe Paterno. At the time, there is usually little controversy about installing statues or naming buildings, and everyone feels good about conferring the honor. Cato's comment to a friend may sum it up best: "I had far rather that people should ask why there is no statue of me than why there is one."