Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
History and Religion
Feeling Guilty About History

Feeling Guilty About History

Last updated on: January 31, 2026 at 6:31 pm by Lisa Clark Diller

0 Comments

Feeling Guilty About History 2026-01-31T18:31:32-04:00 Lisa Clark Diller

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“I wish I wasn’t White; I feel guilty for all the bad things that White folks have done in the past.” –this from a young White member of the British Commonwealth who asked me to help her search her family heritage, desperately hoping to find some evidence that she had ethnic heritage outside of Europe. This sentiment has provoked the ire of conservative parents and lawmakers across the country, resulting in a spate of regulations around the teaching of literature, history, and social studies. But it also demonstrates the failure of many of us to inculcate the real skills of historical thinking, and progressive teachers and parents also despair a bit when they hear this youthful reaction to the confrontation with the past.

My state, Tennessee, is one of several that has passed laws in the last few years making it illegal for a teacher to present material in the classroom that makes students feel guilty about the history of their country. Like other states, these lawmakers want to prevent the teaching of anything that argues that racism or sexism were embedded in the United States’ founding and/or that there are people privileged by virtue of sex or race. The result, whether intended or not, has resulted in a “chilling” effect in many classrooms in our state, especially around the teaching of history. But the law also demonstrates the inherit challenges with teaching history and the difficult of teaching folks to think historically.

The law’s wording makes it clear that what is prohibited is the teacher inculcating the concept of guilt or responsibility. But anyone who has training in teaching history knows that this isn’t something teachers want to do. However, students often feel group identity culpability whether or not that is intended by the teacher. Contemporary media habits with the “gotcha” and “outrage” and 30-second reels laying out “can you believe this happened” sorts of historical tidbits without the hard work of historical thinking are much more to blame. Our young people (and not just the young) are primed to pay attention when they are emotionally charged. Teachers and presenters are encouraged to play to the attention game with which our modern media has trained us all.

Complexity and Change Over Time

Historical thinking requires complexity. Complexity means that we don’t think in terms of villains or heroes or who I identify with in the past. When students look to the past for who they would identify with, who would be like them, and find them to be less than ideal people, this upsets them. They naturally want to be on the side of the angels.

And it is normal to look for where and how someone in my body would be living in the past. I definitely know as a woman that my life in the past would be very different from that of men, and from my life now. When I study the past I do think about how women might be experiencing what I am studying. Teachers can’t present all past actors as race-less , culture-less, religion-less, and gender-less as if there were no differences in how people lived in their communities based on things like disability or economic status, or the physical nature of their bodies.

But being able to take on board complexity in studying the past means that we know that we a) don’t know everything about all people and their motives and actions-we have to deal in the evidence, and b)can tell the truth about humans and their actions while realizing no one action or belief is the whole sum total of someone. We also aren’t doing good historical thinking when our primary purpose in studying the past is judgement about evil or goodness. We need to be engaging in another skill of historical thinking—causation. One of the best skills of the study of history is analyzing cause and effect. And most effects are unintended. So we can assess actions that had consequences truthfully—and name both the motives and the effects—without dumping all the historical actors into the bucket of “evil/perpetrator” or “good/victim”.

I am not saying that no one should ever make judgements about evil or good in either actions or motives. Merely that it is too easy to quickly jump to those. It feels too good to stand in judgement of the past. First we must engage in the hard work of historical thinking—of gathering multitudes of evidence from different perspectives, trying to understand the complexity, being honest to all the actors involved, as much as possible. Complexity and Causation are accompanied by Context—grasping the nuances of language, discerning what allowed people to think and do what they did, being honest to their own understandings of themselves, comprehending the ranges of possibilities.

Historical thinking requires consideration of Change over Time, including the changes in historical actors themselves and in what was valued by humans in particular times and places. Change over Time is not the same thing as the idea of Progress. “Progress” as a concept is itself a product of Change over Time—it only entered our sense of historical thinking in the modern period. So we aren’t saying there’s some way that we “inevitably” as humans improved in our ideas and practices. But we are not the same as we were in the past because our Context has changed. This is why historians don’t speak of history “repeating” itself, since there is Change over Time and Context is different. This sort of historical thinking allows us to step back and be truthful about the past while not assuming we know everything about it.

Historical Thinking Leads to Humility

The virtue of humility can be the result of such historical thinking. Humility is the result of acknowledging that my conclusions about the past are based on incomplete evidence and I expect to change my mind as I learn more. But humility is also the result of realizing I will also someday be a historical subject. I am sure that if the world lasts another one hundred years, well-meaning people will look at my actions and decisions and be horrified by them, or wonder how I and my community could have behaved as we did. While I want to be on the side of the angels, and to make good choices, it’s possible I’m not—especially when there is the benefit of the hindsight of decades or centuries. So, I won’t get to be either a hero nor a villain, and most other humans are the same.

And if I am humble and accept the fact that most people aren’t perfect, including my ancestors, I can be honest about what they did without thinking that it means that I myself bear the guilt of the past. However, I do live in the world that they made. And I have choices I can make now based on the reality of their actions. As the old saying goes “it’s not your fault, but you’re responsible.” My students all too often want to jump to the “whose fault is it and those who benefitted should fix it” without engaging in the virtues of investigation and understanding. If we can do the latter in the classroom, we can leave the former to the Holy Spirit and their extracurricular activities. Otherwise we get folks who want to jump to fixing problems without really understanding them and how they got that way.

For my young friend who is feeling twinges of White guilt, I would say: spend more time trying to understand the various folks in the past and what happened. There are fascinating people in the past—of all ethnicities. You don’t need to feel more or less proud or chagrined than anyone else. It’s not helpful. You can tell the truth about atrocities, but add layers and complexity to that. No one gets a history or ancestors who are innocent. All our histories are full of people who hurt each other and we have all inherited the world we live in. Save your energy to do the best by those around you right now, in the world we live in now. But learn more layers about more people. Embrace complexity in your thinking. Don’t look for heroes or villains and tell the truth.

I have always been deeply persuaded by the late Thomas Haskell’s explanation of what we are doing: “The historical discipline requires that its practitioners “abandon wishful thinking, assimilate bad news, discard pleasing interpretations that cannot pass elementary tests of evidence and logic, and most important of all, suspend or bracket one’s own perceptions long enough to enter sympathetically into the alien and possibly repugnant perspectives of rival thinkers.”—quoted in Mark Schwehn’s chapter in Confessing History.

This doesn’t mean we encourage approve of everything or embrace “there’s no right or wrong, and bad folks on both sides” sorts of thinking. But it does mean that can take on bad news about the past without allowing it to discourage us or turn us into nihilists.

History and Religion

Historical Methodology

Previous Post

January 29, 2026

The Long, Long, Story of Groundhog Day

Next Post

February 3, 2026 Abuse and Ownership, Past and Present

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Very good point about MacDonald.I am certainly a Machen fan!"

philipjenkins

Fairies, Witches, Folk Horror, and the ..."

"The Scottish author George MacDonald integrated fairy world into his fiction in a way that ..."

Terry

Fairies, Witches, Folk Horror, and the ..."

"I like the idea that we can have different streams. The coffee analogy is genius."

Lisa Clark Diller

How Do You Take Your Evangelicalism?

"Geography lesson: Southern California is actually in North Texas. I've lived her for 40 years, ..."

Terry

How Do You Take Your Evangelicalism?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe Guest Post guest post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I wrote of a new covenant where God's law would be written not on stone but where?

Select your answer to see how you score.

On scrolls In the temple In a book On their hearts