In July 1793, announcing the first anniversary of the end of the monarchy, the French revolutionaries issued a decree that shocked Europe. To "cleanse" the nation of the memory of the kings, the National Convention ordered the destruction of the royal tombs in the basilica of St-Denis, near Paris. The coffins were emptied and the lead removed for remelting.
The Bourbon crypt was opened as a prelude to the execution of Marie Antoinette. The bodies were removed and in the middle of the night there was a great deal of traffic among the bones of the dead kings, taken from the coffins and stripped of what they could have on them of precious stones.
ISIS in its ferocity went so far as to destroy the tomb of Jonah in Mosul, that of the Chaldean archbishop of Mosul Paulos Faraj Rahho, of the priest Ragheed Ghanni and of the saints at Mar Elian, to name but a few.
The destruction of historical and\or ancient tombs marks every great totalitarian phenomenon in history.
The anti so-called racism inspired by Black Lives Matter is no less grotesque, at least for now.
Adam Smith's grave was included in the dossier of sites related to "slavery and colonialism" by the city council of Edinburgh, the Telegraph reveals. The philosopher of the Enlightenment, the first market theorist and "father of capitalism", is buried in the city of Canongate Kirkyard.
The Labor-led Council has launched a review of sites that "perpetuate racism and oppression" following the Black Lives Matter protests, with the option of "removal or reinterpretation" for problematic monuments. Smith's gravestone and his statue on the Royal Mile will now be under review by the city council's "Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review Group", which will report on how it can be "reconfigured."
In doing so, the West is digging its own grave.
Giulio Meotti is, an Italian journalist with Il Foglio, writes a twice-weekly column for Arutz Sheva. He is the author, in English, of the book "A New Shoah", that researched the personal stories of Israel's terror victims, published by Encounter and of "J'Accuse: the Vatican Against Israel" published by Mantua Books, in addition to books in Italian. His writing has appeared in publications, such as the Wall Street Journal, Gatestone, Frontpage and Commentary.