Instrumentalizing history for present politics is worse than ignoring it

Evidence

But there is another danger even greater than that of irrelevance, and that is the danger of relevance. The word relevant has acquired new and menacing overtones and undertones of meaning in our time. History, according to this view, is admissible, even useful, provided it is limited to “relevant history.” Here we confront something worse than neglect. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1808

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Political movements must rewrite history before they can mobilize people around a new cause — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 260