Judging historical people on today's social standards. . .

[L Verge]

I recently used a quote from someone that I can't remember: "There is a fine line between genius and insanity." I used it at the Surratt House program this past Saturday on the history of St. Elizabeths Hospital (another packed room). Two members of the audience had just given personal accounts of dealings with the institution. One man had been a therapist there during the late-1900s and spoke of the rare talents that so many of the seriously ill patients had hidden beneath their mental illnesses.

A woman told the story of her father, who was a patient in the hospital for over twenty years before being released. He was a marvelous musician and went immediately to New York, where he worked with many of the leading jazz artists of the 1950s and 60s. In later years, he returned as a musical therapist at St. E's.

I wish that I had gotten the names of these two people, but the stories they shared should prove a vital point that there is good in everyone and that circumstances beyond their control often hide that good from the world. More importantly, who in this modern world has the right to judge other people for their transgressions -- unless their sins are very harmful and unacceptable to the good of society.