I continue to be amazed over the hysterical reactions that come from the media, academia, and even evangelical Christians, when someone, somewhere says something that might be considered favorable toward the Old South (the Confederacy). They can be patient and tolerant toward nearly every crazy, insane conviction (or person) . . . but if someone says he appreciates Robert E. Lee, he is immediately labeled an enemy to all life and godliness.
And I’m not talking about reacting against things said by the lame brains that think that racism and slavery were (and are) wonderful blessings to the country or the halfwits who still think that people who have a skin color different from mine are somehow not fully and truly human. If they were reacting against these dim bulbs, I’d be happy to join them in their ridicule and outrage.
But instead of having real, genuine “grounds” for offense, they’re outraged over things like Governor Bob McDonnell’s declaration proclaiming April “Confederate History Month” in the state of Virginia. Governor McDonnell consented to a request from the Sons of Confederate Veterans and declared April to be a month to remember the men, women, and children who died in the most deadly war our country has ever endured.
That’s all he did. Really.
Gov. McDonnell along with the Sons of Confederate Veterans opposes slavery and laments its presence in the past (and the present). Gov. McDonnell along with the SCV believe that racism is evil. But, no matter. Gov. McDonnell has committed one of the unpardonable sins of modern America: being gracious toward the South.
Look. No one says that the Confederacy was sinless or perfect or ideal and no one in their right mind wants to “turn back the clock” to the mid-1800s. But to view the Confederacy as the “one of the most evil regimes in world history” (as one of my friends called it) is about as far off the mark as the distance of a round trip to Pluto.
It’s hard to believe that no one remembers (or apparently cares about) what Sherman did on his “March” (with President Lincoln’s full approval) which was far more wicked and evil than anything ever condoned by the Confederate government.
If you want to know evil regimes, read Paul Johnson’s Modern Times and learn what a truly evil regime looks like. In spite of all its sins, the Old South doesn’t even come close to matching the “big boys” of evil that have appeared on the stage of our “enlightened” age.
The selective indignation involved in all this almost defies description — but Pat Buchanan takes a shot at it, and hits the bull’s eye.
And, truthfully, he’s only scratching the surface. Lots more could be said.
Too bad that most won’t listen. Understanding the whole story often takes the fun out of demonizing people. And besides, hatred is fun — especially when you can do it and feel really righteous about it.
Thanks Steve, good stuff!
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Brilliant Steve. Thanks for posting this. You hit the nail on the bull’s eye too.
Oh wait, that might offend lovers of bulls.
On the side, it just goes to show, no matter how often you suck up to “those people” as R.E. Lee called them (apologizing for slavery, appointing blacks to your staff because they are black, celebrating “multiculturalism” and all the other politically correct must-dos today), they will still bite you in the tail end for your spinelessness. (as most so-called evangelical Christians, politicans and talking heads to today)
all you need to is throw a little bone to the South
The predictable leftist reaction to the Virginia governor’s proclamation only displays the fact that “reconstruction” which is really today’s cultural Marxism is still alive and well and just as virulent as it ever was.
In all our national fervor for multiculturalism and the concept of treating all others with respect, the one group that it is still permissible to insult and poke fun at is the white, Southern Christian. No matter who else you don’t dare say anything about, he is still fair game for jibes and insults.
He is pointed to as a “racist” whatever that term is supposed to mean. He is portrayed as a bigot. Well, I’ve lived in both North and South. I grew up in the North and I hate to burst the bubble of all these pointy-headed “love everyone but Southerners” liberals but there is just as much racial prejudice in the North as in the South, in fact maybe just a tad more.
I’ve read articles about schools that have classes to teach Southern kids to “lose” their Southern accents and I know of some schools that seem to be trying to “get the South out of the kids” that attend them. Does any of this occur toward people from other areas? Why don’t some of these schools have classes teaching kids how to get rid of their New Jersey accents, which, to me, sound worse than anything I ever hear south of Mason-Dixon? Why not have schools that teach kids to “get the Northeast out of their systems’?
None of this ever happens. It’s always the unique Southern culture and accent that has to be done away with while everything else, no matter how vulgar, is okay.
The South and her people are under cultural attack–a continuing attempt at cultural genocide, and they need to begin to stand up and resist.
Al Benson Jr.
Great article!
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“…but if someone says he appreciates Robert E. Lee, he is immediately labeled an enemy to all life and godliness.”
Then whoever produced the film “Gettysburg” must be guilty as sin. My wife and I just saw it, and in the special features, it reports that R.E. Lee was “perhaps the most beloved general in American history.”
The outrage!
Al Benson,
I’ve lived in the upper midwest myself and you are correct. Speaking of relations between Blacks and Whites here in the south, they are much more warm and cordial than in the north.
The issue is truly a war by socialists against the residue of godly heritage that still lives in southerners. All the attendant issues like reparations is smoke-and-mirrors. Do all you can to appease political correctness and it is never enough because it’s not the root of the conflict.
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