View
220
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
8/12/2019 1997 Issue 7 - Southern Culture Its Rise and Demise Part 2 - Counsel of Chalcedon
1/4
art
Q. Wasn' t history also
rewritten
by
the North, for
popular
consumption?
A
The old adage that the
victors Write the history books
is true. The North took "
advantage:
of
their victory to
reWrite history from their
perspective. he South's
reputationwas
blackened and
has yet to recover.
We
were
branded
astebels and
traitors. Some
of
the most
ncibletnento
have ever '
walked
this
earth were
slandered. Alexander
StevenS and Jefferson
Davis are examples;
Robert E Lee's reputation
has
recovered, but
he
is
one
of thefew.
Some
of
the old
liesabout these
men
continue to be repeated as truth
in television documentaries and
in
history books. Some of the
important
facts
about
these
men
are never mentioned.
he image
of
the South is
one
of
bigotry, ignorance; and a
very closed
and
hateful culture,
especially toward those who
disagree'
or
are
of
another race.
Thisirnageis
quite 'different
from the South that mOst of us
havegtown up in
and
that
existed prior
totlteWar.
Few realize, for example,
pat
Jefferson Davis' family
adopted
a black
8/12/2019 1997 Issue 7 - Southern Culture Its Rise and Demise Part 2 - Counsel of Chalcedon
2/4
Q. At the risk of sounding
unpatriotic, the Pledge of
Allegiance had an origin
unknown
to most Americans
today.
A It
was written in 1892 by
Francis Bellamy, a member of
the famous Bellamy family.
They were probably the most
prominent socialistic,
communistic family in this
country
in
the 19th century.
Edward Bellamy, who I
believe was Francis' cousin,
wrote the very popular
novel, in the late
nineteenth century,
entitled,
Looking
Backward
It was based .
around a Bostonian who
went to sleep in 1887
and
woke up in the year 2000.
In
that interim the United
States
had
become a completely
communistic, socialistic
culture.
He described the United
States as having
no
injustice;
everybody was prosperous; all
had the same standard
of
living
and loved one another. It'was
the perfect egalitarian utopia.
That shows you where the
sentiments of the Bellamy
family lay.
Francis Bellamy wrote the
pledge to instill into the school
children a sense of allegiance to
the nation. The words "under
God" were not added until
1952 under the Eisenhower
administration. Although
introduced in
1892 at the
National School Convention, it
was
not
regularly recited in
schools until the 19405 and
50s. It was also addressed
against the South because
it
states plainly that this is a
nation "indivisible."
t
was an effort to ensure
that there would never be again
a people in tllis country who
thought like Southerners.
Instead, there would
be
an
allegiance to the federal
government that would
override all other allegiances.
The
Pledge has become so
identified with patriotism that if
one finds fault with it
he
is
assumed to
be
unpatriotic.
This is not a good connection.
Imagine our founding
fathers being asked to take a
pledge
of
allegiance to Great
Britain.
Christians are truly patriotic
in the sense that we want to
preserve true Biblical freedom
for our country. This has
nothing to do with blind
allegiance to the federal
government. The implications
of the pledge are quite
dangerous as one moves more
toward
an
overtly totalitarian
mentality. Our allegiance is
pledged to God. Under God
we will submit to and obey all
rulers who rule faithfully under
Him
Q.
The "liberty
and
justice"
that are mentioned in the
Pledge can only
be
defined in .
terms
of God's word,
not by
a
centralized government.
A Absolutely. I was on a
radio program the other day,
discussing this issue. A
Louisiana teacher
had
lost
her
job because
she
refused to lead
the children in the Pledge
of
Allegiance. I mentioned that
there may have been other
reasons for her dismissal, but I
did not think that that one was
a good one in and
of
itself.
Many Christians called
and were appalled that I
would
be
so unpatriotic. I
asked one man what
"patriotism" was.
He
said, "It is seeking the
good
of the
collective over
the individual." That is
almost pure Marxism.
And this man was a fervent
Southerner
Under covenant theology we
have a concern for others and
for ourselves. There is a
unity
and diversity
that is
not present
in totalitarianism. Unity in
Marxism destroys legitimate
individualism. Of course, in
anarchy there
is
total concern
for the individual and none for
the unity of body as a whole.
In the covenant you have
bom
concerns, for
it
reflects me
nature of the Triune God
Who
is
One God, yet three persons
(both "one"
and
"many").
Q. Changes in the Soum
have been most recently
reflected in the resolution
which the Southern Baptist .
Convention recently passed.
August
997
i
TH COUNSEL o
Chalcedon i
8/12/2019 1997 Issue 7 - Southern Culture Its Rise and Demise Part 2 - Counsel of Chalcedon
3/4
In
this resolution they
repudiated "the historic acts of
evil such
as slavery for which
we continue to reap a bitter
harvest."
A If someone was to read
this resolution
as
a confession
of sin
that would be one thing.
This is not such a confession.
t
is
a confession of what peOple
think is a great s n committed
by
someone other than this
generation. What we have is a
misunderstanding on
a lot of
levels. Among them is a
misunderstanding of the
nature of slavery, of how
i t
operated
in
the South.
This is Ultimately a
meaningless gesture that, I
fear, is going to provoke a
great many problems later
on
We
are opposed to
ungodly racism
in
which
men
think themselves superior
because
of
their skin color.
All
Christians are opposed to that.
We are not opposed to what
God approves. From Scripture
we.see t h ~ God approves
and
regulates slavery although He
does not encouragli it. Slavery,
i f
it
operates Biblically, is
perfecdy legitimate. To indict
slavery in principle as evil is to
charge God with evil.
This is what the Southerners
saw with the Abolitionist
position.
Had
the Abolitionists .
opposed the abuses of slavery,
then there would not have been
that big of an argument. The
Abolitionists were conderpning
the
institut ion of slavery itself.
In this, the Southerners saW
that
o d w ~ being attacked.
We have the same of
thing going on today. Much of
the attack
on
the South is an
attack on the Biblical
worldview. We have to
condemn what is worthy of
condemnation,
but we cannot
condemn that which God does
not condemn.
This
is the
danger
of
that resolution. They
speak
of the peculiar evil of
American slavery.
Yet
American slavery was perhaps
the most benevolent
~ l v e r y
that has ever existed in the
history of the world.
Q. Uncle Tom's Cabin does
not give a realistic picture of
slavery in the South, does it?
A No. The book was
written
by Harriet Beecher
Stowe who had never visited
the South. She was basing the
book on a piece of Northern
propaganda, merican
Slavery
As t Is written by Theodore
Weld and the Grimky Sisters.
In
that interesting work the
authors went to the New York
public libraries
and
got copies
of Southern newspapers that
were regularly being throWn
out each month. These
newspapers reported
on
the
trials of overseers and masters
who were brought to trial for
their abuse of slaves. Theodore
12 '" THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon
j Augu
8/12/2019 1997 Issue 7 - Southern Culture Its Rise and Demise Part 2 - Counsel of Chalcedon
4/4
self-governing lives.
We
did
build into
them
consequently a
slave mentality, a belief that it is
better to be cared for than to
care for oneself.
I am currently reading
through the Slave Narratives.
Eighty-six percent of the former
slaves interviewed said they had
good masters. That percentage
is holding
up
throughout my
reading. This is significant
in
that those interviewed arguably
lived under the most harsh
years of slavery (1840-1860).
During
this
time, laws
preventing the teaching of
reading, etc., were passed.
Slaves were important to the
economy of the South. One
doesn't go out
and
beat
up on
one
upon whom
you are
dependent for production.
There were many ways a slave
or group
of
slaves could
sabotage a plantation. There
had to
be
a great deal of team
spirit to
run
a large plantation.
Motivating the slaves
and
keeping high morale
and
good
spirits was a great concern of
plantation owners.
In
fact,
many masters ended up paying
their slaves to work for them.
You don't have good morale
when your workers are
mistreated.
The big job for the South is
to teach
what
has
not been
told.
Southern children
must not
grow
up
thinking their
forefathers were traitors and
dishonorable men. They did
. honorably what they believed
to
be
their duty, anq we must
honor
them
ourselves.
Q
Do you have plans to do
this through the Southern
Heritage Society?
A Yes,
we
want
to continue
our annual conferences on the
last weekend of
May.
Also,
eventually, if God raises up the
support for it, we would like to
start
an
Institute for Southern
Studies. High school
and
college students could come
and hear leading scholars in the
country lecture
on
Southern
culture, literature, art,
and
'
history.
We
want our children
and
other youth to have this
teaching. Many Christians
throughout the nation are
becoming Southern
in
their
hearts.
We
believe the South was
the last bastian of Christendom.
We want
the principles
upon
which the South stood to
be
embraced again by the entire
country,
We
want, not only the
South, but the whole union to
rise again from the paganism
that presently prevails.
Our
goal is to rebuild
on
the ruins
and see this lost civilization
restored again
by
the grace
of
God. This is the goal of the
Southern Heritage Society
as
well as The Southern League
and
a number
of
other
organizations that have sprung
up in
the last few years.
Q
How may readers
contact the Southern Heritage
Society
and
also learn of your
taped history series entitled
America: The First
35
Years?
A
They may write to me at:
224 Auburn Avenue,Monroe, LA
71201 -- The Southern League
may be contacted at: P.O. Box
40910. Tuscaloosa, AL 35404
Thank you very much for this
interview.
.....
August 997 l TH COUNSEL of Chalcedou ' 13