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Judge Not…
By Kate Burch

The ongoing frenzy to remove every symbol, every artistic representation, of the Confederacy from public view provides yet another example of what fallen creatures we humans are.  Fallen creatures and, too often, fools as well.  Politicians and pundits of the Left, especially—you know, the ones who tell us that we should have a “nuanced view”—are pronouncing the Confederate flag a “symbol of hate,” and even opining that merely seeing that symbol can incite people to racial violence, so of course it must be eliminated from the public square.

Those who wish to rename parks, streets, even colleges; to deface or destroy monuments (I haven’t yet heard anyone propose sandblasting away the bas-reliefs of Lee, Jackson, and Davis on Georgia’s Stone Mountain, but that’s coming); and to ban books and films would rather erase history than try to understand it.   They tried that with book burnings in the Middle Ages, and it really didn’t work.

The people in the American South in the 1800’s were not demons.  They were people, living in their particular context.  Slavery was part-and-parcel of their agricultural system at the time.  It was not only morally repugnant, but also economically extremely flawed and doomed to failure, but it was what they had at the time, and, like most people, Southerners did not want to have the rug pulled out from under them and lose their self-determination and their livelihoods.  We should also remind ourselves of several uncomfortable facts.  One is that slavery had existed throughout the world for millennia. The word, “slave” is from the word, “Slav,” reflecting the fact that most slaves were not, and still are not, of African origin.  Another is that Africans very happily captured and sold other Africans to slave traders for transport to other countries.  Yet another is that the United States and Great Britain were the only countries in the world at the time to outlaw slavery, fulfilling the intent and the promise of our Founders.

The darker aspects of this movement involve continued efforts to fan the flames of racial animus for political gain by professional race-baiters and manipulators who understand the weakness, laziness, and sensation-seeking of the populace. Keeps them in a job. To the excitable masses, getting on board with a program to eliminate the Confederate flag can let them feel good about themselves with very little effort. It would be so much better to stop, take a breath, and consider the words of Matthew, “Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the great log in your own?”


 
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