On the whole Confederate Flag backfire. I was going through Facebook last night and ran across another picture of the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazard. The Kid was looking over my shoulder and said “That that car’s very popular now. You see it everywhere.” It would seem the next generation is getting the opposite message. They see something all over the place and assume it’s because ‘it’s a good thing. I wonder how many kids of all ages are digging their General Lee out of the attic right now.
Lee’s Battleflags are also popping up everywhere. As my wife said, “Liberals are like nagging women. They never understand that if you tell a Southern white man he can’t do something, he’s going to do it every time.”
I haven’t been able to completely identity how I feel over the hatred recently directed towards the South. It seems almost like and occupation where people are coming in from the outside and demanding the area change. Alabama’s governor took down the Confederate flag, but where was the woman from who climbed the flagpole and took down the one in South Carolina.
I am not a conspiracy theorist but it almost makes me wonder about the church shooting in Charleston and how fast everything happened afterward. Then the church burnings? These things don’t happen where I live.
Yesterday I was in a convenience store and a black woman who was a little off commented she wanted to go wherever I was going. Then she complimented my dress, reached out and turned me around where she could get a full look at it. Told me she had the perfect shoes to go with it. I laughed and carried on with her. I was never afraid of her. When she left I asked the ,again, black woman at the register if the other one was always so friendly. She told me she was a little crazy. We smiled and I think both appreciated that only in the South do people appreciate a little “crazy”. She started telling me about another guy who had been in earlier and had gotten “mouthy” with her. Before she could call the police his friend got him out. I told her no one deserved to put up with that when they were serving the public, but it’s a holiday weekend and people drink that “liquid encouragement”. Again, we shared a knowing look and she thanked me. THAT;s the South I live in.
Of course my husband points out that perhaps I am inherently racist because I describe people by the color of their skin, but I think it is relevant to the story. You wouldn’t have understood the significance of the above story without the description. That exchange between two white woman wouldn’t have been as entertaining. We would have just been coldly polite to each other–two strangers.
Doing what we’ve been told not to do is not necessarily a southern thing, but a human nature thing. The flip side is purposely not doing what we’ve been told to do.
Some of you dear southerners will sometimes mention, as Kim did above, that a particular thing happens “only in the South”, but I often wonder if perhaps those are more indicative of a small town thing rather than a Southern thing. Most of the neighborly behaviors you have attributed to the South, I have seen in my own northern Connecticut small town. (Yes, even appreciating the little but of crazy in a person. 🙂 )
Some of you are my Facebook friends, so you have seen me share a couple things defending southerners. Yesterday, a liberal friend shared a video of a lady & her crew interviewing southerners to find out if y’all really are racist. Of course, it was obvious that they expected the answer to be yes, & that they cherry-picked the ignorant remarks to make their case. I shared with her something I had previously written, but she hasn’t replied, which is fine by me.
From Desiring God today: America: A worthy experiment of smugglers and Presbyterians.
http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/fare-well-liberty-bell
_______________________________________________________
America has never been a single thread, but rather a cord of both worldliness and holiness. These strands were woven so tightly for so long that it became difficult, certainly for Christians, to see them as twain, but twain they have always been, and twain they are now parted. …
Is the life of the American Christian now to be one of little more than nostalgic waxing, pharisaic finger-pointing, lamentation, and separatism? Never let it be so! Such would neither be American nor Christian. What is America without the engagement of its free citizens? How can a Christian be salt and light in a social ghetto or separatist’s undercroft?
No, we are, as Augustine wrote, citizens of two cities: the city of God and the city of man. For most of American history, at least culturally, we have resided in a duplex with a common street address. Now, we’ll be obligated to keep two quarters in different neighborhoods. But keep them we must.
At our American residence, we’ll remain “citizens,” a revolutionary moniker that declares our liberation from the yoke of human tyranny. This honorable name, “citizen,” distinguishes us from those who are “subjects” of earthly despots. The price of such liberty is, as Jefferson wrote, eternal vigilance.
At our Christian residence, our eternal address, we will be slaves, glad bondservants to the sublimely beneficent king of all kings. Until this king summons us to his throne, we Christians serve as both his subjects and, by his grace, as free citizens of the United States of America. …
__________________________________________________________
This seems like a grim assessment of the worst-case scenario possibilities ahead, but it was posted by one of our elders with a law degree & so I read it seriously. He posted it publicly on FB, so figured it was OK to share it here without a name:
Thoughts? (He bases his argument on the contention that if the laws and constitution are ignored long enough, most anything can happen — eventually-speaking, I presume he means, and not necessarily next month or next year or even next decade, although we already see some of this — fines, etc. — taking place; will enough people in our country really care come 2016?):
Every few decades in our nation’s history there has been either a constitutional failure or a constitutional collapse. We’ve always survived them as a nation (more or less). I’m not saying we haven’t just endured a near decade long series of government enforced crime against the people from the highest levels of the state, I’m just saying it’s not the first time and won’t be the last. We as a nation tend to recover from the abuses. That grants a certain level of optimistic perspective.
A lot of people innocent of any crime or moral error are going to be (or already have been) fined, imprisoned, have property seized or families confiscated, interrupted or disincorporated. It’s going to get painful in certain states and jurisdictions. Others will barely notice that shift. They are voting for things that are to them merely theoretical and might as well be happening on another planet.
We know what the possibilities are for next things: either there will be an electoral swing to the right in the next election forestalling the Leftist Libertine onslaught or things will progress as they currently are. There will be three groups targeted for persecution and dissolution: Churches (conservative Christians), homeschoolers and businesses owned by those that promote or donate funds to conservative causes (the IRS and NSA records have everyone identified and categorized for analysis).
Churches will be shuttered through fear, fines, property seizures and political intimidation (including jail time for clergy and lay leaders), families will have their children seized by the state through child protective services (presumptively for their own protection) and home schooling will reduce almost over night without the need for legislation to the contrary (not having children in state schools will make one a target for harassment and intrusive cps and police action).
It won’t be the sickly or weak businesses that will be targeted; it will be the big, wealthy, seemingly invincible and their most charismatic leadership because watching them crushed by the raw exercise of power will make everyone lower down of the food chain quake and shiver at the sheer irresistible force of it all. All of our delusions of due process and the protections of law will be quelled quickly and without much in the way of resistance.
Every system decides if it will be a jurisdiction of men or of laws. Countries governed by laws are stable and predictable. When persons decide what the rule will be chaos reigns and government is reduced to the expression of power rather than right. “Rights” become whatever those with power determine to enforce.
Our country is one in which there is a written constitution that is ignored by the highest levels of government but largely obeyed by local, municipal, county and state governments (depending upon the culture and interests of the population).
It’s hard for some people to see, especially if they agree with recent decisions of the Supreme Court, how utterly the constitutional system has failed. If laws are changed in this way there is a way that laws like this must be changed, otherwise no one is safe.
Thus almost anything can happen, even things that are thought by the common citizen to sound crazy or unthinkable. Nothing is unthinkable in a nation without laws. And all of this has happened before even in places where things were thought to be unthinkable.
__________________________________________
Donna, The article is interesting. The threat comes from one group. You can disagree with Obamacare and not be silenced. You can disagree with abortion, trade deals or drug legalization and not be attacked.
However, Organized Perversion wants to silence all opponents. Athletes who state a Biblical position are re-educated and forced to apologize. CEOs are fired. If a president of a Christian college supports Biblical marriage, Organized Perversion seeks to take away the school’s accreditation and won’t let school districts hire student teachers from the college.
Of course, any true church or Christian college must oppose the normalization and glorification of perversion. These institutions will be under tremendous attack. Tax exempt statuses will be challenged. Rich people like their tax deductions and many “churches” will go along with Organized Perversion just as many churches went along with the Nazis.
In the end the church that remains will have been purified by going through the fire, but we should all ask: Is this the place we want our grandchildren to be raised? As your elder suggested, Lubbock and the Shenandoah Valley will be safer for kids than the Northeast or the West Coast, but all are part of this toxic culture.
Not only has the latest Church Burning been attributed to weather but there is no evidence of a connection or of racism in any of the others but the Huffington Post commentators are not having it. Their feelings and bigotry trump things like science and evidence and logic.
On Fox New, the programming is about “Why I love America”.
I may have told you this before, but a few years ago, my middle GD was stranded overnight in Delhi, India. Next day, she called from the airport on the way home.
I remember saying, “Mary, if they had the chance, seventy five percent of those people would get on the airplane and come to America with you.”
But, as Obama says, the people in Greece think their country is exceptional. So do the people in Mexico and Guatemala. Only they want to come here.
I have lived about the last third of this country’s existence. The time when the USA was the greatest country in history.
It breaks my heart to lose it.
Thinking we’ll likely see Ginsburg step down from the court soon — in order to make sure the next appointment to replace her will be made by a Democratic administration, of course.
How did we lose sight of the checks and balances that were supposed to keep government of the people by the people and for the people? How did it all turn into just a musical chairs political power grab that no one seems to be all that upset over?
I am aware that the church fires had various causes, but you can’t tell certain people that. They have made up their minds that it is further proof of how racist and hating the South is and they refuse to be confused by the facts. That is part of what makes me so sad.
The actions of the Supreme Court could cause a push back and serve to energize & unite conservatives. I think people are still absorbing it all, but I sense a deep concern about what’s happening in our so-called republic.
And I think the number of GOP candidates, while a little overwhelming right now, is a positive. Among them are many younger, fresh faces, with potentially strong voter appeal.
What do the Dems have? Two up-in-years, old-school “politicians” in the worst sense of that word (Clinton & Sanders who are sufficiently left-leaning enough for the party anyway).
It’s still too early, of course, but by the end of this year, we should be getting a better idea of how the 2016 race is likely to shape up. It may still be too late for the nation, but even holding back and slowing down the tide that may eventually be inevitable is a worthy goal.
I know people always say each election is important. But this one really will be, I think. Another 4 years under a liberal administration (with court appointments following suit) could/probably would be disastrous in my estimation right now.
The key factor will be how engaged the electorate is. Seems to me like many of simply “checked out,” they don’t follow what’s been going on and the significance.
But I did see in an AP story that health insurance premiums are expected to jump significantly (20%) for most of us in 2016 (and my friend who’s an RN at a local Catholic hospital tells me that the Obamacare system is a disaster in the making, with most of us now paying for those who can’t afford to pay anything) and that will motivate a lot of voters to start paying closer attention, I’d guess.
Politically there still needs to be a viable alternative. Just repealing it will leave possibly more of a mess, seems like we’re stuck with “something” involving the government in medical care now.
Legally mandated repression of Christian Speech begins as law in Oregon: “Thou shalt not speak”
Remember, a judge’s order is law. Disobedience to that law is a crime. The most important thing about an order like this is the response from the legal community of the judicial branch of government. If they shut it down, it is not approved law. If they say nothing, it is then a norm. These laws are not made through legislatures or elected officials. They are created by judges. And the United States has become a nation ruled by the judicial branch of government.
________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
Will anti-gay Christians be politically and socially ostracized? I sure hope so. Just as those orthodox Christians who still believe in strict, traditional gender roles have been increasingly mocked as absurd. …
________________________________
Wandering Views 
On the whole Confederate Flag backfire. I was going through Facebook last night and ran across another picture of the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazard. The Kid was looking over my shoulder and said “That that car’s very popular now. You see it everywhere.” It would seem the next generation is getting the opposite message. They see something all over the place and assume it’s because ‘it’s a good thing. I wonder how many kids of all ages are digging their General Lee out of the attic right now.
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Lee’s Battleflags are also popping up everywhere. As my wife said, “Liberals are like nagging women. They never understand that if you tell a Southern white man he can’t do something, he’s going to do it every time.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
This was encouraging:
https://www.nolanchart.com/south-may-given-unbelievable-opportunity-rally-colors-dixie
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RickyWeaver, please tell your wife I said, “Ain’t that the dang truth!!!!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
I haven’t been able to completely identity how I feel over the hatred recently directed towards the South. It seems almost like and occupation where people are coming in from the outside and demanding the area change. Alabama’s governor took down the Confederate flag, but where was the woman from who climbed the flagpole and took down the one in South Carolina.
I am not a conspiracy theorist but it almost makes me wonder about the church shooting in Charleston and how fast everything happened afterward. Then the church burnings? These things don’t happen where I live.
Yesterday I was in a convenience store and a black woman who was a little off commented she wanted to go wherever I was going. Then she complimented my dress, reached out and turned me around where she could get a full look at it. Told me she had the perfect shoes to go with it. I laughed and carried on with her. I was never afraid of her. When she left I asked the ,again, black woman at the register if the other one was always so friendly. She told me she was a little crazy. We smiled and I think both appreciated that only in the South do people appreciate a little “crazy”. She started telling me about another guy who had been in earlier and had gotten “mouthy” with her. Before she could call the police his friend got him out. I told her no one deserved to put up with that when they were serving the public, but it’s a holiday weekend and people drink that “liquid encouragement”. Again, we shared a knowing look and she thanked me. THAT;s the South I live in.
Of course my husband points out that perhaps I am inherently racist because I describe people by the color of their skin, but I think it is relevant to the story. You wouldn’t have understood the significance of the above story without the description. That exchange between two white woman wouldn’t have been as entertaining. We would have just been coldly polite to each other–two strangers.
LikeLiked by 3 people
There’s a liberal hollerin’ and bangin’ at the front door, but your dog is barkin’ and scratchin’ at the back door. Which one should you let in first?
The answer of course is the dog. Because when you let him in, at least he has the courtesy to shut up. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
The church fire in Greenville Co. SC was caused “by weather”. Likely lightning, but they didn’t say so.
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Doing what we’ve been told not to do is not necessarily a southern thing, but a human nature thing. The flip side is purposely not doing what we’ve been told to do.
Some of you dear southerners will sometimes mention, as Kim did above, that a particular thing happens “only in the South”, but I often wonder if perhaps those are more indicative of a small town thing rather than a Southern thing. Most of the neighborly behaviors you have attributed to the South, I have seen in my own northern Connecticut small town. (Yes, even appreciating the little but of crazy in a person. 🙂 )
Some of you are my Facebook friends, so you have seen me share a couple things defending southerners. Yesterday, a liberal friend shared a video of a lady & her crew interviewing southerners to find out if y’all really are racist. Of course, it was obvious that they expected the answer to be yes, & that they cherry-picked the ignorant remarks to make their case. I shared with her something I had previously written, but she hasn’t replied, which is fine by me.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Karen, I have decided to make you an Honorary Southerner. You deserve it.
LikeLiked by 3 people
From Desiring God today: America: A worthy experiment of smugglers and Presbyterians.
http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/fare-well-liberty-bell
_______________________________________________________
America has never been a single thread, but rather a cord of both worldliness and holiness. These strands were woven so tightly for so long that it became difficult, certainly for Christians, to see them as twain, but twain they have always been, and twain they are now parted. …
Is the life of the American Christian now to be one of little more than nostalgic waxing, pharisaic finger-pointing, lamentation, and separatism? Never let it be so! Such would neither be American nor Christian. What is America without the engagement of its free citizens? How can a Christian be salt and light in a social ghetto or separatist’s undercroft?
No, we are, as Augustine wrote, citizens of two cities: the city of God and the city of man. For most of American history, at least culturally, we have resided in a duplex with a common street address. Now, we’ll be obligated to keep two quarters in different neighborhoods. But keep them we must.
At our American residence, we’ll remain “citizens,” a revolutionary moniker that declares our liberation from the yoke of human tyranny. This honorable name, “citizen,” distinguishes us from those who are “subjects” of earthly despots. The price of such liberty is, as Jefferson wrote, eternal vigilance.
At our Christian residence, our eternal address, we will be slaves, glad bondservants to the sublimely beneficent king of all kings. Until this king summons us to his throne, we Christians serve as both his subjects and, by his grace, as free citizens of the United States of America. …
__________________________________________________________
LikeLike
Looks like an interesting read:
http://www.worldmag.com/2015/07/waking_up_to_a_changed_america
J. Paul Nyquist, “Prepare: Living Your Faith in an Increasingly Hostile Culture”
LikeLike
This seems like a grim assessment of the worst-case scenario possibilities ahead, but it was posted by one of our elders with a law degree & so I read it seriously. He posted it publicly on FB, so figured it was OK to share it here without a name:
Thoughts? (He bases his argument on the contention that if the laws and constitution are ignored long enough, most anything can happen — eventually-speaking, I presume he means, and not necessarily next month or next year or even next decade, although we already see some of this — fines, etc. — taking place; will enough people in our country really care come 2016?):
_______________________________________________________
Every few decades in our nation’s history there has been either a constitutional failure or a constitutional collapse. We’ve always survived them as a nation (more or less). I’m not saying we haven’t just endured a near decade long series of government enforced crime against the people from the highest levels of the state, I’m just saying it’s not the first time and won’t be the last. We as a nation tend to recover from the abuses. That grants a certain level of optimistic perspective.
A lot of people innocent of any crime or moral error are going to be (or already have been) fined, imprisoned, have property seized or families confiscated, interrupted or disincorporated. It’s going to get painful in certain states and jurisdictions. Others will barely notice that shift. They are voting for things that are to them merely theoretical and might as well be happening on another planet.
We know what the possibilities are for next things: either there will be an electoral swing to the right in the next election forestalling the Leftist Libertine onslaught or things will progress as they currently are. There will be three groups targeted for persecution and dissolution: Churches (conservative Christians), homeschoolers and businesses owned by those that promote or donate funds to conservative causes (the IRS and NSA records have everyone identified and categorized for analysis).
Churches will be shuttered through fear, fines, property seizures and political intimidation (including jail time for clergy and lay leaders), families will have their children seized by the state through child protective services (presumptively for their own protection) and home schooling will reduce almost over night without the need for legislation to the contrary (not having children in state schools will make one a target for harassment and intrusive cps and police action).
It won’t be the sickly or weak businesses that will be targeted; it will be the big, wealthy, seemingly invincible and their most charismatic leadership because watching them crushed by the raw exercise of power will make everyone lower down of the food chain quake and shiver at the sheer irresistible force of it all. All of our delusions of due process and the protections of law will be quelled quickly and without much in the way of resistance.
Every system decides if it will be a jurisdiction of men or of laws. Countries governed by laws are stable and predictable. When persons decide what the rule will be chaos reigns and government is reduced to the expression of power rather than right. “Rights” become whatever those with power determine to enforce.
Our country is one in which there is a written constitution that is ignored by the highest levels of government but largely obeyed by local, municipal, county and state governments (depending upon the culture and interests of the population).
It’s hard for some people to see, especially if they agree with recent decisions of the Supreme Court, how utterly the constitutional system has failed. If laws are changed in this way there is a way that laws like this must be changed, otherwise no one is safe.
Thus almost anything can happen, even things that are thought by the common citizen to sound crazy or unthinkable. Nothing is unthinkable in a nation without laws. And all of this has happened before even in places where things were thought to be unthinkable.
__________________________________________
LikeLike
Donna, The article is interesting. The threat comes from one group. You can disagree with Obamacare and not be silenced. You can disagree with abortion, trade deals or drug legalization and not be attacked.
However, Organized Perversion wants to silence all opponents. Athletes who state a Biblical position are re-educated and forced to apologize. CEOs are fired. If a president of a Christian college supports Biblical marriage, Organized Perversion seeks to take away the school’s accreditation and won’t let school districts hire student teachers from the college.
Of course, any true church or Christian college must oppose the normalization and glorification of perversion. These institutions will be under tremendous attack. Tax exempt statuses will be challenged. Rich people like their tax deductions and many “churches” will go along with Organized Perversion just as many churches went along with the Nazis.
In the end the church that remains will have been purified by going through the fire, but we should all ask: Is this the place we want our grandchildren to be raised? As your elder suggested, Lubbock and the Shenandoah Valley will be safer for kids than the Northeast or the West Coast, but all are part of this toxic culture.
LikeLike
Not only has the latest Church Burning been attributed to weather but there is no evidence of a connection or of racism in any of the others but the Huffington Post commentators are not having it. Their feelings and bigotry trump things like science and evidence and logic.
LikeLike
On Fox New, the programming is about “Why I love America”.
I may have told you this before, but a few years ago, my middle GD was stranded overnight in Delhi, India. Next day, she called from the airport on the way home.
I remember saying, “Mary, if they had the chance, seventy five percent of those people would get on the airplane and come to America with you.”
But, as Obama says, the people in Greece think their country is exceptional. So do the people in Mexico and Guatemala. Only they want to come here.
I have lived about the last third of this country’s existence. The time when the USA was the greatest country in history.
It breaks my heart to lose it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is very discouraging. 😦
Thinking we’ll likely see Ginsburg step down from the court soon — in order to make sure the next appointment to replace her will be made by a Democratic administration, of course.
How did we lose sight of the checks and balances that were supposed to keep government of the people by the people and for the people? How did it all turn into just a musical chairs political power grab that no one seems to be all that upset over?
LikeLike
Donna, In a way that is good news. I shows that they are concerned about the next election.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am aware that the church fires had various causes, but you can’t tell certain people that. They have made up their minds that it is further proof of how racist and hating the South is and they refuse to be confused by the facts. That is part of what makes me so sad.
LikeLike
The actions of the Supreme Court could cause a push back and serve to energize & unite conservatives. I think people are still absorbing it all, but I sense a deep concern about what’s happening in our so-called republic.
And I think the number of GOP candidates, while a little overwhelming right now, is a positive. Among them are many younger, fresh faces, with potentially strong voter appeal.
What do the Dems have? Two up-in-years, old-school “politicians” in the worst sense of that word (Clinton & Sanders who are sufficiently left-leaning enough for the party anyway).
It’s still too early, of course, but by the end of this year, we should be getting a better idea of how the 2016 race is likely to shape up. It may still be too late for the nation, but even holding back and slowing down the tide that may eventually be inevitable is a worthy goal.
I know people always say each election is important. But this one really will be, I think. Another 4 years under a liberal administration (with court appointments following suit) could/probably would be disastrous in my estimation right now.
LikeLike
kbells, I think they are worried.
The key factor will be how engaged the electorate is. Seems to me like many of simply “checked out,” they don’t follow what’s been going on and the significance.
But I did see in an AP story that health insurance premiums are expected to jump significantly (20%) for most of us in 2016 (and my friend who’s an RN at a local Catholic hospital tells me that the Obamacare system is a disaster in the making, with most of us now paying for those who can’t afford to pay anything) and that will motivate a lot of voters to start paying closer attention, I’d guess.
Politically there still needs to be a viable alternative. Just repealing it will leave possibly more of a mess, seems like we’re stuck with “something” involving the government in medical care now.
LikeLike
Another post from the elder I quoted at 2:27 above about the gag order on the Oregon bakers:
______________________________________________________________
Legally mandated repression of Christian Speech begins as law in Oregon: “Thou shalt not speak”
Remember, a judge’s order is law. Disobedience to that law is a crime. The most important thing about an order like this is the response from the legal community of the judicial branch of government. If they shut it down, it is not approved law. If they say nothing, it is then a norm. These laws are not made through legislatures or elected officials. They are created by judges. And the United States has become a nation ruled by the judicial branch of government.
________________________________________________________________
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A view from the left:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/05/the-new-post-homophobic-christianity.html
_______________________________
Will anti-gay Christians be politically and socially ostracized? I sure hope so. Just as those orthodox Christians who still believe in strict, traditional gender roles have been increasingly mocked as absurd. …
________________________________
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“An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide” -Arnold J. Toynbee
As quoted by the pastor of FBC Columbia, SC.
LikeLiked by 2 people
My wife and Kim do understand Southern males. This video was from Friday night in Arkansas. My buddies say North Georgia looks the same.
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