A poster who used to frequent the comments section of this blog has taken his campaign on behalf of the South elsewhere. He proudly asserts:
If the South concedes to allowing the North to take the moral high ground built on the false premise that slavery is a sin, then the South is lost: no other arguments matter.
But if the South asserts itself and from the scriptures puts to silence this Northern pseudo religion that has led to the freeing of slaves which in the Bible is not supported (God never told King David to free all the slaves), “freeing” homosexuals so they can come out of the closet and proclaim their perversiona to the whole world and all the other rotten consequences that results in man being cut from God, then the South if they hold to the Bible’s view on slavery will win the battle for the moral high ground.
This is an encouragement for all in the South to go to the Bible for their strength in this cold war since the ACW/WBTS.
May God Save the South
There are a few things to note about this pronouncement.
The first is that it makes no claim about the abstract virtues of secession. That’s irrelevant, according to the poster: “no other arguments matter” if slavery’s a sin.
The second is the frequent linkage of opposition to slavery or to criticism of the celebration of certain forms of Confederate heritage to the matter of sexual preference. Usually we see this in the form of claims that critics of certain Confederate heritage groups must be gay, which in the eyes of the person making the charge must be a bad thing (apparently the reasoning is that “our critics are bad people, and that’s enough for us to argue that their criticism of us is bad … and allows us not to deal with the criticism”). I have no idea why someone thinks this is a persuasive argument: however, it does suggest the hatred and homophobia that runs throughout several strains of Confederate heritage.
The third is that such claims are not countered by advocates of Confederate heritage who embrace the “honor our ancestors/heritage not hate” themes. Given how freely these people criticize other folks, and given that the claim they are all about honor and respect, one would think they would be at pains to distance themselves from such rhetoric. But they don’t. Indeed, in some cases they embrace purveyors of intolerance.
This suggests the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of some strains of Confederate heritage commemoration. You would think that other Confederate heritage groups would rush to distance themselves from such claptrap. Rather, the result is much like the claim that Confederate heritage groups seek to rescue the Confederate battle flag from being used by groups that spew racial intolerance … when have you seen those groups “flag” the KKK? You don’t.
As to why that is … well, that’s for you to decide. All I know is that I see enough intolerance from certain advocates of Confederate heritage to suggest that perhaps it’s not that unwelcome after all.
Crossroads 