Today I heard an interview on NPR of South Carolina Representative Doug Brannon. You can read it and also listen to it here. I strongly encourage everyone to listen to the interview. He speaks about his efforts to remove the Confederate flag from the capital dome of South Carolina before the recent murders. Most important, he was a friend of Reverend Clemente Pinckney, who he described as follows:
"He was huge. He was - I'm a short guy. I'm 5-foot-7, and Senator Pinckney was 6'5 or 6'6. I mean, he was a mountain of a man. But when he walked into a room, the smile just lit the room up. It - you know, as big as he was, he always - he was so inviting. He never felt ominous. It was - he was just a welcome sight. And if you've ever imagined what God's voice sounded like, Clemente's voice was that. His voice could shake the room."
Furthermore, Rep. Brannon notes that the Confederate flag was not placed on the South Carolina capital dome until 1962 in response to segregation. He said, "We're talking about a flag that got placed on the capital dome by a bunch of white guys who were mad about desegregation."
This is further evidence that the Confederate flag is about segregation, and ultimately hatred of our neighbors and fellow citizens. If a White person has a close friend or relative who is African-American, there is no way that person could look at the Confederate flag with pride and be consistent with their commitment to the well-being of those friends and family members.
The flag cannot be about Southern pride when the South is made up of African-Americans, Hispanic American, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and White Americans. The flag is the pride only of a select group of White people.
21 June 2015
The Deception of the Confederate Flag
Friends of mine have pointed out that many people display the Confederate flag out of Southern pride, but not to support racism. Many people also argue that the Civil War was not primarily about slavery. I disagree with this reasoning.
The problem with this symbol is both what it meant back then, and also what it means today. The reason we need to move on by not displaying the flag is because it represents, at best, callousness towards our African-American neighbors, brothers and sisters, and at worse, it represents hatred and bigotry. Southern pride should not be represented by a flag that only applies to some Southerners, in this case, only White Southerners.
I should add that being from the south, at one time I also had a Confederate Battle flag in my room. From my point of view then, it represented Southern pride, especially when I heard people outside the south say derogatory things about us. However, I got rid of it when I realized that if what that flag represents came about, then my friends (and now my family) who are African-Americans would have remained in slavery and slavery-like conditions. Likewise, if the order of old south after the Civil War continued to today, my family and friends who are African-Americans would be treated horribly (and where those attitudes are still dominate, African-Americans are still treated horribly up to the present time).
It was then that I realized I had been deceived, and to this day I resent what the Confederate flag stood for and what it stands for now. I should have known better back then, but at least I know the truth about this horrible flag today.
There is no way around it: the Confederate flag stands for rebellion against the US Constitution, for racism, and for hatred. Those who see it as merely Southern pride are being deceived.
James wrote, "If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors."
- James 2: 8-9 (ESV)
The Apostle Paul wrote: "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."
- 2nd Timothy 3:12-13 (ESV)
The Confederate flag represents a system that treats people with partiality, and those who fly the flag are at best deceiving others and are being deceived themselves.
The problem with this symbol is both what it meant back then, and also what it means today. The reason we need to move on by not displaying the flag is because it represents, at best, callousness towards our African-American neighbors, brothers and sisters, and at worse, it represents hatred and bigotry. Southern pride should not be represented by a flag that only applies to some Southerners, in this case, only White Southerners.
I should add that being from the south, at one time I also had a Confederate Battle flag in my room. From my point of view then, it represented Southern pride, especially when I heard people outside the south say derogatory things about us. However, I got rid of it when I realized that if what that flag represents came about, then my friends (and now my family) who are African-Americans would have remained in slavery and slavery-like conditions. Likewise, if the order of old south after the Civil War continued to today, my family and friends who are African-Americans would be treated horribly (and where those attitudes are still dominate, African-Americans are still treated horribly up to the present time).
It was then that I realized I had been deceived, and to this day I resent what the Confederate flag stood for and what it stands for now. I should have known better back then, but at least I know the truth about this horrible flag today.
There is no way around it: the Confederate flag stands for rebellion against the US Constitution, for racism, and for hatred. Those who see it as merely Southern pride are being deceived.
James wrote, "If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors."
- James 2: 8-9 (ESV)
The Apostle Paul wrote: "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."
- 2nd Timothy 3:12-13 (ESV)
The Confederate flag represents a system that treats people with partiality, and those who fly the flag are at best deceiving others and are being deceived themselves.
20 June 2015
"Letter from Birmingham Jail"; Complete Text aand Outline
If you have not read this, Justin Taylor has posted Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" with an outline over at The Gospel Coaliton. I highly recommend reading this letter.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. not only wrote intelligently and on a foundation of Christian love, he wrote prophetically reaching the reader's conscience. It is an excellent work.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. not only wrote intelligently and on a foundation of Christian love, he wrote prophetically reaching the reader's conscience. It is an excellent work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)