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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

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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

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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

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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