Celtic Lassie's Ramblings

Protection for Sexual Orientation

2005-12-12T09:04:00.000-06:00

Trust the Little Rock School Board to boldly go where they have no business going. On December 1st, they quietly passed a change in their policy to reflect protection for sexual orientation. Guess what? The Little Rock School District has now put themselves firmly in the position of APPROVING a teacher having sex with an animal. Let me quote Board member Tony Rose: "I also thought in the dawning days of the 21st century we needed to make sure it's enshrined in policy that we're not going to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity," he said. "I'm a very strong advocate of civil rights for all, and that includes making sure no one is deprived of any rights based on who they sleep with or are interested in sleeping with." So if the Science teacher believes in beastiality and encourages it in class, it's fine with the Little Rock School Board!

Think I'm going too far? That's what Christians said about homosexual marriage 20 years ago.

The Lakeview Decision Revisitd by Huckabee

2005-10-14T10:22:00.000-05:00

Huckabee et Al Coming to Holt's View on Lakeview
By Mark Moore

I have often noticed that a man who sees too far ahead of his fellow men is often misunderstood. He sees farther ahead than they do, but at the time they think he is hallucinating.

What makes it worse is that when events later unfold as the insightful man predicted, his fellow men often forget that the far-sighted man was right. They forget his early warnings, which they wrote off as trouble-making at the time. They forget he was right and only remember that they regard him as a trouble-maker who interferes with their "consensus".

Such is the case with State Senator Jim Holt and the Lakeview case. Let's review. The courts took it upon themselves to rule that Arkansas' public schools were "inadequate" and "unconstitutional". They told the other two branches of government to fix it. The Governor and most of the Ledge assured the people of Arkansas that they had "no choice" but to comply with the state courts and raise your taxes. They joined together in using the ruling as an excuse to foist an expensive plan that gave us even more centralized control of schools. They shut down dozens of districts. They moved power and authority away from local parents and school boards and concentrated it at the capitol.

Only a few men, like State Senator Jim Holt of Springdale, challenged the view that the courts and the courts alone had the power to determine what an "adequate" education was. Holt warned that to yield to the courts would violate the separation of powers that is the foundation of our government. It would turn the courts into a super-legislature.

Holt proposed that the legislature specifically spell out what a suitable education was. The legislature would define what an adequate facility consisted of, what an adequate pay scale would be, and the like. Then the courts would be bound only to interpret what the legislature codified , not make it up as they went along. Holt's idea would have given them no vacuum to fill. History has shown us in Little Rock, and across America, that courts do not run schools well- they just waste money well when they try.

To give his common-sense idea even more teeth, during the special session on schools in 2003 Holt proposed referring an amendment to the state constitution which said the legislature, along with parents and communities, would define what an adequate education was. Senator Dave Bisbee of Rogers like the idea so much that he proposed a very similar amendment. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette pummeled both proposals mercilessly. The ledge did not rally around either one. They instead pushed the spending and consolidation bills through in the hopes that the courts would be placated. They aren't.

I know that some are trying to make political hay out of the fact that Mike Bebee told the ledge that the court would be satisfied with the $750 million that the ledge already spent on education. That is a red herring. Gov. Huckabee thought the same. The problem is not Bebee. It is not Huckabee. The problem is once a legislature cedes its authority over to the courts it becomes like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates. The people never know what they are going to get.

That brings us to the present. Governor Huckabee was recently on the radio sounding like- well, like Jim Holt back in 2003. He said "I'm confident there will be a united effort in the two branches of government to say to the third that there are three equal branches of government and one does not supersede the other."

Huckabee made several other comments as well about the separation of powers-points Holt was making in the '03 special session.

We at Arkansas Watch are glad that the Governor has seen the light on this important issue. Still, it will be a harder fight now than it would have been in the beginning, before the other two branches assured us that they had "no choice" but to obey the courts. The court rulings were an excuse then to do what they wanted to do anyway. Now that the courts have turned on them, they are discovering that being a check and a balance to the courts is a constitutional duty. One that Holt has been preaching about for years.

It will not be easy, especially with the Democrat-Gazette backing an elitist court and hurling ugly abuse at anyone who stands up to them. Should the Executive and Legislative branches find it in themselves to do their duty, we at Arkansas Watch will do what we can in our small power to honor the courageous who stand up to both the elitest press and those who dare to call themselves our "Special Masters".

Tremendous Parable for Modern Man

2005-08-29T09:41:00.000-05:00

The Parable of the Sheep
by Charles Riggs

Not so long ago and in a pasture too uncomfortably close to here, a flock of sheep lived and grazed. They were protected by a dog, who answered to the master, but despite his best efforts from time to time a nearby pack of wolves would prey upon the flock.

One day a group of sheep, bolder than the rest, met to discuss their dilemma. "Our dog is good, and vigilant, but he is one and the wolves are many. The wolves he catches are not always killed, and the master judges and releases many to prey again upon us, for no reason we can understand. What can we do? We are sheep, but we do not wish to be food, too!"

One sheep spoke up, saying "It is his teeth and claws that make the wolf so terrible to us. It is his nature to prey, and he would find any way to do it, but it is the tools he wields that make it possible. If we had such teeth, we could fight back, and stop this savagery." The other sheep clamored in agreement, and they went together to the old bones of the dead wolves heaped in the corner of the pasture, and
gathered fang and claw and made them into weapons.

That night, when the wolves came, the newly armed sheep sprang up with their weapons and struck at them, crying, "Begone! We are not food!" and drove off the wolves, who were astonished. When did sheep become so bold and so dangerous to wolves? When did sheep grow teeth? It was unthinkable!

The next day, flush with victory and waving their weapons, they approached the flock to pronounce their discovery. But as they drew nigh, the flock huddled together and cried out, "Baaaaaaaadddd! Baaaaaddd things! You have bad things! We are afraid! You are not sheep!"

The brave sheep stopped, amazed. "But we are your brethren!" they cried. "We are still sheep, but we do not wish to be food. See, our new teeth and claws protect us and have saved us from slaughter. They do not make us into wolves, they make us equal to the wolves, and safe from their viciousness!"

"Baaaaaaad!" cried the flock, "the things are bad and will pervert you, and we fear them. You cannot bring them into the flock!" So the armed sheep resolved to conceal their weapons, for although they had no desire to panic the flock, they wished to remain in the fold. But they would not return to those nights of terror, waiting for the wolves to come.

In time, the wolves attacked less often and sought easier prey, for they had no stomach for fighting sheep who possessed tooth and claw even as they did. Not knowing which sheep had fangs and which did not, they came to leave sheep out of their diet almost completely except for the occasional raid, from which more than one wolf did not return.

Then came the day when, as the flock grazed beside the stream, one sheep's weapon slipped from the folds of her fleece, and the flock cried out in terror again, "Baaaaaad! You still possess these evil things! We must ban you from our presence!"

And so they did. The great chief sheep and his council, encouraged by the words of their advisors, placed signs and totems at the edges of the pasture forbidding the presence of hidden weapons there. The armed sheep protested before the council, saying, "It is our pasture, too, and we have never harmed you! When can you say we have caused you hurt? It is the wolves, not we, who prey upon you. We are still sheep, but we are not food!" But the flock drowned them out with cries of "Baaaaaaddd! We will not hear your clever words! You and your things are evil and will harm us!"

Saddened by this rejection, the armed sheep moved off and spent their days on the edges of the flock, trying from time to time to speak with their brethren to convince them of the wisdom of having such teeth, but meeting with little success. They found it hard to talk to those who, upon hearing their words, would roll back their eyes and flee, crying "Baaaaddd! Bad things!"

That night, the wolves happened upon the sheep's totems and signs, and said, "Truly, these sheep are fools! They have told us they have no teeth! Brothers, let us feed!" And they set upon the flock, and horrible was the carnage in the midst of the fold. The dog fought like a demon, and often seemed to be in two places at once, but even he could not halt the slaughter.

It was only when the other sheep arrived with their weapons that the wolves fled, only to remain on the edge of the pasture and wait for the next time they could prey, for if the sheep were so foolish once, they would be so again. This they did, and do still.

In the morning, the armed sheep spoke to the flock, and said, "See? If the wolves know you have no teeth, they will fall upon you. Why be prey? To be a sheep does not mean to be food for wolves!" But the flock cried out, more feebly for their voices were fewer, though with no less terror, "Baaaaaaaad! These things are bad! If they were banished, the wolves would not harm us! Baaaaaaad!"

So they resolved to retain their weapons, but to conceal them from the flock; to endure their fear and loathing, and even to protect their brethren if the need arose, until the day the flock learned to understand that as long as there were wolves in the night, sheep would need teeth to repel them.

They would still be sheep, but they would not be food!

Woman Arrested After Baby Left in Wal-Mart

2005-08-18T03:34:00.000-05:00

When I saw this news item, my first thought was anger and disgust toward the young woman who left her newborn to die in a toilet. However, hard on the heels of those emotions was frustration: if she had gone THAT SAME DAY to a local baby butcher (aka abortion clinic), they would have "relieved" her of her "burden" (and about $500) and everyone would have been happy. This tragic crime is a direct result of 32 years of cheapening preborn human life and not teaching our young people that they are made in the image of God, and therefore precious beyond words.

Evolution teaches us that we are nothing more than an animal with a superior brain. If this is true, then why are we incarcerating women for doing, for free, what the baby butchers charge them for? Seems to me that I remember when Roe v. Wade was first ruled on, it was touted as the end of "back alley" abortions. Yet we hear of cases like this almost every day.

Now I just pity the young lady; she's been told by our society that she's an animal, yet she'll spend a very long time in prison, only because she followed her animal nature. I hope someone can reach her with the Gospel; she needs to know that Christ died for her, too.

We the Sensible People

2005-08-12T08:09:00.000-05:00

I have heard this several times before, but decided to share it with you here, because it expresses my sentiments so well. It pretty well sums up my attitude exactly: rights are not priviledges, so get over yourself, grow up and get to work.

"We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other liberal bed-wetters. We hold these truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim they require a Bill of NON-Rights."

ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone -- not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc.; but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful, do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes.

ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care.

ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat, or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII: You do not have the right to a job. All of us sure want you to have a job, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.

ARTICLE IX: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to PURSUE happiness which, by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an over abundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

ARTICLE X: This is an English speaking country. We don't care where you are from, English is our language. Learn it or go back to wherever you came from!

ARTICLE XI: You do not have the right to change our country's history or heritage. This country was founded on the belief in one true God. And yet, you are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all; with no fear of persecution. The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage and history and if you are uncomfortable with it, TOUGH!!!!"

Cultural Insurrectionist

2005-07-29T10:59:00.000-05:00

Check out this young man's blog. This is one smart Christian constitutionalist! Reed Heustis says, "Oh great... just what we need. Another website run by a rabble-rousing, right wing, lunatic fringe whacko, religious bigot extremist with an axe to grind. I love it." Couldn't have said it better myself!

Christian Exodus banned from Google ads

2005-07-21T12:21:00.000-05:00

Like I'm really offended! WorldNetDaily reported today that

christianexodus.org, the group looking to have like-minded people move to one state to help restore godly values to government, says it's been rejected from placing ads on Google AdSense.

The AdSense ads might have brought more hits to the CE site, but I haven't used Google's search engine in almost a year, because of the sexually explicit sites that kept cropping up in my searches for information on other topics. For example, if you looked for pictures of Clinton, you were just as likely to get links to sites of nude women. I switched to http://www.teoma.com/ and found it much cleaner.

Thank you, Lawrence Vance!

2005-07-21T12:04:00.000-05:00

Those who know me know that I love my children more than anything in my life, except for my Savior, but I have been torn between supporting my military sons and my disapproval of the President's activities in the Middle East. Then I read Lawrence Vance's commentary today, and I wish there was some way to hug the man! I believe there are some men who are called to military service, and they do a fantastic job of showing Christ to their fellow service members, but it is a mistake to say that all Christians are serving God when they enlist, which I have heard more than once, living in the Bible Belt as I do. Christians need to think long and hard about military service, and if they feel called to serve and protect, there are plenty of places they can serve right here in our own country.

AB 849 If It Looks Like A Fish Bill, And Smells Like A Fish Bill...

2005-07-14T04:52:00.000-05:00

AB 849 (Leno): Gender This has gone too far in California. You have to read it for yourself! This started out as a game and fish bill, but was transformed into a homosexual marriage bill by San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno, himself an open homosexual. How? By keeping the numerical designation of the fish bill, and rewriting everything else. And this is AFTER 60% of Californians voted in 2000 to make marriage only between a man and a woman! If this kind of underhandedness and dishonesty is what California really wants from their representatives, I'm glad I'm headed for South Carolina.

I Am A Revolutionary? I Guess I Am!

2005-07-08T10:17:00.000-05:00

I hadn't thought of myself as a revolutionary until I read the following written by my brother blogger El Cid this morning. But he's right: ours is a revolutionary plan. To halt the destruction of our country's morals by returning to the principles of the nation's founding is rather revolutionary thinking.

Shouting From the Mountaintop- Cory Burnell Online; Christian Exodus for a Free South Carolina: "Revolution?
Thursday, July 07, 2005
That is a word that frankly scares me, and for good reason. Many folks have termed what we propose as a revolution, I have always attempted to deflect that moniker. Revolutions generally turn out badly as more radical elements usurp the original good intentions.

Americans generally pride ourselves on the belief that the revolution of 1776 avoided this circumstance. In many ways we did, but certainly not entirely. The misplaced beliefs of the Federalist such as Hamilton are responsible for much of what America has become. It took two centuries for radical thought to fully manifest itself but arise it has.

If one is intellectually honest the term revolution is not one we can avoid. Revolutions replace what exists with something new. The concept of government we propose certainly does not exist anywhere now. It died a long slow death and only in the last few years have many begun to mourn for it.

We comfort ourselves with the knowledge that ultimately we are paleo-conservatives, in actuality the only real conservatives left. However, an honest assessment reveals that we cannot simply return to the situation of 1930 or 1900 or 1860. Those days are gone, the world has changed. Our solution must be for now and the future, it may owe allegiance to previous ideals but the solution must be crafted with contemporary clay.

We claim to be Constitutionalist but again I believe ultimately we will find that even that document was lacking in some areas. How else has the world come to be turned so much asunder unless there exist some fundamental flaws? As a basis and foundation the Constitution of 1787 serves a great good. It alone, properly protected and respected, could serve another 200 years if we were able to simply turn back the clock. But alas, we cannot turn back the clock.

It is therefore proper and intellectually honest to admit that what we propose is indeed a revolution. We do propose to alter the form of government in one state and radically change the nature of the relationship of that government with others. There is no point in aimlessly debating our detractors on this point. They are right. (yes they are wrong too, we wish to use the sovereignty of an existing state, maintain its current republican form of government etc. In theoretical terms the changes we propose in terms of Constitutional relationships are revolutionary so why fight folks on this issue. We know the truth of the historic interpretation of the nature and relationship of the States to the Union. We can educate those that will hear but why fight those that will not?)

To be certain our counter points that we desire change that is true to history are correct. Our revolution seeks to restore that which once was and to correct ambiguities and flaws in the original. Folks debate us about the issue of States' Rights, or our Christian heritage. We believe these are valid principles, some disagree. Ultimately this does not matter. We contend that People ought to be free to establish for themselves their form of government. I would ask those that want to sharp-shoot Constitutional theory issues if they would deny that self-determination is an "inalienable right".

Really it matter little if a person agrees with our historic justifications. The real issue is that we desire a civil government of a particular brand, one we simply do not have access to currently. Our plan is to secure for ourselves that government via the most peaceable means possible, the ballot box. When reduced to such simple terms and stated so plainly anyone that opposes our objectives lives as far from the principles that founded the America as any petty tyrant or statist can get.

If we accept that we are indeed revolutionaries and radicals, it is really undeniable, then we darn well better prepare to set the limits of our radicalism. The second loudest argument against us is that we propose a theocracy. Heaven forbid that we should ever be associated in history with the tyrants of the Massachusetts Colony or the Cromwellian Regime.

We are plowing a reasonable path, under our tent good Christians of numerous doctrinal persuasions may stand. Let us embrace our status as revolutionaries, visionaries and yes even radicals. I believe in time good men of all persuasions in South Carolina will come to see us and our proposition as a viable and desirable solution; not the theocratic threat our enemies would paint us as.

As far as revolutions go, ours is differnt. We will require a lot of support from native South Carolina citizens, a majority of them. Our path must be simple, clear and free from divisive issues, dogma and unneccesary radicalism.

Dum Spiro Spero
El Cid"

Sainte Genevieve MO Historic Sites

2005-07-05T12:36:00.000-05:00

In August of 1993, as a member of Civil Air Patrol, Arkansas Wing, Arkansas River Valley Composite Squadron, I took 11 cadets to southern Missouri for 3 weeks to sandbag flooding towns, among them Ste. Genevieve and Dutchtown. My husband and I took a trip back this past weekend to the area to see what the area looked like when it wasn't flooded, and just to remember. What a joy it is to find St. Gen thriving! Anyone who is within a day's drive of St. Louis needs to find time to see this incredible place! And don't stay at a regular hotel - make a reservation at one of the bed and breakfasts in town. We wandered through town late Friday night (after 10pm) and the place was peaceful and serene. Saturday we spent the day doing the "tourist" thing, all over town, and being a holiday weekend, it seems that everyone had gone elsewhere, so we had the place virtually to ourselves. Residents have every right to be proud of their town and their heritage; they have done an admirable job of preserving their history intact.

Wanna Get Even?

2005-06-18T17:54:00.000-05:00

I don't know about all of these, but I do know the one about sending their mail back to them works. That's how the other politician's supporters got back at us for accidentally sending them a supporter letter before I bacame a recovering Republican. One enterprising person even went so far as to attach our envelope to a brick, and we had to pay the postage on the weight of that brick!
Tips for Handling Telemarketers

Three Little Words That Work !!

(1)The three little words are: "Hold On, Please..."

Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off (instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt.

Then when you eventually hear the phone company's "beep-beep-beep" tone, you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task.

These three little words will help eliminate telephone soliciting..

(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end?

This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone.

This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a "real" sales person to call back and get someone at home.

What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system. Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any longer !!!

(3) Junk Mail Help:
When you get "ads" enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these "ads" with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away

When you get those "pre-approved" letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope.

Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right? It costs them more than the regular 37 cents postage "IF" and when they receive them back.

It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50 cents before the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes.

One of Andy Rooney's (60 minutes) ideas.
Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their blank application back!
If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them.

You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them guessing! It still costs them 37 cents.

The banks and credit card companies are currently getting a lot of their own junk back in the mail, but folks, we need to OVERWHELM them. Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they're paying for it...Twice!

Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to increase postage costs again. You get the idea !

Reclaiming Liberty by Clyde Wilson

2005-06-16T11:03:00.000-05:00

One question: if Donnie Kennedy's such a smart man, why is he contemplating a run as a republican? A man with this much brains should have the smarts to be on the Constitution ticket!

Salt & Light, or ALL EDUCATION IS RELIGIOUS

2005-06-16T10:03:00.000-05:00

Ray Moore, of Exodus Mandate, has written an excellent article concerning education, and how all education is religious, regardless where that education is received; whether it is in a public classroom, a private school, or at home. Our children are not supposed to be missionaries at elementary school age; their impressionable minds should be shaped and molded by us as Christian parents, and by those we specifically choose to delegate that responsibility to, only after we have thoroughly determined that those substitutes will support our Christian beliefs, not destroy them, as the public school system is determined to do. If a parent abdicates this responsibility, then he or she has no business complaining about the humanistic results manifest in the children so exposed. We have often heard, "you reap what you sew." It works for education, too: if you sew humanism, you will reap humanism. Likewise, if you want to reap a Biblical education, we MUST sew a Biblical education.

Tom DeWeese -- UN's Agenda 21 Targets Your Mayor

2005-06-13T12:01:00.000-05:00

As we work to get the UN out of New York, the UN is working to get its fingers ever more entwined into our daily lives. Send this to your local city or town mayor, and let him know how disgusted you are by this global attempt to control our local lives.

Comments, Please

2005-06-11T10:38:00.000-05:00

"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force." -- Ayn Rand, The Nature of Government

While I argreee with this assertion wholeheartedly, I am still struggling with how we reconcile this situation with Christ's commands to occupy 'til He comes.

A Little Advice, Please?

2005-06-08T23:52:00.000-05:00

I'm going to depart from my normal topics this evening, and ask for help. My daughter in law's mother had a run-in with DHS today, and they're threatening to open an investigation on everyone involved in caring for two of my grandchildren, who live here with me. Mary (the other grandmother) was in their office this morning with four of her grandchildren, two of which are also mine. One of the other kids was acting up, and being an uncontrolable brat. Mary tried putting her in a chair, and standing her in a corner (where the other kids say she flopped down on the floor like a fish) and started cussing Mary. At this point Mary popped her mouth for cussing at her. Another woman in the waiting room apparently called the Child Abuse Hotline and reported her. DHS was going to have Mary arrested; called my daughter in law at work and told her to come get her kids and that Mary is not allowed to care for them. They also called the other kids' mother to come get hers. The caseworker told the girls that they were opening files not only on Mary, but also on both girls and their homes. This means that they'll be out here to my house, since they live with us. I see no reason to let any social worker into my home without a warrant and a police officer. No one in this home has done anything wrong, and I resent their intimidation tactics. I don't know any attorneys well enough to talk to one gratis, so I'm turning to my blog family for help. Can y'all give me any direction?

Southern Women: Take Note!

2005-06-02T10:23:00.000-05:00

This came from Volume V, 1897 of the compiled Confederate Veterans magazine from Broadfoot Publishing. As it is addressed to the ladies, they should read this.

------------------------
HIS WORDS LIVE AFTER HIM.

The late Gen. R. E. Colston went abroad and was long among the Egyptians after our great war, whereby he had the advantage of broadening his views; and yet to a Virginia Ladies' Memorial Association made an address from which the following is taken:

Those who fall in the arms of victory and success need no monuments to preserve their memories. The continued existence and prosperity of their country are sufficient epitaphs, and their names can never be forgotten. But how shall those be remembered who failed? It is their enemies who write their history, painting it with their own colors, distorting it with their calumnies, their prejudices, and their passions; and it is this one-sided version of the conquerors that the world at large accepts as truth, for in history as in the present, vae victis (woe to the conquered).

It is true that when we, the actors in the last contest, shall be sleeping in our graves little will it matter to us what the world may think of us or our motives. But methinks that we could hardly rest in peace, even in the tomb, should our descendants misjudge or condemn us. And yet, is there impossibility of this? They will be told that their fathers were oligarchs, aristocrats, slave-drivers, rebels, traitors, who, to perpetuate the monstrous sin of human slavery, tried to throttle out the life of the nation and to rend asunder the government founded by Washington; that they raised parricidal hands against the sacred ark of the Constitution; that they were the unprovoked aggressors, and struck the first sacrilegious blow against the Union and the flag of their country.

What if this be but false cant and calumny? Constant repetition will give it something of the authority of truth. We cannot doubt it. Our descendants will see these slanders repeated in Northern and probably in European publications; perhaps even in the very text-books of their schools (for, unfortunately, we Southerners, write too little, and they may be compelled, like ourselves, to look abroad for their intellectual nutriment). It is true that our own immediate sons and daughters will not believe these falsifications of history, but perchance their children or grandchildren may believe them. And those who are still our enemies after five years of peace rely confidently upon this result. A so-called minister of the Prince of Peace, but whose early and persistent advocacy of war and bloodshed prove that he obtained his commission from a very opposite quarter, has dared to say that "in a few years the relatives of those Southern men who fell in our struggle will be ashamed to be seen standing by the side of their dishonored graves." And he who said this, mark you, is no obscure driveler, but, on the contrary, one of the highest representative men of the North, one whom they delight to honor--no less a personage than the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.

Fellow Southerners, whose teachings and influence can accomplish more than all other agencies combined to hurl back this foul slander in the teeth of that reverend liar? Who can best guard our posterity from the corrupting odium of falsehood? Who can so implant the right and justice of our lost cause into their souls as to prevail over all the calumnies of our detractors?

Your hearts reply, like mine: "It is the noble, patriotic, unwavering women of the South." Yes, let me repeat this last epithet, for it belongs peculiarly to them, unwavering, true to the right, true to the South, in the past and in the present, and they will be in the future. We would be baser than the brutes that perish could we forget what the women of the South did to promote the success of our efforts. By night and by day they labored with diligent hands to supply the deficiencies of the government. They nursed the sick and wounded, they bore sorrows and privations of every kind without a murmur. What they suffered no tongue, no pen, can ever express. Yet they never faltered, they never gave up, and they continued to cheer the sinking hearts of their defenders and to hope against all hope, even when an was over. And see how nobly they have kept us in faith! While some men who once did gallant service in the Southern armies have, alas! turned false for filthy lucre, where are the renegades among Southern women? Even we who have preserved our faith unstained, have we not grown colder and more forgetful? Had it depended upon us alone, is there not much reason to fear that our brothers' bones would still lie unheeded where they fell? Not that we have grown indifferent or estranged, but the claims of the living and the anxieties of misfortune have absorbed our attention. It is these blessed Southern women, whose tender hearts never forget, that deserve the credit of all that has been done among us to preserve from destruction the remains of our brave comrades. Unwearied by all their labors and self-sacrifice during four years of war, they were, like Mary, the first at the graves of their beloved dead. Therefore to them we may safely intrust the holy ark of our Southern faith. Yes, it is for you - wives, mothers, daughters, of the South - it is for you, far more than for us, to fashion the hearts and thoughts of our children. We have neither the time nor the aptitude that you possess for training the infant mind from the beginning and inclining the twig the way the tree should grow. You are now, or will be some day, the mothers of future generations. See that you transmit to them the traditions and memories of our cause and of our glorious, if unsuccessful, struggle, that they may in their turn transmit them unchanged to those who succeed them. And let them learn from you that, although the same inscrutable Providence that once permitted the Grecian cross to go down before the Moslem crescent, has decreed that we should yield to Northern supremacy, and that we should fail in our endeavor; yet, for all that, we were right.

It is for you, Southern matrons, to guard your cherished ones against this foul idolatry, and to teach them a nobler and a higher moral. It is for you to bring the youth of our land to these consecrated mounds and to engrave in their candid souls the true story of our wrongs, our motives, and our deeds. Tell them in tender and eloquent words that those who lie here entombed were neither traitors nor rebels, and that those absurd epithets are but the ravings of malignant folly when applied to men who claimed nothing but their right under the Constitution of their fathers - the right of self-government. Tell them how we exhausted every honorable means to avoid the terrible arbitrament of war, asking only to be let alone, and tendering alliance, friendship, free navigation- everything reasonable and magnanimous-to obtain an amicable settlement. Tell them how, when driven to draw the sword, we fought the mercenaries of all the world until, overpowered by tenfold numbers, we fell; but, like Leonidas and his Spartans of old, fell so heroically that our defeat was more glorious than victory.

Then from so sublime a theme teach our children a no less sublime lesson. Bid them honor the right, just because it is right; honor it when its defenders have gained the rich prize of success, honor it still more when they are languishing in the dungeons of oppression or lying in bloody graves, like the martyrs we celebrate today. And bid them remember that no triumph, however brilliant, can ever change the wrong into the right. Next to their duty to God, teach your offspring to love their native Southern land all the more tenderly for its calamities, and to cherish the memories of their fathers all the more preciously because they battled for the right and went down in the unequal strife. And should their youthful hearts wonder at the triumph of force over justice, teach them that the ways of Providence are mysterious and not like our ways. For a time the wicked may flourish like a green bay-tree, but he shall not endure forever, and far better it is to suffer with the righteous than to rejoice with the unjust. Sooner or later, in some mysterious way that we cannot now perceive - in their own day, perhaps, if not in ours - the truth of our principles will be recognized. Meanwhile, bid them scorn "to crook the pregnant hinges of the knee, that thrift may follow fawning." Yet, while clinging to our principles and vindicating the righteousness of our motives, let our children learn also the Christian lesson of forgiveness. God forbid that the bitterness of our times should be perpetuated from generation to generation!

God forbid, above all, that this land should ever be drenched again with the blood of contending armies speaking the same language and springing from a kindred race! On the contrary, may he grant that the causes of strife, being at last all extinct, peace and harmony may prevail and make this land in truth, and not merely in name, the asylum of human liberty!

Ben Stein's Last Column

2005-05-25T12:01:00.000-05:00

For several years, I have belonged to a chat group called Mothers of the Military, though I am not as active there as I used to be. (Gee, I wonder why?) I came across this post today by Ben Stein, and it was so eloquent I had to share it. I hope it touches you as it has me. I detest the senseless waste of our soldiers overseas, but I honor and support their dedication to their jobs.

Ben Stein's Last Column... For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column for the online website called "Monday Night At Morton's." (Morton's is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.) Now, Ben is terminating the column to move on to other things in his life. Reading his final column is worth a few minutes of your time.
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How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?

As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is "eonlineFINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end.It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it. On a small scale, Morton's, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars. I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie. But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.

Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.

How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails.

They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer. A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.

A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him.

A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.

The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.

We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.

I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.

There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament...the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards.

Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the WorldTradeCenter as the towers began to collapse. Now you have my idea of a real hero.

We are not responsible for the operation of the universe, and what happens to us is not terribly important. God is real, not a fiction; and when we turn over our lives to Him, He takes far better care of us than we could ever do for ourselves. In a word, we make ourselves sane when we fire ourselves as the directors of the movie of our lives and turn the power over to Him.

I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin...or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them.

But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.

This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.

By Ben Stein

What's Your SOUTHERN Birth Sign?

2005-05-25T10:33:00.000-05:00

Some of us (especially Southerners) are pretty skeptical of horoscopes, and it has become obvious that what we need are "Southern" symbols:

OKRA (Dec 22 - Jan 20) Although you appear crude, you are actually very slick on the inside. Okra's have tremendous influence. An older Okra can look back over his life and see the seeds of his influence everywhere. Stay away from Moon Pies.

CHITLIN (Jan 21 - Feb 19) Chitlins come from humble backgrounds. A chitlin, however, can make something of himself if he's motivated and has lots of seasoning. In dealing with Chitlins, be careful. They can erupt like Mt. Vesuvius. Chitlins are best with Catfish and Okra.

BOLL WEEVIL (Feb 20 - Mar 20) You have an overwhelming curiosity. You're unsatisfied with the surface of things, and you feel the need to bore deep into the interior of everything.Needless to say, you are very intense and driven as if you had some inner hunger. Nobody in their right mind is going to marry you, so don't worry about it.

MOON PIE (Mar 21 - Apr 20) You're the type that spends a lot of time on the front porch. It's a cinch to recognize the physical appearance of Moon Pies. Big and round are the key words here. You should marry anybody who you can get remotely interested in the idea. It's not going to be easy. This might be the year to think about aerobics. Or ... maybe not...

POSSUM (Apr 21 -May 21) When confronted with life's difficulties, possums have a marked tendency to withdraw and develop a don't-bother-me-about-it attitude. Sometimes youbecome so withdrawn, people actually think you're dead. This strategy is probably not psychologically healthy, but seems to work for you. One day, however, it won't work and you may find your problems actually running you over.

CRAWFISH (May 22- June 21) Crawfish is a water sign. If you work in an office, you're always hanging around the water cooler. Crawfish prefer the beach to the mountains, the pool to the golf course, the bathtub to the living room. You tend to be not particularly attractive physically, but you have very, very good heads.

COLLARDS (June 22 -July 23) Collards have a genius for communication. They love to get in the "melting pot" of life and share their essence with the essence of those round them.Collards make good social workers, psychologists, and baseball managers. As far as your personal life goes, if you are Collards, stay away from Moon Pies. It just won't work. Save yourself a lot of heartache.

CATFISH (July 24 -Aug 23) Catfish are traditionalists in matters of the heart; although one's whiskers may cause problems for loved ones. You catfish are never easy people to understand. You prefer the muddy bottoms to the clear surface of life. Above all else, Catfish should stay away from Moon Pies.

GRITS (Aug 24 - Sept 23) Your highest aim is to be with others like yourself. You like to huddle together with a big crowd of other Grits. You love to travel though, so maybe you should think about joining a club.Where do you like to go? Anywhere they have cheese or gravy or bacon or butter or eggs. If you can, go somewhere where they have all these things that serve you well.

BOILED PEANUTS (Sept 24 - Oct 23) You have a passionate desire to help your fellow man.Unfortunately, those who know you best -- your friends and loved ones may find that your personality is much too salty, and their criticism will probably affect you deeply because you are really much softer than you appear. You should go right ahead and marry anybody you want to because in a certain way, yours is a charmed life. On the road of life, you can be sure that people will always pullover and stop for you.

BUTTER BEAN (Oct 24 - Nov 23) Always invite a Butter Bean because Butter Beans get along well with everybody. You, as a Butter Bean, should be proud. You've grown on the vine of life and you feel at home no matter what the setting. You can sit next to anybody. However, you too, shouldn't have anything to do with Moon Pies.

ARMADILLO (Nov 24 - Dec 21) You have a tendency to develop a tough exterior, but you are actually quite gentle. A good evening for you? Old friends, a fire, some roots, fruit, worms and insects. You are a throwback. You're not concerned with today's fashions and trends. You're not concerned with anything about today. You're really almost prehistoric in your interests and behavior patterns. You probably want to marry anotherArmadillo, but Possum is another, somewhat kinky, mating possibility.

Jacksonville, Florida, Man in Life and Death Tug-of-War

2005-05-23T10:23:00.000-05:00

What is it about Florida spouses (my birth state, by the way) that allows disgruntled spouses to dispose of their mates this way? Glen Sacks, of http://www.hisside.com believes we haven't heard about this gentleman before now because it's a wife trying to off her husband, with his family wanting to assume responsibility for him, instead of another "helpless" woman, as in the case of Terri.

Personally? I believe we wouldn't have these problems if Roe v. Wade hadn't been accepted as case-law, and respect for ALL life were still the law of the land. When we as a nation turned our back on God's commandments, He left us to suffer the consequences of our actions. My children's children are now paying the price, in every area of their lives, for the shoddy, selfish, liberal choices of my parents' and grandparents' votes 40 years ago. Guess what? Right there is proof that what we do affects four and five generations down the line. Still think your choices don't hurt anyone but yourself? THINK AGAIN!

What Our Airlines Really Need

2005-05-22T18:28:00.000-05:00

If every flight were equipped like this, there would be much greater security in the air!

It's In My Blood!!

2005-05-22T17:45:00.000-05:00

This is the dedication of my great-great grandfather's grave marker last weekend in Texas. Boy, am I proud!

May I See Your National ID, Please?

2005-05-16T18:24:00.000-05:00

I spoke to an older member of my family over the weekend about this travesty, and was surprised by her response. She said that she didn't have anything to hide, so she saw no reason to object to letting the government put anything they wanted into her driver's license. When I reminded her that Germans thought the same thing in the early 30's, she paused, then said, "Gee, I never thought of it that way."

I'm 50, and it's times like this, when I'm caught between the ignorance of older citizens and the apathy of younger ones that I want to throw up my hands and say why bother. Then my Lord gently reminds me that He hasn't given me permission to quit, because I'm still breathing, and my heart is still beating (even if it does have a few stents holding it open!).

I'm glad my Abba loves me so much, and I can run to Him any time for reassurance. One of my favorite songs by Twila Paris says it best:

"They don't know that I go running home when I fall down.
They don't know Who picks me up when no one is around.
I drop my sword and cry for just a while.
'Cause deep inside this armour the warrior is a child."

The Pamphleteer: Where Has America's Self Respect Gone?

2005-05-16T16:11:00.000-05:00

The Pamphleteer: Where Has America's Self Respect Gone? Oh, that more gentlemen like this existed! Bless you, Longstreet.

When Does It End?

2005-05-13T23:59:00.000-05:00

I am angry, worried, scared, and furious with Washington right now. I just found out that our oldest son, who just had twins 6 weeks ago, is going back to Iraq FOR THE FOURTH TIME, and this deployment is for 18 months! Hasn't this family given enough already? Do we have to give until one of my sons dies? I have two in the Army and two son-in-laws in the Air Force, and part of my daily prayer is, "Please keep my boys home, Lord." How do we stop it?

What If They Filibustered American Idol?

2005-05-13T09:48:00.000-05:00

I got this from Concerned Women of America, and snickered all the way through it! Hope you enjoy the irony, too

I had a nightmare. I may be the only person on the planet who’s never watched American Idol, which is why this is so weird.

Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson, the regular judges on Fox’s hit TV show, were replaced for one night by none other than Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and the Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada). If you think Simon is cold, you should have seen these guys.

Only one contestant performed on the show. Even though he was a smash hit, millions in the audience were denied the right to vote on the Italian-American singer named Francis Albert Sinatra.

Sen. Reid set the tone. (Many of these comments are based on actual statements made by these senators about the president’s judicial nominees.)

REID: Why is Fox picking a fight by sending us contestants like this? Why are they refusing to move on to less controversial contestants? They want to make us look like obstructionists. We know the difference between opposing contestants and blocking contestants. We will oppose bad contestants but we will only block unacceptable contestants. They won’t send us any new contestants because the president of Fox doesn’t want to give us a chance to demonstrate that we are reasonable. He’s just giving a big wet kiss to Italians on the far right. This is about checks and balances. I’m feeling unbalanced. I need to step away from the precipice before I’m swayed.

AUDIENCE: Shut-up and let us vote!

Not about to let that happen, Sen. Schumer began an extreme criticism of Sinatra’s style and performance.

SCHUMER: Well, his voice is clearly out-of-the mainstream. The extreme way he expressed the lyric—the extreme snapping of the fingers on his extreme right hand—he’s sending an extremist message to the far-right-handed. What does that mean for the minority of the far-left-handed among us who are mainstream? He’s obviously pandering to the far-right extremists who want to force extreme music on the rest of us in the mainstream. I mean, how extreme—The Lady is a Tramp—a not-so-subtle extremist attack on women’s rights. He obviously favors certain extreme composers and discriminates against other mainstream composers struggling for mainstream recognition. We will not be swayed by the extreme mass of the extremists on the extreme right!!!

AUDIENCE: Shut-up and let us vote!!

KENNEDY: We fought the, ah, Revolutionary War, or, ah, the Civil War or some, ah, war, I didn’t fight but heard about it, so that all singers would finally be protected by the Constitution. But this nation will never be America until we free ourselves from the domination of Italian singers. We will not turn back to the days of discrimination and prejudice by sending another Italian singer on to a lifetime recording contract when the likes of William Hung are left to perform in a silly commercial.

I have here in my mainstream left hand the lyrics of songs this Sinatra person has sung that reveal a narrow intolerance for the rights of others: My Way, All the Way, All or Nothing at All, All of Me—it doesn’t get any more extremist than this. These songs express an intemperate musical opinion, not those of a consensus singer. That’s Life is clearly an attack on choice. Then there’s The House I Live In. Well sir, some of us don’t even have access to affordable housing. How will we who dwell in trailer parks, tents and igloos feel welcome at your concerts?

My Kind of Town is nothing less than blatant geographic favoritism. Next thing you know it’ll be New York, New York. Where’s the regard for musical precedents? And most intolerant of all, My Boy Bill. How can gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, tri-sexual, trans-sexual, trans-gendered, bi-gendered, multi-gendered, gender-confused, other gendered and cross-dressers, the over-dressed, under-dressed and badly dressed expect fair and impartial entertainment from this singer?

AUDIENCE: Oh, shut-up and let us vote!!!

I awakened from this nightmare In the Still of the Night singing Send in the Clowns. I think somebody already did.

Gotta Brag Just a Little!

2005-05-11T22:28:00.000-05:00

If you live in the Central Arkansas area, keep your ears open for this Southern Gospel quartet - they're GOOD! (Of course, it doesn't hurt that my precious husband, Richard, is their baritone.)

RC Sproul Jr.'s Squiblog

2005-05-09T20:03:00.000-05:00

My precious husband and I have followed and learned from RC Sproul for almost 30 years, and it's a treat to find his son, RC Jr., blogging on some thought-provoking topics at the link above. This man is a true Southron, as well as a reformed Christian. You could do worse than to spend some time considering his ideas.

Operation Battlefield

2005-05-07T16:10:00.000-05:00

OPERATION BATTLEFLAG

10,000 Confederate Flags March at Shiloh - 7 June 2003http://www.geocities.com/garebel942/dixieflags-flagmarch.html

It's time to make our voices heard!

In June of 2003 I organised what was called The 10,000 Confederate Flags March at Shiloh National Military Park. The event was held for the purpose of honoring the Confederate dead who are buried there in trenches dug by their adversaries. In a move by park officials, which was unprecedented in the history of the administration there, our event was limited to participation by only 150 people. Park officials cited limited resources and manpower as the reasons for this participant limit placed on our group. This they cited in light of the fact that previous reenactments there had drawn participation by a thousand or more reenactors. So, their claim that they were handicapped by limitations of resources was blatantly unsupported by the figures of previous events there.

In reality, the reasons for their excuses had more to do with present day political correctness than it did with any limitaton of resources. There exists today a mindset in our battlefield park systems that is geared towards the elimination of anything Confederate. One has only to take a brief tour of parks such as Shiloh, Vicksburg, Gettysburg and others to become aware of this bias. At any of these War for Southern Independence battlefields you will look in vain for the flags of the Confederacy. The stars and stripes of our adversaries will be there alright, but you will not find our flags. Kinda makes you wonder who the Yankees were fighting, especially considering that it takes two sides to have a war.

These honoured Confederate soldiers lying at Shiloh and other military parks around the country are, quite sadly, being neglected. Their legacy and the true history of their cause is being obliterated by the revisionism of political correctness. As descendants of these valiant warriors, we need to make our voices heard. Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to organise a grand plan to honor our fallen Confederate heroes.

The code name for this plan is Operation Battlefield. The target area is Shiloh National Military Park. On Saturday, 30 July 2005 I am calling upon all Confederate activists who are able to descend upon, in random order, on Shiloh NMP with whatever quantity of grave marker sized Confederate Battleflags that they can muster. Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to mark the graves of those brave Confederate dead lying in the trenches at Shiloh! They will at last get the recognition for the sacrifice that they made for our cause. We have the perfect right to honor our dead in this manner! Indeed, we have the duty to do so. It is my sincere hope, that upon the completion of this project on that day, that we shall have fairly well saturated Shiloh with our flags. I know that those men lying in those graves will be with us, smiling down upon our effort.

I will probably be bomblasted for this from every corner of the liberal establishment including, perhaps, from a few grannies in our own circles. But that's ok. Our Confederate heroes dodged shot and shell; I can at least dodge a few foul words. I only hope that there are many others in our movement who will stand with me. If not, then I will stand alone at Shiloh, or perhaps in the company of a dedicated few. At any rate, I plan to make my voice heard. I hope that many others will join me in making that statement.

K. Steven Monk, Sergeant at Arms Eli P. Landers Camp 1724 of the SCV Lilburn, Georgia ConfederateSon1949@yahoo.com

P.S. - Coordination and planning for this event is being conducted at Confederate Activist on MSN http://groups.msn.com/ConfederateActivist

So Shoot Me - I Smoke!

2005-05-07T10:47:00.000-05:00

SMOKERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE

"One of America's most persecuted minorities is smokers. Cities and states have imposed ever more draconian restrictions on lighting up a cigarette, and a bipartisan coalition of paternalistic legislators on Capitol Hill now is pushing for Food and Drug Administration regulation of tobacco. Lighting up might be a stupid thing to do. But a free society must allow people to do stupid things.

"...Unfortunately, legislative proposals to allow FDA regulation over cigarettes are really yet another attempt to move to de facto tobacco prohibition -- even while solidifying the market share of entrenched operators like Philip Morris. Uncle Sam should leave smokers, and the rest of us, alone."

- Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute

2005-05-06T14:04:00.000-05:00

Chris

I Am Adamantly Pro-Life!

2005-05-06T13:16:00.000-05:00

The following post by a compatriot of mine got me to thinking that it's time for me to tell a little bit about my history, and why I believe in life as strongly as I do. We have seven beautiful children - five of them by birth, one by adoption, and one foster son. I was pregnant 8 times in 9 years, and God saw fit to take the first two children very early. Then we had the next three by Cesarean section, and one more miscarriage. At the birth of the fourth child, my doctor told us that if I got pregnant again, my uterus WOULD rupture before term, I would bleed to death for sure, but there was a slim chance they could save the baby. It wasn't worth the risk, and I needed to make sure I never conceived again. Seven months later, I found out, in spite of all precautions, I was pregnant. Both sides of our family weanted me to have an abortion. After, all we had four small children already, and we needed to make sure I was here to raise them. They kept telling me this was a perfect example of "the life of the mother". My godly husband and our wonderful. praying, ARP church backed me up when I said absolutely not! I was also blessed with a Christian, pro-life obstetrician who understood perfectly, and told me we'd get through this one together. Long story short: Christopher Andrew was born, fat and healthy, on October 21, 1979. We told him from the start that he was a special gift from God, and he accepted Christ as his Savior when he was very young. He was a natural musician, playing the piano by ear, and an accomplished percussionist in Junior High. He could tell the older boys what was wrong with their cars before they could diagnose the problem. God saw fit to take him home when he was 14 years, 2 months, 2 weeks and one day old, on January 5, 1995, after battling leukemia for only 9 weeks. But the lessons we have learned, and are still learning, from Snicklefritz's life and death, continue. More than ten years after his death, I still run into people who were touched by something he said or did. I can't imagine the gaping holes that would be in our walk with our Lord if I had aborted him, and not had the opportunities his life have presented us. EVERY LIFE deserves this, and mothers of handicapped children will tell you of the joys they have experienced in raising their special children; mothers who have aborted their children will tell you of the depths of despair they have experienced when they think of what they have missed; mothers of children given up for adoption will tell you of the quiet pride they feel knowing they gave their child a chance, when the world was telling them to put their own selfish wants first.

The 100% Pro-Life Party?

By Keith Humphrey
In the Constitution Party, we often tell others how Pro-Life we are. When we get together for national committee meetings, we argue among ourselves about how Pro-Life we are. The first plank of our Platform spells out what we mean by "Pro-Life".“The pre-born child, whose life begins at fertilization, is a human being created in God's image. The first duty of the law is to prevent the shedding of innocent blood. It is, therefore, the duty of all civil governments to secure and to safeguard the lives of the pre-born.”This is how we answer the question, “What is the primary purpose of civil government?” We follow the philosophy of a certain revolutionary who wrote,“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men…”So a primary purpose of human government is to secure the God-given right to life. We are not the only ones who claim to be Pro-Life. President Bush believes that abortion should be restricted, except in certain circumstances of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. Regarding these circumstances, we take the following position,“As to matters of rape and incest, it is unconscionable to take the life of an innocent child for the crimes of his father.”What about to save the life of the mother? What if the life of only one could be saved?Should a mother use her own child to stop a bullet to save her own life? Should she not rather give herself to protect the life of her child? Does not the child have more life to be spared, inasmuch as much of the lifespan of the mother is already spent?So we do not allow exceptions to the prohibition on abortion, and we call this “100% Pro-Life”. Is it possible to be more than 100% Pro-Life? I was hoping that I would be asked that question, so that I could reveal my personal views on this subject. Not only do I believe that all abortion should be forbidden, but that lawfully married couples should be encouraged to procreate to the full extent that nature allows, happily welcoming children as priceless gifts from God above. Many of my compatriots would not take the meaning this far, so what we really mean by “Pro-Life” is to be against abortion.In American society today, not only is abortion freely allowed throughout the full term of pregnancy under any pretext whatsoever, but the government is actively funding the practice with our tax money.President Bush has provided for the federal funding of Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion-provider in the United States, through Medicaid (Title XIX) and Title X birth/population control programs, for more than 100 million dollars per year.In the state of Oregon where I live, the budget currently being submitted by the “Pro-Life” Republican Karen Minnis has offered over 3 million dollars for the funding of abortion in the Oregon Health Plan. We cannot abide the use of our public money to pay for the commission of these crimes against humanity.“Under no circumstances may the federal government fund or otherwise support any state or local government or any organization or entity, foreign or domestic, which advocates, encourages or participates in the practice of abortion.”The term “Pro-Life” has been emptied of its full meaning through lip-service, and has been watered down to the point that it does not mean what it once did. Practically anyone can claim to be Pro-Life these days. After all, who does not promote life to one degree or another, even if it is only their own? Even President Clinton, who was openly Pro-Choice, said that abortion should be “safe, legal and rare.” So he regards the life of the mother by safety, and the lives of some children through the rarity of the procedure.We need a new term into which we can pour the full and clear meaning of our opposition to abortion. It is not my position that abortion should be incrementally curtailed or restricted in most cases. It is my position that abortion should be completely and forever abolished. I am more than simply Pro-Life, I am an ABOLITIONIST!

Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson are Still In the White House

2005-05-05T16:44:00.000-05:00

Cory Burnell is absolutely right on this one! Almost every day I find another reason to pray and work for ChristianExodus' success. My children are grown, so my husband and I are working for a Christian homeland for our grandchildren and their children.

Operation Clean Sweep

2005-05-03T22:29:00.000-05:00

WorldNetDaily columnist Devvy Kidd has written a powerful and thought-provoking article, calling for all Christian Constitutionalists to run for public office, and get rid of the liberals and perverts currently in office. This is a must-read. Her game plan is the best one I've seen yet, and right in line with the goals of ChristianExodus.

What Is The Only Answer To Racism?

2005-04-30T11:30:00.000-05:00

Answers in Genesis, an excellent creationism web site, has a link to this site, and it explains what the Bible says about "racism" much better than I could.

Dear God...

2005-04-30T05:33:00.000-05:00

Dear God: Why didn't you save the school children at ?. .

Moses Lake, Washington 2/2/96

Bethel, Alaska 2/19/97

Pearl, Mississippi 10/1/97

West Paducah, Kentucky 12/1/97

Stamps, Arkansas 12/15/97

Jonesboro, Arkansas 3/24/98

Edinboro, Pennsylvania 4/24/98

Fayetteville, Tennessee 5/19/98

Springfield, Oregon 5/21/98

Richmond, Virginia 6/15/98

Littleton, Colorado 4/20/99

Taber, Alberta, Canada 5/28/99

Conyers, Georgia 5/20/99

Deming, New Mexico 11/19/99

Fort Gibson, Oklahoma 12/6/99

Santee, California 3/5/01

El Cajon, California 3/22/01 and
Red Lake, Minnesota 3/21/05?

Sincerely, Concerned Student

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Reply: Dear Concerned Student:

I am not allowed in schools.

Sincerely, God

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How did this get started?...

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Let's see, I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare complained she didn't want any prayer in our schools. And we said, OK...

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Then, someone said you better not read the Bible in school, the Bible that says "thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbors as yourself," And we said, OK...

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Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehaved because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem. And we said, an expert should know what he's talking about so we won't spank them anymore..

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Then someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued. And we accepted their reasoning...

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Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they want, and they won't even have to tell their parents. And we said, that's a grand idea...

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Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they're going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they want, so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school. And we said, that's another great idea...

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Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn't matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs. And we said, it doesn't matter what anybody, does in private as long as we have jobs and the economy is good...

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And someone else took that appreciation a step further and published pictures of nude children and then stepped further still by making them available on the Internet. And we said, everyone's entitled to free speech....

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And the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence and illicit sex... And let's record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes... And we said, it's just entertainment and it has no adverse effect and nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead...

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Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, classmates or even themselves.

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Undoubtedly, if we thought about it long and hard enough, we could figure it out. I'm sure it has a great deal to do with... "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW,"

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Pass it on if you think it has merit! If not then just discard it...but if you discard this thought process, then don't you dare sit back and complain about what bad shape this country is in!

(Thanks, Chuck!)

Dr. Cornel West and his Hate Preachin'

2005-04-29T19:55:00.000-05:00

T Warren posts regularly to SHNV, http://www.thesouthernamerican.org/SHNV.html, and I always enjoy and appreciate everything he takes the time to write. When I read this today, you could have labeled me "Angry White Granny". I have a multi-ethnic family, which one look at a family picture makes blatantly obvious, so I have no patience for people who keep beating a dead horse. Dr. West has many honorary degrees, according to the article. I'd like to know which schools they came from.

Dr. Cornel West and his hate preachin

From: tandpam@shawneelink.net

Chuck sir, and most valued SHNV friends,

I have been home from work just long enough to read an article about Dr. Cornel West, supposed educated, lecturer, and apparently, hate filled racist. (These of course are my opinions only, based solely on what he said.) I couldn’t grasp all that he said in one read (well actually I did, I just wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, that I might have misread or interpreted.

I believe I did neither.

Now I have no intention in trying to recap all that he said I would suggest if anyone is interested, they check the link below and make up ones own mind. However, I will give some examples cut and pasted from the article in the order and context they occurred, beginning with………….he called the Confederacy a "violent insurrection to overthrow the U.S. democratic government." From the point of view of the Southern states, West said, "Our freedom is defined by keeping these black folk subjugated."……………geez is that same old dead horse up to one more beatin???????? I was not aware that the South attempted ever to overthrow U.S. democratic government……….. I thought they just wanted to live under the terms of the Constitution and simply be left the hell alone! Of course I am not a graduate of Harvard, Princeton, or Yale. But, one needn’t be to still learn the truth in history, and share that truth with others.

The good Dr. went on to say “"What happens, when America has to deal with terrorism?" he asked, referring to the 9/11 attacks, and adding that for the first time in the history of the country, all Americans feel "unsafe,unprotected, subject to random violence and hatred.…

"The whole nation is niggarized," he said.

Well excuse me, but I for one do not feel unsafe,or unprotected, if that were the case I wouldn’t have just taken my wife and daughter on a 2,500 mile jaunt down roads I for the most part had never traveled down. Nor would I have spent hours in the company of strangers. Not that I am all that and a biscuit, but simply I believe myself to be a better than average judge of character, and human nature. No matter ones color, I choose to look for the good in people, and I put my faith for protection of me and mine, firstly in my Creator, his son Jesus Christ, and 40+ years of Indian street sense. All which I believe have served me far better in life than any education Dr. West has received. My doctrine towards other human beings, I believe will gain me far more rewards in this life and the next, than preachin fear and hate; two specialties Dr. Cornel West promotes to earn his livin. Of course he can buy and sell me a hundred times over or more. But, money doesn’t make the man…, it can make his life easier or harder dependin on how he uses it. But it doesn’t make him!!!!! Also, pardon me, but my family and friends are part of this nation, and they aren’t niggarized to use Dr Cornels word. And how come he can use that word in any manner he chooses, and if I were to use it I’m tagged racist………..? Double standards rule in the PC world I guess, at least for a certain few.

I believe the statement from his lecture that got to me the most however, was the following. “"The most dangerous person in America is the black man or woman (who) is unintimidated by power and talk about loving oneself and respecting oneself enough to be willing to be faithful until death. Once you have a crew of those kind of folk, you can't stop them. All you can do is kill them, that ain't nothing," West said, prompting applause.

Jimminy Crickets and crayfish………..what kind of so called religious man, makes statements like that? Man, that’s a lunatic talking. Words like that rolled off the tongue of Charles Manson, and look what kind of creature he was. Ya go around spewing trash talk like that and ya’ll find yourself putting sick ideas into the heads of folks that don’t need any encouragement to go off……….

I don’t think I look at the world through rose colored glasses. I might choose to believe that me and mine would be better off today had the South won, that doesn’t mean I want to own another human being. So, Dr. West don’t make that assumption of me or those who are likeminded, in order to sell out the seating in your lecture halls. THAT JUST AIN’T RIGHT… I suggest he throw away all those degrees and start over…………with a little more love in his life and a whole lot less hate. But hey what do I know…I ain’t smart enough to quit tryin to educate Yankees to the truth of the years 1861-65 and just move to the South…where me and mine belong.

God Bless ya’ll……….

T WarrenBridgeport, ill annoy

CORNEL WEST: NATION IS ''NIGGERIZED''http://tinyurl.com/a8mua

Patriot Act - Totally Unpatriotic

2005-04-28T09:56:00.000-05:00

This is from Alex Jones' Prison Planet, and I am dumbfounded at how the word "patriot" has been twisted to suit their vision of what a good citizen should be. I worked with Asa Hutchinson 20 years ago, and back then, he was an honorable, godly, principled young man. My husband and I were proud to call him and his wife friends. He went to Washington, and I don't know what happened to him, but we lost contact. We have continued to pray for him, that God would keep him focused on His Word and true to his convictions. I wish I could sit down and spend some time with him now. I'm afraid that he's been brainwashed by the Republican machine, and is no longer the man of Christian convictions I knew. Being Deputy of the Dep't of Homeland Security went to his head, I think.

Christian "Happy-Talk": I Despise It!

2005-04-28T09:27:00.000-05:00

As this article by Worldview Weekend's Brannon Howse eloquently explains, one of the major infections in our churches today is the leaders who refuse to call sin sin, and instead build their mega-churches with Christian happy-talk and feel-good seminars. How can we come to true repentance of our despicable, sinful, unregenerate state, if we are told that all our "problems" are due to low self-esteem? If at all possible, attend a Worldview Weekend - you will come away with a greater understanding of the grace of God, and what we can do to restore our nation's Christian heritage.

Late Night Ponderings

2005-04-27T22:50:00.000-05:00

When a person of African descent here in America demands preferential treatment based solely on the color of his skin, he is not called a racist, but when I want respect shown to my GG grandfather due all veterans, regardless of which side of the Mason-Dixon line they served on, I am a racist, because the flag he served under has been misappropriated by the KKK. Why is that? Am I less deserving of respect because I am a white Southerner? I don't think so. It's past time for those of us who are proud of our Confederate heritage, and love Christ, to stand up and say so!

I Am Proud to be Anti-feminist!

2005-04-27T17:57:00.000-05:00

In case there's any question, I fully support Ladies Against Feminism. Every woman who claims the name of Christ needs to spend time at the web site, learning exactly what it means to be a woman of God. Jennie and her associates are right on target.

States' Rights Activist

2005-04-27T11:44:00.000-05:00

Check out this post at http://theolddominion.myblogsite.com/blog. This gentleman has a brilliant idea, and more of us should be following his lead. Thank you, Mr. Luzer!

Petition To Secure Our Borders

2005-04-27T11:14:00.000-05:00

Please go to this petition and sign it. It will be presented to President Bush and the leaders of both Houses of Congress on Memorial Day 2005. It's one more way to express our desire to have our borders secure from invasion by illegal aliens.

Madison Tried to Warn Us...

2005-04-25T13:07:00.000-05:00

"If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare, and are the sole and supreme judges of the general welfare, they may take the care of religion into their own hands; they may appoint teachers in every State, county and parish and pay them out of their public treasury; they may take into their own hands the education of children, establishing in like manner schools throughout the Union; they may assume the provision of the poor; they may undertake the regulation of all roads other than post-roads; in short, every thing, from the highest object of state legislation down to the most minute object of police, would be thrown under the power of Congress.... Were the power of Congress to be established in the latitude contended for, it would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature of the limited Government established by the people of America." - James Madison

Out of the Mouths of Youth

2005-04-23T11:21:00.000-05:00

I hesitate to call this young man a babe, but at 18, he's much younger than I am. Regardless, his commentary on the myth of separation of church and state should be read by all who love liberty - it's excellent. http://www.americandaily.com/article/7505

Ponderings & Musings: Grievances

2005-04-23T10:42:00.000-05:00

Way to go, Dabney! Ponderings & Musings: Grievances

The Anti-Federalists Were Right!

2005-04-21T08:13:00.000-05:00

Gary Demar, of American Vision, has written an excellent article here: http://www.americanvision.org/articlearchive/04-12-05.asp essentially saying that the FedGov doesn't give us our rights and priviledges, WE GIVE THEM THEIRS. I believe it's time we remind them of that fact.

Still Think Our Homeland is "Secure"?

2005-04-20T17:15:00.000-05:00

Is America Preparing for Martial Law?http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO504B.html

Ordinary Citizens Doing What the Government Refuses To Do

2005-04-20T16:39:00.000-05:00

I have been following the Minuteman Project since its inception, because, while I welcome legal immigrants to our shores, I believe that our borders can and MUST be closed to illegal traffic. I have been researching my family history recently, and I am proud to say that I have found many nationalities I didn't know about. Some of these people came here reluctantly, but they all came legally. Let Mexico fix its own welfare problems; don't dump them on us.

Minuteman Project issues major planning statement

April 18, 2005 (Tombstone, AZ)---The Minuteman Project (MMP) stated today that because of the tremendous success of their grassroots effort in just 17 days of operations, MMP involvement in border monitoring in Cochise County will cease at 2pm on Wednesday, April 20. MMP founder Jim Gilchrist will take their success to Washington, DC at the invitation of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus. Gilchrist stated: "We have demonstrated that ordinary citizens sitting in lawn chairs not only have the will but the means to secure our border. If our own elected officials will not defend our nation's border, American citizens will."

Border monitoring will continue until the end of April under the direction of Civil Homeland Defense, an organization that Chris Simcox founded 2 1/2 years ago to monitor the border in this area. Civil Homeland Defense created the tactical organizational model that provided the infrastructure for the Minuteman Project.

The all-volunteer MMP virtually shut down illegal alien and drug traffic across a 23-mile border sector in April while simultaneously bringing national awareness to our national security crisis, of which porous borders and illegal alien and drug traffic are components. Co-founder Chris Simcox stated that "We have demonstrated that ordinary American citizens can secure our border simply by maintaining a presence on the border and that thousands of citizens are ready, willing and able to do the job our President and Congress will not do. We are determined to assist the US Border Patrol in becoming an effective arm of the Department of Homeland Security in spite of the lack of support and funding from Congress and our President. There is no compromise - we will continue to exercise our civic duty until relieved by the National Guard and the US Military."

Buy American?

2005-04-20T08:08:00.000-05:00

In today's Lew Rockwell.com newsletter, there was a thought-provoking little piece about free trade. http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/buy-american.html I have to admit it made me think twice about my attitude toward "made in China" and "product of Bangladesh" labels. Darn! Now I have to start thinking again!

Couldn't Have Said It Better!

2005-04-19T09:02:00.000-05:00

I had intended to post a bunch of links here to the sites I am most passionately supporting, but Cory beat me to it, so here's his link: http://christianexodus.org/blog/coryburnell.htm. We are members of the Constitution Party in Arkansas, and we will be relocating to South Carolina as soon as the Lord opens the way for us.

2005-04-16T00:59:00.000-05:00

Celtic Lassie

Who Is For Us?

2005-04-15T16:21:00.000-05:00

A speech delivered for the Sons of Confederate Veterans at a meeting on March 31, 2005 by the Rev. Dick Jones

Who Is For Us?

Southerners tend toward conservative political and social positions. This is not universal, but it is common enough that within the spectrum of thought we call conservative, one branch is almost exclusively made up of Southerners and those who appreciate the Old South. This is the result of a combination of factors, not the least of which is the persistent belief in original sin within the South. Author Flannery O’Connor is often quoted as saying that the difference between the North and the South is that the South still believes in original sin. Those who understand the doctrine of original sin tend to be more suspicious of the promises of office-seeking politicians and more dubious regarding the ability of any government to solve the problems of the world.

Now this conservative tendency among good Southerners causes confusion for us as we try to make sense of what other so-called conservatives advocate. The difficulty becomes clear when we realize that (according to George Nash in The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America) within the conservative camp there are no less than five distinct tents representing “five different conservative impulses.” They are the libertarians, the anti-communists, the religious right, the neoconservatives, and the traditionalists.

The libertarians are hyper-individualists who generally disdain an emphasis on community and tend to focus for the most part on lassez faire capitalism and absolutely free markets. A libertarian is just as likely to be an atheist as he is a believer. Generally he does not support pro-life concerns and the like because he believes morality, like economics, is something the government should stay out of.

The anti-communists have been less influential in recent decades for obvious reasons, but in the post World War II world, they were the most vocal and conspicuous. William F. Buckley and his National Review periodical were usually identified with this group, and its leaders tended to be Northeastern, Ivy League, and Catholic.

The religious right is a vocal and influential group which coalesces around specific social causes, especially pro-life issues and issues directly affecting families and children, e.g. prayer in schools, creationism in curricula, and opposition to homosexual marriage. Leading spokesmen are Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Dr. D. James Kennedy, pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The Christian Right is issue-driven and apart from a distinct moral consensus, it lacks any comprehensive, coherent point of view.

The neoconservatives are the dominant folks in conservatism today and they have a number of influential people within the Bush administration. Irving Kristol, a prominent neoconservative, defined neocons as “a liberal who has been mugged by reality.” Another defines neocons as “a person who gives two cheers for capitalism instead of three.” They tend to be Wilsonian internationalists and they embrace most of FDR’s New Deal policies. This is the only group within conservatism which liberals treat as legitimate.

The last group – the traditionalists – often call themselves paleoconservatives. This is the part of conservatism that Southern traditionalists most identify with. During the 20th century - the Southern Agrarians of Vanderbilt in the 30’s and 40’s, Richard Weaver, M.E. Bradford, Robert Nisbet, Paul Gottfried, Joseph Sobron, and Pat Buchanan are all Southern traditionalists and paleoconservatives.

Paleoconservatives tend to be Christian, attached to and revering their regional and ethnic traditions, advocates of states’ rights, opponents to unnecessary foreign intervention, firm believers in property rights, strict constructionists with regard to the constitution, and generally distrustful of majority rule; paleoconservatives embrace the rule of law which ought to be based on the transcendent law of God.

Now as I said earlier, there is often confusion among Southern conservatives as they realize that other so-called conservatives don’t believe most of what they believe. Other conservatives are just as likely as liberals to attack the Old South and the symbols of the Confederacy. While we will often agree on social issues, the pro-life cause, and opposition to homosexual marriages, we cannot count on other conservatives giving us much assistance in the cause which brings us together tonight. That is why Texas Governor George Bush took down the Confederate plaques in Austin, why Confederate Christians were instructed not to show up in Montgomery, Alabama for the removal of the Ten Commandments with their Battle Flags, and why major Southern universities and colleges find little or no opposition from their most influential alumni when they move Confederate statues (as a UT), take down pictures and other memorials (as happened at A&M), change dormitory names (as occurred at Vanderbilt) and change the name of the school itself, as is occurring at the University of the South.

So with some conspicuous exceptions, we should not be surprised to learn that most so-called conservatives are not for us!

No one here will be shocked if I tell you that the liberal elite are radically hostile toward us. It must be understood as well that they are not simply seeking out the surrender of our symbols, flags, and monuments. They want the destruction of these things and they want our unqualified repudiation of the Confederacy and the Confederate heroes that we revere. They want us to rebuke and chastise our own ancestors, bearing public testimony of our opposition to the cause our great-great grandfathers and uncles were willing to die for. They are Black Flagging it, and they are taking no prisoners my friends, and those in the SCV and similar organizations that don’t understand this will find themselves playing the role of what Lenin called liberals in the early days of the Soviet revolution - useful idiots - they are being useful idiots to the fascist minions of political correctness! So the liberal elite are not for us!

Then there is the mushy middle in America who is told what to believe, what to do, and how to do it. This is the majority of Americans in both North and South who form opinions based on media images (KKK demonstrators carrying the Battle flag) or on sound bites which speak of the need to not offend people unnecessarily, of the War Between the States being about slavery, and of the War being over after all. These folks follow the loudest and most conspicuous voices in our society – which today are coming from folks who have nothing but disdain for the Old South and our Confederate traditions. It is true that some of these folks can be better informed and educated in the truth and convinced of the nobility of the Southern cause. This is the primary reason for the existence of the SCV! But for now we must recognize that they are not for us either.

What may be surprising to you is that this is a motivational speech tonight. But it is intended to prepare you for the frustration and discouragement (even anger) that all of us face as we contend for the South. Your frustration is directly related to how public your support for the Old Confederacy has been. The more vocal you are, the more hostility and character assassinations you will face. Paul Claudel said, “Truth is not concerned with how many it persuades.” That must be our perspective if we intend to persevere. We are a minority – perhaps the last minority in America that is not protected by those concerned with civil rights and discrimination; the last minority that is presumed guilty until proven innocent (you are a racist and a bigot until you prove otherwise, and that will not be easy!); the last minority that is blatantly and enthusiastically fair game to any who care to accuse, attack, slander or defame us. We cannot even count on the laws or the courts to protect us – we can count on the press and the media to misrepresent what we say and do to an uninformed public. Even those closest to us will misunderstand our motives, counseling us to tone it down and lighten up. That is what it means to be an advocate of a truth which isn’t concerned with how many it persuades.

Very few will be for us in the foreseeable future, but in the words of our only President, Jefferson Davis, “The principle for which we (the Confederacy) contended is bound to reassert itself, though it may be at another time and in another form.” The principle for which we contend is nothing less than Christendom – it is God’s own truth – controlling and informing our culture - it is our homes and families – living and dead – it is the lives and proven character of truly heroic men and women that the moral pygmies of our day can’t even begin to comprehend – it is for Dixie!

The principle for which we contend is so antithetical (opposite) to the cultural consensus dominant in America today that we can only expect antagonism and disdain from those who are part of the establishment and those who are concerned with what the mainline establishment has to say about us. But that does not concern us. We cannot be worried about who is against us - but, we need to be reminded of who would be for us!

George Washington would be for us. George Mason and Richard Henry Lee would be for us. Thomas Jefferson would be for us. Patrick Henry would be for us. James Madison would be for us. John Randolf of Roanoke would be for us. William Gilmore Sims would be for us. John C. Calhoun would be for us. John Tyler would be for us. Jefferson Davis would be for us. Robert E. Lee, Jeb Stuart, and Stonewall Jackson would be for us. Episcopal bishop Leonidas Polk would be for us. Episcopalian minister William Nelson Pendleton would be for us. Presbyterian theologians and pastors Robert Dabney and James Henley Thornwell and Benjamin Palmer would be for us. Baptist scholar Albert Bledsoe would be for us. Generals Patrick Cleburn and Joe Shelby would be for us. All those who make up the paleoconservatives – though they are a small minority – are for us. And, to the extent that we act honorably in contending for the truth, God is for us! Remember, those who love truth are not concerned with how many it persuades - but they are concerned with whom they are standing with, and we stand with a most noble and worthy group of men and women.
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The Reverend Dick Jones is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. He has been Senior Pastor at Christ Presbyterian Church in New Braunfels, Texas for fourteen years. He is past Commander of the Gustav Hoffman Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in New Braunfels. He has been married to his wife, the former Dede Darr of Pasadena, Texas for twenty-eight years. They have three children - Anna, married to Chris Ross, Aaron, married to Ashley, and Ian - as well as two grandchildren - Tyler Lee and Landon Christopher Jones. Rev. Jones is the great, great grandson of Captain Wylie C. Jones of the 45th Arkansas Mounted Infantry.

My Toes Are In The Water!

2005-04-15T00:10:00.000-05:00

I've been watching and reading bloggers I respect and admire for quite some time now. I finally decided to add my two cents' worth. I am a member of Christian Exodus, and a member of the Constitution Party. Ask me anything that's on your mind; I'll do my best to answer you in a manner my Savior would find acceptable.

I also intend to either link to, or reprint here, as much of the material possible that I have found over the past year which has helped me to solidify my point of view, in the hope that you will see why I believe the way I believe, and come to agree with me. I never thought being a conservative Christian would thrust me into the role of being an activist, but that's precisely what I've become. Anyone who calls himself a follower of Christ, and yet sits comfortably on his 18 inches of righteousness and does nothing while our way of life disintigrates before our eyes all around us has no right to claim the name of Christ. Either lead, follow, or please get out of the way!