Misleading Holiday "Spirits"
One of the most misleading "spirits" around holiday time is that liquor should be a major part of the celebration. Proverbs 20:1 says, "wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."
General Lee had no use for men who could not control their appetite for the bottle and routinely passed men over for promotion if he was informed that they were drinking men. His stated reasoning was that "I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself."
Even Nathan Bedford Forrest, who at the time of the war was not a religious man, refused to allow drinking in the ranks. He said such activity "tended to trouble."
Our heritage is more than flags and symbols. It is a way of life. Our ancestors were in the main moral men and women who controlled their appetites and bridled their passions. This holiday season, especially when attending events in period clothing or Confederate uniform, let us ever be mindful of our actions lest impropriety reflect poorly upon our noble ancestors and heritage. We may be the only ideal of what it means to be "confederate" or "southern" that some of those who observe our activities this Christmas season will ever know.
SUPPORT SOUTHERN HERITAGE NEWS & VIEWS
Our friend,Chuck Demastus, is the editor of Southern Heritage News and Views (SHNV). He does a great job of keeping everyone informed about what is ongoing on various heritage fronts.If you would like to find out how to subscribe to SHNV or if you would like to make a contribution eMail Chuck: Demastus@aol.com
HERITAGE VICTORY
For the second consecutive Saturday, the carrying of the Confederate battle flag in a Christmas parade became the center of attention.
But the outcome of the procession Dec. 12 was a bit different.
This time, members of the Louisiana division of Sons of Confederate Veterans were allowed to carry the banner in a Sabine Parish town's holiday parade.
About 75 SCV members joined the 70 floats marching down San Antonio Avenue through downtown Many.
"This ... this was special," said Lt. Commander-In-Chief Paul Gramling, of Sons of Confederate Veterans. "This was a really good parade, and we really enjoyed ourselves."
A week ago, bearers of the Confederate battle flag were relegated to the sidelines during the Natchitoches Christmas parade after that city's mayor banned them from carrying the banner in the procession.
This week, Many Mayor Ken Freeman said he accepted the nonprofit in his town's parade on the grounds of free speech. "They asked to be in the parade and, of course, we don't deny anyone if they're not a hate group. Everyone is welcome."
Dozens upon dozens of folks lined the streets of the parade, and their response was largely positive.
"I say let them fly. It's part of history," one resident told KSLA.
"Oh, I love it. I think that it's part of our heritage," said Fort Jesup resident Mike Goodheart. "It's something that we need to embrace."
"I didn't see any negative comments. Nothing," SCV's Gramling said. "We very seldom get them anyway. This is the normal reaction we get."
The procession began and finished in peace.
Meantime, Sons of Confederate Veterans leaders said they'll continue filing their lawsuit against Natchitoches, a petition they claim is only to let them do there what they did Saturday in Many.
"All we're asking to do, what we just did here today. Nothing more. Nothing less," Gramling said. "We feel pretty confident that we'll be back in Natchitoches next year; and we may do this one again, too."
Sons of Confederate Veterans has sent letters to Natchitoches Mayor Lee Posey, the city's attorney and members of its parade committee informing them of the group's intent to sue.
MEANWHILE IN NEW ORLEANS
We reported last week that it looked like the Mayor's effort to remove Confederate monuments may fail. It would seem that in reponse to the overwhelming flood of support for the monuments received by all members of the City Council that the Mayor's office, in true New Orleans mob fashion, stepped up his game of intimidation and coercion. A vote was forced and with abstentions the outcome was 6-1 to remove the monuments.
Last night a federal lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana by three historic preservation societies and the local camp of the SCV to keep the monuments in place. But we all know that will only delay the inevitable.
I am going to say something here that I have said before, but too many readers didn't get it. So I'll use this as an excuse to restate it in different words.
WE ARE NOT LOSING OUR HERITAGE - IT WAS LOST LONG AGO!
The monuments in New Orleans are NOT anyone's heritage! They are carved hunks of metal and stone. Nothing more!
Our "heritage" is not statues and flags! Our heritage is the faith, philosophy, ideology, ideals, morals, character, behavior, traditions, etc. which were passed on to us by our ancestors.
Our heritage doesn't fly on a pole or set on a pedestal at a city park. Our heritage LIVES THROUGH US! People do not see our heritage in a museum. They see it in our lives!
Now let me take that a step farther. If the society in which we live saw our heritage actively lived out in our every day lives they would think twice before trying to take away our monuments.
Our heritage was lost years ago. We are only now seeing the fruit of that in the loss of monuments.
The good news is that we can reclaim our heritage! As Jesus told the church at Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2, it is not too late to repent and return to our first love. We can not only commit anew to living the faith and ideology of of our ancestors in our own lives - we can still pass our heritage on to our kids and grand kids!
But we may not get all of our monuments back.
On my office wall is a picture of my great-great grandparents. I know that they are my great-great-great grandparents because the picture was given to me by my great aunt (my great grandfather's sister) and she told me that it was a picture of their grand parents. I would hate for anything to happen to that picture. And I fully intend to pass it along to my son one day, along with photos of his great grandfather, grandfather, etc. But given a choice between passing on the photographs of his grandfathers or passing on the faith of his grandfathers which do you think I will chose? Sadly, our "heritage" organizations have spent too many years passing down the photographs and not the actual heritage. And that my friends is why we are not losing BOTH.
One of the most misleading "spirits" around holiday time is that liquor should be a major part of the celebration. Proverbs 20:1 says, "wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."
General Lee had no use for men who could not control their appetite for the bottle and routinely passed men over for promotion if he was informed that they were drinking men. His stated reasoning was that "I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself."
Even Nathan Bedford Forrest, who at the time of the war was not a religious man, refused to allow drinking in the ranks. He said such activity "tended to trouble."
Our heritage is more than flags and symbols. It is a way of life. Our ancestors were in the main moral men and women who controlled their appetites and bridled their passions. This holiday season, especially when attending events in period clothing or Confederate uniform, let us ever be mindful of our actions lest impropriety reflect poorly upon our noble ancestors and heritage. We may be the only ideal of what it means to be "confederate" or "southern" that some of those who observe our activities this Christmas season will ever know.
SUPPORT SOUTHERN HERITAGE NEWS & VIEWS
Our friend,Chuck Demastus, is the editor of Southern Heritage News and Views (SHNV). He does a great job of keeping everyone informed about what is ongoing on various heritage fronts.If you would like to find out how to subscribe to SHNV or if you would like to make a contribution eMail Chuck: Demastus@aol.com
HERITAGE VICTORY
For the second consecutive Saturday, the carrying of the Confederate battle flag in a Christmas parade became the center of attention.
But the outcome of the procession Dec. 12 was a bit different.
This time, members of the Louisiana division of Sons of Confederate Veterans were allowed to carry the banner in a Sabine Parish town's holiday parade.
About 75 SCV members joined the 70 floats marching down San Antonio Avenue through downtown Many.
"This ... this was special," said Lt. Commander-In-Chief Paul Gramling, of Sons of Confederate Veterans. "This was a really good parade, and we really enjoyed ourselves."
A week ago, bearers of the Confederate battle flag were relegated to the sidelines during the Natchitoches Christmas parade after that city's mayor banned them from carrying the banner in the procession.
This week, Many Mayor Ken Freeman said he accepted the nonprofit in his town's parade on the grounds of free speech. "They asked to be in the parade and, of course, we don't deny anyone if they're not a hate group. Everyone is welcome."
Dozens upon dozens of folks lined the streets of the parade, and their response was largely positive.
"I say let them fly. It's part of history," one resident told KSLA.
"Oh, I love it. I think that it's part of our heritage," said Fort Jesup resident Mike Goodheart. "It's something that we need to embrace."
"I didn't see any negative comments. Nothing," SCV's Gramling said. "We very seldom get them anyway. This is the normal reaction we get."
The procession began and finished in peace.
Meantime, Sons of Confederate Veterans leaders said they'll continue filing their lawsuit against Natchitoches, a petition they claim is only to let them do there what they did Saturday in Many.
"All we're asking to do, what we just did here today. Nothing more. Nothing less," Gramling said. "We feel pretty confident that we'll be back in Natchitoches next year; and we may do this one again, too."
Sons of Confederate Veterans has sent letters to Natchitoches Mayor Lee Posey, the city's attorney and members of its parade committee informing them of the group's intent to sue.
MEANWHILE IN NEW ORLEANS
We reported last week that it looked like the Mayor's effort to remove Confederate monuments may fail. It would seem that in reponse to the overwhelming flood of support for the monuments received by all members of the City Council that the Mayor's office, in true New Orleans mob fashion, stepped up his game of intimidation and coercion. A vote was forced and with abstentions the outcome was 6-1 to remove the monuments.
Last night a federal lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana by three historic preservation societies and the local camp of the SCV to keep the monuments in place. But we all know that will only delay the inevitable.
I am going to say something here that I have said before, but too many readers didn't get it. So I'll use this as an excuse to restate it in different words.
WE ARE NOT LOSING OUR HERITAGE - IT WAS LOST LONG AGO!
The monuments in New Orleans are NOT anyone's heritage! They are carved hunks of metal and stone. Nothing more!
Our "heritage" is not statues and flags! Our heritage is the faith, philosophy, ideology, ideals, morals, character, behavior, traditions, etc. which were passed on to us by our ancestors.
Our heritage doesn't fly on a pole or set on a pedestal at a city park. Our heritage LIVES THROUGH US! People do not see our heritage in a museum. They see it in our lives!
Now let me take that a step farther. If the society in which we live saw our heritage actively lived out in our every day lives they would think twice before trying to take away our monuments.
Our heritage was lost years ago. We are only now seeing the fruit of that in the loss of monuments.
The good news is that we can reclaim our heritage! As Jesus told the church at Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2, it is not too late to repent and return to our first love. We can not only commit anew to living the faith and ideology of of our ancestors in our own lives - we can still pass our heritage on to our kids and grand kids!
But we may not get all of our monuments back.
On my office wall is a picture of my great-great grandparents. I know that they are my great-great-great grandparents because the picture was given to me by my great aunt (my great grandfather's sister) and she told me that it was a picture of their grand parents. I would hate for anything to happen to that picture. And I fully intend to pass it along to my son one day, along with photos of his great grandfather, grandfather, etc. But given a choice between passing on the photographs of his grandfathers or passing on the faith of his grandfathers which do you think I will chose? Sadly, our "heritage" organizations have spent too many years passing down the photographs and not the actual heritage. And that my friends is why we are not losing BOTH.
Liberals never cease to amaze me. Especially liberals in the media. I read an article in today's International Business Times with the following headline:
Virginia Christmas Parade Is Hijacked By Gun-Toting Supporters Of the ConfederacyThe subject of the article was the fact that the SCV had marched (with proper permits by the way) in the Roanoke Christmas Parade. We had reported this last week as a heritage victory.
Well, it would appear that the SCV members were in Confederate uniforms. There were some re-enactors marchig with them. An SCV color guard in uniform and re-enactors will naturally carry unloaded black powder (period) rifles.
Do you see how the reporter is twisting this?
But it gets crazier. The photo that accompanies the article is NOT of the parade nor is it of the men who marched in the parade. Rather, the picture is of someone holding up a battle flag at a Donald Trump rally.
Since the reporter used the word "Hijack" in the headline why didn't they just photoshop turbans onto the flag toter and Mr. Trump's photographs?
And then there was the item I read on the ABC news website yesterday:
An Alabama legislator wants the state to remove the Confederate flag from the uniforms of state troopers.
Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, sent a Wednesday letter to Gov. Robert Bentley asking him to issue an executive order to change the uniforms that include a patch of Alabama's coat of arms. The emblem includes an image of the Confederate flag and other flags that have flown over Alabama.
"As you know, the confederate flag represents slavery and oppression toward black people," Holmes wrote. He said the flag is also associated with the Ku Klux Klan.
Holmes said he hoped the state had passed that "ugly part of Alabama history."
The trooper uniforms include Alabama's coat of arms: a shield with the Confederate battle flag and the flags of Great Britain, France, Spain and the United States - the nations that have held sovereignty over Alabama. Underneath the shield is the state's motto, "We dare defend our rights" written in Latin.
The state coat of arms was designed in 1923 and officially adopted by the Alabama Legislature in 1939, according to the Alabama Department of Archives and History.
Bentley spokeswoman Jennifer Ardis said the governor has no plans to issue such an order.
Bentley earlier this year removed four Confederate flags from the grounds of the Alabama Capitol grounds amid national controversy about the official display of Confederate emblems on government grounds after the massacre of nine people at a black church in South Carolina. "That was the right decision and I still believe it," Bentley said in an interview last week.
But other vestiges of the Confederacy remain on the Capitol grounds, including an 88-foot-tall Alabama Confederate Monument and a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
Holmes was one of 14 African-American legislators arrested for trespassing in 1988 when they tried to scale a fence and take down a Confederate flag that, at that time, flew atop the Alabama Capitol dome. The flag was later removed from the dome in the 1990s.
Virginia Christmas Parade Is Hijacked By Gun-Toting Supporters Of the ConfederacyThe subject of the article was the fact that the SCV had marched (with proper permits by the way) in the Roanoke Christmas Parade. We had reported this last week as a heritage victory.
Well, it would appear that the SCV members were in Confederate uniforms. There were some re-enactors marchig with them. An SCV color guard in uniform and re-enactors will naturally carry unloaded black powder (period) rifles.
Do you see how the reporter is twisting this?
But it gets crazier. The photo that accompanies the article is NOT of the parade nor is it of the men who marched in the parade. Rather, the picture is of someone holding up a battle flag at a Donald Trump rally.
Since the reporter used the word "Hijack" in the headline why didn't they just photoshop turbans onto the flag toter and Mr. Trump's photographs?
And then there was the item I read on the ABC news website yesterday:
An Alabama legislator wants the state to remove the Confederate flag from the uniforms of state troopers.
Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, sent a Wednesday letter to Gov. Robert Bentley asking him to issue an executive order to change the uniforms that include a patch of Alabama's coat of arms. The emblem includes an image of the Confederate flag and other flags that have flown over Alabama.
"As you know, the confederate flag represents slavery and oppression toward black people," Holmes wrote. He said the flag is also associated with the Ku Klux Klan.
Holmes said he hoped the state had passed that "ugly part of Alabama history."
The trooper uniforms include Alabama's coat of arms: a shield with the Confederate battle flag and the flags of Great Britain, France, Spain and the United States - the nations that have held sovereignty over Alabama. Underneath the shield is the state's motto, "We dare defend our rights" written in Latin.
The state coat of arms was designed in 1923 and officially adopted by the Alabama Legislature in 1939, according to the Alabama Department of Archives and History.
Bentley spokeswoman Jennifer Ardis said the governor has no plans to issue such an order.
Bentley earlier this year removed four Confederate flags from the grounds of the Alabama Capitol grounds amid national controversy about the official display of Confederate emblems on government grounds after the massacre of nine people at a black church in South Carolina. "That was the right decision and I still believe it," Bentley said in an interview last week.
But other vestiges of the Confederacy remain on the Capitol grounds, including an 88-foot-tall Alabama Confederate Monument and a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
Holmes was one of 14 African-American legislators arrested for trespassing in 1988 when they tried to scale a fence and take down a Confederate flag that, at that time, flew atop the Alabama Capitol dome. The flag was later removed from the dome in the 1990s.
VISIT THE DIXIE HERITAGE BOOKSTORE
We can no longer guarantee that purchases made from the bookstore will ship in time for Christmas. But we can promise that we will ship orders within 24 hours of receiving them in hopes that they will arrive in time for you. The Christmas pricing will remain in effect through the holiday!
MY NEWEST BOOK!
I spent the entirety of this week in the hospital. My wife had surgery on Monday and was not released until this morning. So I had time to edit the final draft of a book I've been working on for over a year now. The title of the book is: A Former Deputy Tells You How to Beat a DWI / DUI.
I tell you what to do when interacting with the officer during a traffic stop? What to do after you have been arrested. There is also an important chapter on how to select a COMPETENT attorney to handle your DWI defense.
I reveal secret techniques used by law enforcement to trick motorists into incriminating themselves even when they are not "drunk." Also revealed is insider information about legal tactics used by prosecutors to get drunk driving convictions.
The best advice that I could give you is simply not to partake and then drive a motor vehicle. But for those of you who will not heed that advice this book may be the next best thing. You can possibly prevent the embarrassment of an arrest, the loss of your driving privileges, months of anxiety, a permanent criminal record, and save thousands of dollars in legal fees by simply reading this book!
Its now listed live on Amazon as a KINDLE book! CLICK HERE
STATE CONGRESSMAN SENDS CONFEDERATE CHRISTMAS CARDS
A South Carolina Representative sent out a Christmas card featuring a photo of the Confederate flag that was removed this year from the Statehouse to his Republican colleagues, suggesting they use the holiday to "ask for forgiveness of all your sins such as betrayal."
Rep. Chris Corley said the card was a political statement to his fellow Republicans meant as a joke in his smart-aleck style. Democrats and others on his Christmas card list will get one with a picture of his children.
"If somebody's feelings are legitimately hurt about that Christmas card, I think that might speak more to their conscience than the content of the card," the Republican from Graniteville said.
Proponents of removing the flag said it had become a symbol of a brutally oppressive past for African-Americans. But Corley and other flag supporters said the banner also stands for pride in Southern ancestors who fought to protect their homes and land in the Civil War. They thought the Legislature acted too quickly by coming back into a special session instead of waiting until they returned in January.
Corley's holiday card starts with: "May your Christmas be filled with memories of a happier time when South Carolina's leaders possessed morals, convictions and the principles to stand for what is right."
It ends with: "May you have a blessed and happy Christmas, and may you take this joyous time as an opportunity to ask for forgiveness of all your sins such as betrayal."
Corley said the card, which was first reported by The Post and Courier, is meant to criticize only Republicans and their leadership. House Speaker Jay Lucas declined comment Thursday.
Corley said Democrats should be praised for how they handled the issue.
"It was excellent politics on their part," Corley said. "They did exactly what their constituents sent them to Columbia to do. They got to go home and say, 'Look at how hapless and helpless these Republicans are.'"
House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford said Republican leaders need to address Corley's comments or else run the risk of people thinking they agree with him.
"I am waiting for the Republican Party to condemn his Christmas card and the statements in the card and distance themselves from him," said Rutherford, D-Columbia. "Everyone has a right to their belief. But he's a Republican, and either he speaks for them or he doesn't."
VISIT OUR WEBSITE:
YES, we are still giving a FREE eBook (PDF) copy of the book The Truth About the Confederate Flag to everyone who visits the website - so tell your friends - and your enemies!
www.dixieheritage.weebly.com
Until next week,
Deo Vindice!
Chaplain Ed
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