Early Q and A:

I had started writing the Q&A for this Friday, but the first question and first answer took so much space, I decided to send it out on its own:

Michael,

You're from the South, and you're a Texas "patriot", in a manner of speaking. I'm sure you've come across the Confederate Flag quite a bit down there. My question is, is the Confederate Flag a symbol of hate? What is it's meaning? What should our response be to the 'Stars and Bars' (or any countries flag)?

Thank you for your question. First let me say that I believe it was a mistake for some Texans to seek entrance into the Amerikan Union, and that I still believe that Texas was illegally brought into that Union and that even in doing so Texas constitutionally codified its right to separate from that Union if it ever came to the conclusion it had made a mistake, which exclusion and right was agreed to by the government of the United States, and therefore Texas today ought to be a free Republic and is both illegally and immorally occupied. That aside, I will attempt to answer your questions about the Confederate Battle Flag. Let me point out here that the flag in question was never the “Confederate Flag”. The Confederacy adopted several political flags, some officially and some unofficially. The most popularly accepted “Confederate Flag” was the Bonnie Blue Flag:

...which is the only flag I own, and it would be the only flag I would fly. The flag commonly called the “Confederate Flag” today, is actually the Confederate Battle Flag (also called The Flag of Saint Andrew), which was adopted in 1861 during the war in order to better differentiate between the two warring parties. The flag of the North (the Stars and Stripes) was an irreligious flag, representing politics, humanism, “liberty”, union and sacrifice – this according to Wikipedia:

“Many understand the flag to represent the freedoms and rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights and perhaps most of all to be a symbol of individual and personal liberty as set forth in the Declaration of Independence. Through the Pledge of Allegiance and other political uses the flag has also come to be associated with U.S. Nationalism, patriotism, and even militarism. The flag is a complex and contentious symbol, around which emotions run high.

In terms of the symbolism of the design itself, a book about the flag published by the Congress in 1977 states: "The star is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun." George Washington is credited for saying: "We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing Liberty."”

So there is nothing naturally “religious” about the Stars and Stripes, other than some very general Unitarian and Humanist ideals represented by “heaven”. The Southern Battle Flag was one chosen out of expediency, and to satisfy several different sensibilities:

1. To set forth religious (particularly Christian) ideals. The Cross of Saint Andrew was chosen because it was the symbol on the national flag of Scotland. Scotland was Protestant, primarily Presbyterian, and many of the most prominent leaders in the South were of Scots or Scots-Irish descent. Most Southern Protestants were Calvinist and would have been offended by the use of the upright cross, which was called “the Latin Cross” and was considered idolatrous and a possible violation of the 2^nd commandment. According to tradition, Andrew was crucified on an “X” instead of an upright cross, because he considered himself unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as was Christ.

2. The flag needed to be very easily contrasted to the United States flag. During the 1^st Battle of Manassas (called “Bull Run” by the Yankees), there was so much confusion because of the similarity between the Yankee Stars and Stripes and the Confederate Stars and Bars, that at times the opposing generals were unable to give orders until they could determine which army was prevailing.

I also need to correct another common error. The Confederate Battle Flag is often today called “The Stars and Bars”. The “Stars and Bars” was the first national flag of the Confederacy:

The Stars and Bars was replaced as the national flag in 1863 due to the fact that it was so easily confused with the Stars and Stripes. The Confederate Battle Flag was NOT the Stars and Bars.

Is the Confederate Battle Flag a symbol of hate? Generally, when a Yankee (or any young person) asks this, they are actually asking “Is the Confederate Battle Flag a symbol of racism or slavery?”, since they attribute an extreme emotion, “hatred”, to those things. Now, this is not a dissertation on the legitimacy of slavery; that is a question for another time, but since slavery and the attitudes towards it are at the root of the question, let us, then, look to that issue. If hatred is to be directed towards racism and/or slavery, then there is a flag that represents those things...

There is a flag that flew over virtually every slave ship that came to the Amerikan continent. That flag was the Stars and Stripes.

The national flag of a people that ordained and sanctioned slavery officially for 220 years, and officially flew over their nation for 86 of those years, was the Stars and Stripes. By contrast, the Confederate Battle Flag was only officially flown for 4 years as the Battle Flag of the Confederacy, and this for a nation (the Confederacy) that had already considered outlawing slavery before the Battle Flag was first used. The Confederate Battle flag never once flew as the official national flag over any nation that had legalized slavery. The only reason that slavery was not outlawed in the South at the beginning of the war was because the South believed that to change their law based on the threat of foreign invasion would be to legitimize terrorism – and, at the time that the consideration was made, slavery was still legal in the North, and would be for many more years.

There is a flag that adorned the uniform of an army that, under orders, hunted down and often executed escaped slaves. That flag was the Stars and Stripes.

There is a flag which represented the nation whose President did and said the following things:

1. proposed and signed a 13^th amendment to the Constitution which would have protected and defended the institution of slavery for all time.

2. proposed and campaigned for the removal of all blacks from the United States and their re-colonization back in Africa.

3. proposed and preached often and with great passion on the inferiority of the black race, and on his desire to see them perpetually maintained as a second-class people. This national President said this: “There is a physical difference between the white and black races, which will forever forbid the two races from living together on social or political equality. There must be a position of superior and inferior and I am in favor of assigning the superior position to the white man.”

That President was Abraham Lincoln and the nation he represented flew (and still flies) the Stars and Stripes.

There is a flag that adorned the uniform and flew in front of the army commanded by a very famous General. That famous General was a well-known gambler, drunk, and rotter – a man who had been drummed out of the military in 1854 for being drunk on duty. He retired in shame in that year rather than be court-martialed. He then gained work on a farm using slaves owned by his father-in-law. He failed at farming in 1858 due to his personal weaknesses, and for the next year he was a bill collector in St. Louis. He failed at that too, and finally, in humiliation, in 1860 (1 year before the war) he begged his father for a job in his leather shop, which was granted. That drunken failure was perfectly suited to the national character of the nation for whom he would become a General, and under whose national flag he would later serve as President. The General? Ulysses S. Grant, and his flag was the Stars and Stripes. By contrast the Confederate General Robert E. Lee did not own slaves and when he did receive slaves on one occasion, he immediately freed them. Lee was a man of great moral character who was loved and respected by men of all nations, including those in the North, and was revered as a kind, gentle, loving and honorable man, against whom no man of any nation dared raise a claim of immorality.

There is a flag that, even today, represents a nation that has institutionalized racism; that allows hiring and firing based on race; that demands that race be considered over qualifications and character in the selection of those who would receive higher education; that protects victims of some races by the institution of “hate crime” legislation, while denying it to other races. That nation is the United States and their flag is the Stars and Stripes.

If hatred and bigotry are to be attributed to any nations flag, they are best represented by the national flag of the United States. If any flag represents the triumph of commerce and banks over character and freedom, it is the flag of the United States. If any flag represents the triumph of lies and deception over truth and honesty, it is the flag of the United States. If any national flag represents history revisionism, dishonesty, greed and avarice, it is the Stars and Stripes. If any flag represents a nation where sin is encouraged, righteousness is ridiculed, homosexuality is promoted, infanticide is federally financially supported, licentiousness is heralded, death and every manner of pagan ritual is celebrated – is is the Stars and Stripes of the United States. If militarism and oppression have a flag, it is the Stars and Stripes. If fascism and statism can possibly be distilled into a national symbol, it is the Amerikan Stars and Stripes.

So I think, to answer your question, that there is a symbol of hatred and racism that should be expunged from the heart and care of any thinking Christian man. That symbol is the Amerikan flag.

The Confederate Battle Flag was (and still is) a symbol of political freedom, Christian ethics in war, and honorable resistance to ungodly tyranny. While I do not condone or defend every action taken by those who have flown the flag, nor would I side with every group who now uses its symbolism, I recognize the flag itself as a symbol of resistance to foreign invasion, resistance to industrial imperialism, and resistance to the reign of commercial interests. Any man who would stand against the supremacy of godless banks, mercantilism, and industrialism over Godly agrarianism, has a debt to those who fought for their interests against Northern aggression under the Confederate Battle Flag. Any man who calls himself an Agrarian, but who defends, supports, or flies the flag of the United States of Amerika, involves himself in a palpable contradiction. He defends that flag under which his own people were killed, raped, and tortured. He supports that flag under which his own ideals were trampled and attacked. He flies that flag under which his Christian philosophies were debased and corroded. History revisionists and mental colonists have successfully trained whole generations of people to ignore their true history, to hate their own ancestors, and to revile the symbols of the highest and greatest ideals of their people. Hear the prophetic warning which foretold of the current condition:

Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson:

“If the North triumphs, it is not alone the destruction of our property, it is the prelude to anarchy, infidelity and the ultimate loss of free and responsible government on this continent. It is the triumph of commerce, banks and the factory.”

General Patrick Cleburne:

“Surrender means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the War; will be impressed by all the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, and our maimed veterans as fit subjects for derision.”

Robert E. Lee:

“If I had foreseen the use those people designed to make of their victory, there would have been no surrender at Appomattox Courthouse; no sir, not by me. Had I foreseen these results of subjugation, I would preferred to die at Appomattox with my brave men and my sword in this right hand.”

Now to the question concerning what our response ought to be to a flag. Of course, as I have shown above, our response to the national flag of the United States should be to look upon it as God looks upon the character of those who now adorn their vehicles with it, and fly it over their Wal-Marts. We should hate what God hates.

Flags (or banners, ensigns, standards) are biblical, and stand as representations of the ideals and character of those who adopt it, camp under it, or rally around it. No flag should be idolized or worshiped, and no oath of allegiance or fealty should ever be made to a flag. The flag as symbolism is an acceptable way to communicate in “shorthand” our political beliefs to others. They should never receive undue attention – nor should any man put flag, country, or any national duty before his duty to God.

I hope this answers your question.

Your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

1251 CR 132
Santa Anna, Texas 76878
editor@lazarusunbound.com
http://www.biblicalagrarianism.com

 
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