First they banned prayer in schools. Then they removed nativity scenes on courthouse grounds.
Then they removed the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Supreme Court. Next came the “War on Christmas” involving the omission of the word “Christmas” from office and Government calendars to be substituted with “Holiday”. According to Wikipedia “The expression ‘War on Christmas’ has often been used to denote Christmas-related controversy in the media. The term gained notability due in part to its use by conservative commentators such as Peter Brimelow and Bill O’Reilly beginning in the early 2000s.
The claim among Brimelow, O’Reilly, and some other prominent media figures and personalities was that any specific mention of the term “Christmas” or its religious aspects was being increasingly censored, avoided, or discouraged by a number of advertisers, retailers, government (prominently schools), and other public and secular organizations.”
Rightfully, these attacks have enraged and equally neutered Christians throughout the Country. Just when you think they’ve gone as far as they can…but wait – there’s more. Today I read that the Freedom From Religion Foundation (www.ffrf.org) agreed to defend a Pennsylvania teenager who is facing criminal charges after posting pictures to Facebook of himself thrusting his pelvis into the face of a praying statue of Jesus Christ, supposedly simulating fellatio.
The criminal charge, which will be heard in family court, consists of “Desecration of a Venerated Object.” Pennsylvania law defines desecration as “Defacing, damaging, polluting or otherwise, physically mistreating in a way that the actor knows will outrage the sensibilities of persons likely to observe or discover the action.”
In fact, the group, with spokesman Ron Reagan, son of President Ronald Regan, is calling all non-believers to come forward and challenge the so-called ‘privileges’ granted to Christians.
It seems the attackers have won the argument in blurring the lines between the ‘establishment’ of religion by the Federal Government and the freedom to worship with the spin sound bite of ‘freedom from religion’.
This is an example of where ignorance of history is allowing the revision of it. The founders simply believed that it would not be a good idea for government to create, or establish, a faith. They clearly believed that was not a responsibility of the Federal Government and wanted to limit that potential power.
And in most recent news, a Swedish Luthern priest feels the Christian Cross itself is offensive, and shouldn’t be displayed.
Have you noticed that these attacks on other Christian symbols have been with the same force and velocity of the attacks on the Confederate Battle Flag (“CBF”)? First it was t-shirts in schools, then it was flags in County Seals and State Flags. Next came removal of Confederate Veteran monuments, and most recently the obliteration of the Southern Cross on the Veteran’s monument in Columbia, SC, in the aftermath of the tragic shooting in Charleston.
What do these attacks on Christians and the Confederate Battle Flag have in common? One simple thing. Christ.
Let me repeat that. Christ is the common element. The Confederate Battle Flag nicknamed the “Southern Cross” is a Christian symbol. So it doesn’t surprise me that it, too, is being attacked.
This concept first entered my consciousness by words used in a speech I heard HK Edgerton make in Tampa, when he referenced the CBF as the “Christian Cross of St. Andrew”.
Later I heard a sermon by former Sons of Confederate Veterans Chaplain-in-Chief Rev. John Weaver entitled “The Truth About the Confederate Battle Flag”. I was so impressed by this sermon that I purchased duplicates of it and provided a copy of it to all the members of my lineage society.
The evidence is overwhelming. First, the population of the South was prominently Scottish. The patron Saint of Scotland was St. Andrew, one of Jesus disciples, who was crucified on a diagonal cross Patras, (Patrae), in Achaea. Use of the Cross in Scotland dates to 1180 in the Kingdom of William I.
Secondly, the Chi or “X” the 22nd letter in the Greek alphabet is often used to abbreviate the name Christ, as in the holiday Christmas (Xmas). When fused within a single typespace with the Greek letter Rho, it is called the “labarum” and used to represent the person of Jesus Christ (☧).
Thirdly, documentation at the origin of the flag itself states the connection. Confederate States of America Congressman Porcher Miles, of Chairman of the Standards Committee in Congress wrote in a letter to Samuel Barrett of Georgia, upon completion of the design in the summer of 1861,“The flag should be a token of humble acknowledgment of God and be a public testimony to the world that our trust is in the Lord our God.”
According to Encyclopedia of Arkansas:
“After the Battle of First Manassas, Virginia, on July 21, 1861, General P. G. T. Beauregard ordered a new design for a battle flag to avoid confusion of the Stars and Bars with the Stars and Stripes. Confederate representative William Porcher Miles of South Carolina is credited with designing this new flag, which became the standard battle flag for Confederate troops. This flag was patterned after the national flag of Scotland, which consisted of a field of blue with a white saltire; however, the color of the field was changed to red with a blue saltire bordered in white. The Southern states, being a common destination for Scottish immigrants, easily accepted this design as a Confederate battle flag”.
So why do Christians not wince with the CBF is disparaged? Some say non-confrontation. Others say ‘its not my problem’. Others buy into the misguided belief that the CBF was a flag that represents the perpetuation of slavery. Personally, I believe its ignorance, plain and simple.
Most contemporary Christians and are unaware that this embattled emblem is a Christian symbol. Remember the Ru Paul CBF dress controversy at the Museum of the Confederacy? Most people didn’t even know it was happening, or that they should be upset.
Surprisingly many critics of the CBF, themselves are descendants of Confederate military or civilian officials and don’t understand the link to their heritage and history.
But either way, I’m reminded of the words of Benjamin Franklin on the momentus day that he and the other patriots penned their signature on the Declaration of Independence from King George and the British Empire. “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
Pastor Theron Chewing of Fowler Avenue Baptist Church in Tampa, FL frequently lectures about the ‘nasty now ‘and how evil surrounds us constantly. I believe Satan is working constantly using ignorance to his advantage…even the ignorance in good, God-fearing Christians allowing them to unknowingly persecute Christ. By judging the CBF to be a hate symbol they are themselves attacking their brethren in Christ and Christ himself.
The Bible says Christ and his followers will be persecuted. It also says we will be acknowledged for defending Christ. 1 Peter 4:16 states “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.”
I don’t know about you, but on Judgment Day, I want to have a CBF in my hand showing my love and respect for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I would like to commend to you Rev. Weaver’s sermon. Listen to it and become empowered with knowledge and information.
I was able to convince three ministers of music that the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” should not be considered a Christian hymn by simply directing them to information on Julia Howe and her humanist views and the history of the so called “hymn”.
Let us replicate this success by educating our clergy and help them understand that an attack on the Southern Cross is more serious then that pious disdain for those supposedly seeing to perpetuate slavery based on ignorance….it is an attack on Christ himself.
Christians must unify or be exterminated, with their prayers and their symbols being relegated to only their homes and private property, with no public expression whatsoever.
Great article! I found another link to Weaver’s sermon:
https://www.confederateamericanpride.com/battleflag/
Thanks for sharing this information!