[Vision2020] Southern Fantasy

[Jim Meyer]

Michael,

I think it is terribly odd, in fact sometimes dangerous, that people 
idealize a past they never knew, or hold on to a wrong occuring a 
generation or more before. For me personally, if I was another person, I 
could easily have hated every German I met. Who in the world hasn't had 
a relative who was wronged sometime another life ago? Would it have been 
productive for me to hate the daughter of a Nazi I met in Canada this 
summer and to idealize pre-Hitler Germany?  In turn, how can you (and 
Christ Church, Logos and NSA) idealize the southern states before the 
civil war?

You mention both fondness and sadness for "a culture far more 
respectable than the one I currently live in."  I can almost see the 
world you reminisce for--the cool wind whispering through the ancient 
live oaks, the pretty young lass, your wife, sipping a mint julep 
sitting beside you on the veranda swing, the tease of an occasional 
scent of scrumptious dinner sneaks out from the overheated stone 
cookhouse out back, the elegant fine cut lead crystal glasses filled 
again and again almost by magic, and, lucky for you there is not a 
problem in the world that your fine overseer can't handle. Of course, 
everyone is a Christian, and everyone lives by Christian 
principles.There is no evil, and though some must work harder than 
others, those that have to work hard are doing honest work--god's 
work--because idle hands are a work of the devil. God has chosen some 
above others and you are proud to be one of the chosen. It is a simple, 
agrarian life. Your children are happy and love their live-in teacher. 
Discipline problems are few.One day, the eldest son will take over. As 
you watch the day turn to evening there is a wonderful pinkish red 
sunset, and in those days it wasn't caused by the chemical plants. You 
look out over the great expanse you own and you think, wow--the 
plantation--my plantation, is a living breathing thing, well seen in 
god's eyes, and those who live, work and die here, are part of one big 
family, striving toward the same goal--yours. Yes, those were the great 
old days, when Christians ran the south and it was just one big happy 
family.

People being what they are, an intelligent person wouldn't be clearly 
thinking if he thought that any place or time was as idyllic as my 
imagination or yours. Somebody had to takeout the garbage, dig the 
latrine, cut the meat, and plow the land. Legal and moral crimes 
occurred then as now. And for heaven's sake, you don't even have any 
first hand experience or talked to any living relative from that era. 
How can you reminisce about something you never knew? Don't you think 
there is a chance that you are idealizing something that never existed? 
Mighten it be possible that although the plantation owner went to church 
twice a week:
--The children's pretty young teacher, as well as several servant maids 
succumbed to the plantation owner's attention?
--The overseer believed in "not sparing the rod"  and regularly whipped 
and occasionally shot slaves?
--That slave families were split and sold to different owners?
--That church and politics ran together and corruption was rampant?
--And on and on.....

You are sad about something that never existed. People are people.They 
do bad things sometimes. There is no oasis in history where everything 
was a Christian based heaven on earth. I too am sad, sad that a good 
person such as yourself who is only wants good for himself and his 
family is gullible enough to believe otherwise. Why don't you work on 
making here and now a better place, something that you can really 
reminisce about later in life? That doesn't, by the way mean fashioning 
the present to be like a past that never existed and making cultural war 
on non- (or not good enough) Christians. Rather it means using your 
head, realizing that Christians and non-Christians alike want the same 
basic good things for themselves and their families.  It means everyone 
together working for the betterment of all. It means avoiding power 
hungry fundamentalists who, to advance their agenda, would idealize a 
false past filtered through rose colored glasses and mislead and divide 
us. It means having respect for others regardless of religion. It means 
humility and compassion, attributes that seem to be missing in all 
fundamentalists. Though not exclusively Christian, aren't humility and 
compassion major precepts advanced by Christ?

Lastly, religion aside, does it make any sense at all to take the word 
of two people who are not widely respected as historians? Peer review is 
a very important concept when trying to make the best approximation of 
the truth. By taking the word of Wilson and Wilkins too seriously you 
are choosing faith in them over academic rigor-- a big mistake if you 
really want the best approximation of the facts (and if you really want 
"a balanced understanding of the civil war" ).

Jim Meyer

>Me:
>
>Thanks Jim.  Keep in mind that I have been around meetings, talks, etc, of
>Wilson, Wilkins, and Christ Church for almost a decade.  I am very glad to
>come away from that experience with a more balanced understanding of the
>civil war.  The causes of the war were a bit more than slavery (like the
>north was not just as or more racist than the south?);  the north intruded
>and destroyed half of my country, and that half of my country was filled
>with a culture far more respectable than the one I currently live in.  These
>strange discussions about the confederate flag (which I've never had the
>slightest bit of fondness for) make me sad. I'm not inclined to argue for
>the value of displaying this defeated symbol, but I know its function was
>not the same as the Nazi Swastika. But thanks for the links; you'd have to
>show me the strength of the arguments within.
>
>Michael Metzler
>
>  
>