1995 issue 6 - confederate heritage conference review: reviewing and renewing our southern christian...
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8/12/2019 1995 Issue 6 - Confederate Heritage Conference Review: Reviewing and Renewing Our Southern Christian Herita
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Since I have been given the
opponunity to furnish a repon on
the
Fifth Annual Confederate
Heritage Conference
in
Monroe, La.
I thought it would be fittin'
to
stan
by asking the question, "Why
weren't y'all there?"
Actually, some of you were.
There were nearly three hundred
people in attendance, representing
more than twenty different states.
Yes that means some ofthe states
represented were from outside the
South.
This
is an important fact
in
pointingout the relevantnature of
h
conference - but more on that later.
Due to an illness of Dr.
Gregg
Singer's wife he
was
unable to pani
cipate in
the
conference as planned.
Although we were all disappointed
about that,
we
were treated instead
to speeches from Mr. Otto Scott,
author, lecturer, and editor of the
newsletter Compass and Dr.
Michael
Hill, professor ofhistory
at
Stillman
college, visiting professor ofhistory
at the University of Alabama, and
president of the Southern
League.
This conference was a joy for
those seriously interested in the
"Southern Cause." From the historic
flavor ofSteve Wilkins to the fresh
call to action by Idaho's Douglas
Wilson, we were refreshed in the
old ways and enlightened in the
new. Scholarship was present in the
fonn of histolY, philosophy, and
theology with all three unified
in
vision
for the
future.
Douglas Wilson set the pace for
the conference by starting out with
his lecture, "Why The War Never
Ended. He commanded our
attention
right away with the
proclamation that if we
forget
what
God does
for
us and our fathers
in
the
faith , we are
not only
acknowledging negligence,
but
according
to the Law we are
confessing our guilt. This is because
we have disregarded His clear
commands to the contrary. He cited
passages from both the Old and
New Testaments and concludedby
warning us of the dangers we
encounter when we
do
forget.
He
said that remembering God's
faithfulness in the past not only
gives hope in the present but also
provides uswith a linkcovenantally
to our fathers - one we need to pass
down to our children. They need to
be anticipating God's hand in their
lives through the study of history.
Mr. Wilson rejected the notion
that
histOlY as
recorded by men is
unbiased. This is no less true
in
the
history of the War Between the
States. We
must
accept God's
rendition of right and
wrong
regardless of what we think.
To
quote Mr. Wilson, "We should
resolve to have no problem areas' in
Scripture." Our response, he said,
should be more like, "Wow, the
Bible sure says that " With that, he
embarked on the sticky issue of
slavery - both the institution by
itself and the establishment as
it
existed in the Notth and South
before and during the War. For a
more thorough examination of this
interesting topiC I suggest you get a
copy ofthe tapes from
the
conference.
"On issues of truth," he said,
"force settlesnothing. As his lecture
title suggested, he argued that the
War,
in
its real issues (i.e. state
sovereignty vs. strong
central
government, etc.), is still being
waged.
He pointed out the "Tenth
AmendmentMovement"
in
manyof
the Westem states and said that the
federal government is weakening
under itsown weight. This does not
mean immediate collapse or rule of
disgruntled anarchists,
but
more
likely a gradual loss of strength
on
the part of centralized power
in
general.
As
you can see already, the
contemporary relevance of the
meeting became clear from the
beginning. The ideas presented as
the speeches went forward grewinto
a living vision with potential to
reshape the country into what
our
forefathers planted.
Dr.
Michael Hill's presentation
was entitled,
Egalitarian
Democracy:
The
Universal Wolf. He
had
completed writing
it
only a
few
days
earlier, and it was given with little
prior notice. He did not disappoint.
His
point
was
mainly dealing
with the
injustice of
enforced
equality
as it is presented
today. Equal
justice
under the
law and equality of humanity as
men made in the image of God do
not
essentially or inevitably mean
sameness
or standardization.
However, the cu rrent view is
antithetically
perverting
and
destroyingjusticeonbehalfofhonest
men, their bUSinesses, and our
political system. Mr. Hill urged the
need
to
rerum to a decentralized
republic.
Mr. Otto Scott spoke next on
People
and Populations. With his
theme
on
immigration and
pluralism, he advised us of the
liability nations incur when their
borders absorb all comers. Total
tolerance breeds complete
incohesiveness.
He
gave several
examples from history, including
Rome as
it
extended into Europe. f
we don't continue to stand for
our
Gont on page
4
July,
1995 ;.
TIlE
COUNSEL of Chalcedon ;. l
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8/12/2019 1995 Issue 6 - Confederate Heritage Conference Review: Reviewing and Renewing Our Southern Christian Herita
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onferenceReview
p.13
heritage as a people in America, we
may cease
to be
a people
in
America.
In
his
second speech, The
Blue
and Grey
in Black and
White,
Mr
Wilson delineated the issues of the
War and
how the War should
be
fought today.
Our
battle is now a
battle
of
ideas,
he
said.
Last
of
all,
Rev.
Steve Wilkins
spoke on
The Foundations of
Southern Culture.
He
dealt
primarily with the spiritual 'side of
the War. According to
Mr.
Wilkins,
the differences between the North
and South
on
theological issues
during this time ran
at
eastas deeply
as any of the other, more obvious
issues. Mr. Wilkins, as always,
delivered
his
message to us
in
Southern Style.
My father, mother, brother, and
I drove
out
to the conference by ear.
It was about a ten hour trip,
and
on
top
of hat, our air conditioning was
not
working at the time.
So
we
traveled through heat waves, roads
under
construction
and four
Southern states, including a part of
our
own,
just
to go to a conference.
Why
was
it
worth
it to
us?
Why
would we do
it
all again? For
my
family, this trip was like a revival.
I'm sure that many ofyou think lam
exaggerating,
but
I'm
not.
My
brother, who was reluctant to go,
came back
not
only fired
up
about
his covenant heritage
but
also ready
to
share
it
with jus t about anyone -
after all, Southern history is full
of
Christian heritage
to
remember,
enjoy, and imitate for the future.
There was a distinct spiritual base
that undergirded the conference.
The
main thread that
flowed
throughout was a sense of covenant
continuiry with our past. We leftthe
conference with anticipation and
zeal for the future.
I believe that
in
a different
environment, the meeting would
not
have
had
the impact that it did
on my family. The organic nature of
it
all
Wl S
indisputable to our senses
as we
watched
truly Southern
brethren and other people of like
mind come togetherwith expectancy
and leave with hope.
On Saturday night after the
conference, a Confederate ball was
held. There was period music, and
some even wore period costumes. It
was nice
to
relax
in
an atmosphere
of fun.
There is one other aspect
ofthe
conference that I think is imponant
to note - that is, the group of people
hosting it. There was great
hospitality from the members of the
congregation - not only
in
inviting
out-of-town guests for Sunday
dinner,
but
also
in
the outstanding
friendliness served to all who
came
THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon Jnly, 1995
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
BULK RATE
Pennit No. 1553
Greenville, SC
29602
Then, there
was
the singing. What a
wonderful joy
to
be able to sing out
loudly We were blessed with the
congregation's
full and
bountiful
harmony, punctuated
and
made
distinctive by the many male voices
booming
through.
This
was a
particular blessing
to
me as a young
man. Several hymns, being favorites
of the Confederate soldiers, were
sung during the conference.
Last of
all,
I want to invite each
reader
to
consider going
to
next
year's conference in Monroe, La.
The conference will be held the last
weekend in
May.
There are other
conferences
which are held
throughout the South that you might
want to consider as well. Y'all
come n
teve PaYMe
and
h l ~ famfly
live
In
GalncfwJ/le
GA
where
he
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