The Theology of the Confederacy

Part Seven

E. Abolitionism.

Although this subject has been touched upon in several places already, we need to look at Abolitionism by itself and on its own merits.

1. Equalitarianism.

Abolitionism was the application of equalitarianism to the institution of domestic slavery. Equalitarianism may be defined as an abstract belief in equality, which holds that all men exist in a state of sameness, and that this excludes any sort of natural rank or authority among them. The goal of equalitarianism is the elimination of all social, political, moral, and economic differences between men. It holds these ideals to be the highest ethical standards to which men can strive. Dabney said it this way,

• According to this scheme, each person is by nature an independent integer, absolutely equal to every other man, and naturally entitled, as a "Lord of Creation," to exercise his whole will. Man's natural liberty was accordingly defined as privileged to do whatever he wished... man is by nature absolutely independent, so that he must be himself the supreme, original judge, [as to] what the law of nature is.

As Christians we disagree, believing rather that the highest ideal towards which mankind can strive is obedience to the law of God and the lordship of Jesus Christ, the King over all creation. Furthermore, we reject the idea that each individual is the supreme judge as to what is right for himself. We hold the Bible to be the final word on all things moral for every person in the world.

2. Implications of Equalitarianism.

Because they believed that all men are inherently equal, the Abolitionists viewed slavery as an inherent evil. That was their thesis. We have already shown that far from condemning the institution of slavery, the Bible in some places commends it. Hence, the Abolitionist thesis must be incorrect.

Besides this, if the authority of one man over another in the master-slave relationship is inherently immoral because it violates the principle of natural equality, then by logical extension, any authority which any man exercises over any other without their consent, must also be immoral. This has to include the parent-child relationship, the husband-wife relationship, all relationships between company owners and their employees, along with that of all governments and their citizens. When Robert Dabney confronted the problem of Abolitionism, he complained,

• If men are by nature sovereign and independent, and mechanically equal in rights, and if allegiance is founded solely on expressed or implied consent, then not only slavery, but every involuntary restraint imposed on a person or a class not convicted of crime, and every difference of franchise among the members of civil society, is a glaring wrong. Such are the premises of abolition. Obviously, then, the only just or free government is one where all franchises are absolutely equal to all sexes and conditions, where every office is directly elective, and where no magistrate has any power not expressly assented to by the popular will. For if inequalities of franchise may be justified by differences of character and condition, of course a still wider difference of these might justify so wide an inequality of rights as that between the master and servant. Your true abolitionist is then, of course a Red-Republican, a Jacobin.

3. The Christian Response to Abolitionism.

The immediate problem contemporary Southerners face when they read words such as those just quoted by Dabney, is that the philosophies of equalitarianism, Abolitionism, and democracy, have been so thoroughly ingrained into us, through Abolitionist schools and the Abolitionist media, that we naturally tend to agree with their premises. Nonetheless, we realize that the equalitarian philosophy is erroneous in that God has ordained authority to be exercised in all of the above-mentioned relationships.

This principle of God-ordained authority is first true in the family. The fifth commandment states, "Honor thy father and thy mother," which gives the parents God-ordained authority over the children. Ephesians 5:22-23 states, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church... Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything."

God has also ordained rulers in the church. Hebrews 13:7 states, "Remember them that have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God..." Also, ruling is listed as a spiritual gift which God has given to some in the church in Romans 12:8. Besides this,

I Timothy 5:17 says, "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine."

God has further ordained rulers over men in society. Romans 13:1, "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever resists the power, resists the ordinance of God." And lest we think that God sanctions democracy as the only righteous form of government, we should read the words of the Apostle Peter as given to him by the Holy Spirit, "Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the King." (I Peter 2:17) Thus God Himself acknowledges the authority of a king.

Therefore, the equalitarians and their Abolitionist allies are quite wrong in their particular conception of "all men being equal." Dabney summed it up this way,

• In a word, the maxim of the scriptural social ethics may be justly expressed in the great words of the British Constitution, "Peer and peasant are equal before the law"... Their theory assigned to the different classes of human beings in the commonwealth different grades of privilege and of function, according to their different natures and qualifications; but it held that the inferior is shielded in his right to his smaller franchise, by the same relation to the common heavenly Father, by the same Golden rule and the equitable right which shields the superior in the enjoyment of his larger powers. The functions and privileges of the peer are in some respects very different from those of the peasant; but the same law protects them both in their several rights...

Actually, equalitarianism is the well from which both democracy and various forms of totalitarianism, such as communism, are drawn. This is why, for instance, communist East Germany was called the German Democratic Republic.

Theoretically, according to communist philosophy, the people were to eventually overcome their nationalisms and their economic selfishness, and voluntarily live the equalitarian lifestyle. People would learn to gladly share with others the fruits of their labors, and all ethnic groups would merge into one global unity. Thus communism was eventually to be maintained by democratic means (Democratic-Socialism), rather than by totalitarian means. Concerning this subject, Rushdoony argues,

• Both totalitarianism and democracy are equalitarian ... equalitarianism is the dominant and commanding faith of the age. Equality can destroy freedom; freedom does not require equality... In a democracy, because the emphasis is on equality, there is a stress on independence from other people, and an unwillingness to be dependent on them... In America, Tocqueville saw, the evil effects of equality and individualism were overcome by a strong Christian faith and by free associations... which worked to bring people together in godly community.

As Christians we must also reject the idea that each person is an independent integer whose place in society can be reckoned without regard to his family heritage, family history, religion, economic status, personal abilities, language, nationality, etc. These things are considered important at various places in the Bible, so we should acknowledge their value as well. Concerning this point Rushdoony states,

• Liberalism dissolves the religious and familial ties of a society and leaves only the rootless individual and the humanistic state. Society then veers between collectivism and individualism. A social order which denies that God is the source of law must of necessity seek its principle of law from within history or from man. The conflict of law then is no longer between God's law and man's sin, but it is now the law of some men's ordering, which now makes sinners of all other men who differ.

This statement fairly represents the legal and moral state of affairs in America after 130 years of Abolitionist rule. People no longer define righteousness or unrighteousness in terms of God's law. Instead, a new code of law called civil rights, or human rights, is the standard by which behavior is defined. Anyone who refuses to conform is persecuted as wicked, vile, immoral, and evil.

Thus the present-day Abolitionists charge their enemies with the same indictments as did their predecessors against the antebellum slave owner. This is because their perspective has never changed. They believe in equality as though it will singularly usher in the Millennium. They further hold to the deification of democracy as that political order best suited to promote a world of peace in which there are no classes, no national divisions, and no inherent authority.

What they don't understand about democracy is that there are no intrinsic moral values within that system. It is only a political design which can bring about a variety of results, not all of them equalitarian. As F.W. Schnitzler has stated,

• Democracy in America, too, has been twisted and shaped to suit the purposes of the myth-makers. The "secularization of history" has stripped America of its religious history and leaves us believing that democracy alone is to be credited for the blessings this nation has enjoyed. Democracy, in and of itself, however, is a valueless form of government. It does not imply, suggest, or impart moral, ethical, or religious values, blessings, or benefits. It merely proposes a political process or procedure whereby the actual feelings and demands of the majority can be determined and satisfied, whether right or wrong.

Despite the pleading of the self-righteous equalitarians, we need to remain steadfast in our assertions that God has ordained order, authority, submission thereunto, class, nationality, language, station, and several other divisions among the peoples of the world. These matters guide our lives. Abolitionists continue to deny the existence of any of the God-ordained divisions in the world. Their creed of "unity, brotherhood, and equality" is sounded throughout the earth. Yet, in this they stand in rebellion toward the God who created them and ordained the manner in which the earth is to function.

It is imperative that the Southern people stand against Abolitionism, democracy, and equalitarianism. We must interpret life in the manner God has interpreted for us in the Bible. Our forefathers died for that interpretation of life. And it is to be our guiding light as we enter the 21st century and prepare for our independent nationhood.

Conclusion.

We Southerners have have been bequeathed a theological and philosophical heritage that is a marvel to the rest of the world. We are nonetheless a weak people at present because, as a people, we have not walked in the ways of our God. False doctrine and mischievous heresies permeate the South. It remains, however, that of the things for which we ought to repent, none of them are to be found in the charges of the Abolitionists - from the 1860s or the 1990s.

Southerners who are not Christians need to repent of their sins, accept Christ as their Savior and Lord, and determine to follow in the ways of the God of their fathers, the God of the Bible.

We Southerners who are Christians need to re-double our efforts at helping others of our number to live righteous lives, become informed concerning the truth, thereby enabling them to render aid to others.

The forces of Humanism are strong, but our God is far stronger. There can be no doubt that the Humanists of today, who permeate our land, are totally motivated to stamp out every vestige of the Christian religion from our society. Nonetheless, we need not fear them because there is no power in the universe which can rival the anger of Almighty God. Once He turns on our enemies, they will be crushed. He will help us in this way, but we must first walk according to His commands, trust Him for our personal and national sustenance, while endeavoring to point others towards Him and His kingship over the earth.

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, whose memory is still revered in the South, was a Christian man who I do not believe would disagree with one word written in this report. The same could be said of Robert E. Lee, General Nathan Bedford Forest, and, going back even further, George Washington and James Madison. Within these pages I have laid out to the best of my ability, the ideals which made America great and made the Confederacy the object of respect the world over. We are the sons and daughters of the Confederacy. It is our duty to carry forward, not only the memory, but also the ideology, of our forefathers. The ideas contained herein are our blueprint.

In the mid-1990s, pro-Southern groups are beginning to spring up all over our nation. We stand, not at the end of history, as some have suggested, but we have been placed at the crossroads of history. The success of our war against the forces of evil will set the stage for the next 500 years of Western chronology.

The forces of Humanism, Abolitionism, Democracy, and Equalitarianism, against which the Confederates fought so valiantly, need to be engaged again today. Not on the field of battle, but in the definitive arena of ideas.

The government in Washington is crumbling morally and fiscally. Still, it continues to pile wickedness on top of wickedness - by its Civil Rights Act, by its Voting Rights Act, by its Martin Luther King Day, by its toleration of violent crime, by its welfare payments which necessitate theft through tyrannical taxation, by allowing sodomites to parade through the streets and to sit in high places of governmental power, by allowing and encouraging abortion on demand, by refusing to protect our borders from the third-world invasion, by publicly demonizing our Confederate forefathers, by allowing the continual humiliation and denigration of the Southern people, by continually glorying in the Abolitionists victories in both the Civil War of the 1860s and the Civil Rights War of the 1960s, and lastly, by attempting to stamp out our national existence as Southerners by working to tear our flag off of the flags of the states where we live.

These sins, and many others must be brought to account. For Washington has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. Its days are numbered.

By the end of this decade I believe that Washington's internal weaknesses - both moral and financial - will manifest themselves plainly. The entire Socialist-Humanist experiment which it has undertaken will come crashing down around its heads. The federal government has promised that it can regulate every facet of our lives, manage all of our resources, regulate all of our businesses, decide best how our money is to be spent, and still provide for every person's basic "needs." They can not. That will become painfully obvious when Washington's debt crisis brings it to its knees. The dollar will become virtually worthless. Unemployment will skyrocket. And almost no one will be protected from the anarchy which will then follow.

At that point, the Southern people will still be here, working the Southern land, speaking that sweet Southern drawl, and prepared to take our rightful place at the table of nations.

We are not revolutionaries, but we are the true America. We are the loyal people, not because we are loyal to a government, but because we are loyal to the ideals upon which America was founded. We represent all that is good about America, while the government in Washington, and especially the Clinton Administration, stands for all that is vile and unholy.

Determine that you are going to join in our worthy crusade to re-establish our nation and to be a force for God's righteousness in our land. By working together, and claiming the blessings of Almighty God upon our efforts, we can build a legacy which will glorify our God and be something of which our grandchildren can be proud.

The Theology of the Confederacy - Index

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