Did you in the past few years since getting emails, blogs, or your early morning news off your computer, ever think that you should start your own Blog? Perhaps take a little time to do your own and say what you were thinking instead of screaming at the TV ? Well I have thought about that question for a long time, but never made and attempt because at my age, computer stuff is more than just a little complicated.
So, to set the record straight 'You did not do that ! Somebody else did that.' Well that's right, a good friend of mine, made the comment that they could help me get started. It did not take a great deal of time to get set up, but after they left, the big question hit me, what in the heck was I going to write about in this first Southern Boy blog ? The election is only a matter of days away and I am, as I suspect most of you are, maybe a little weary of all the stuff on the screen that's true or just dirt. Naturally, as my blog name implies, I am a conservative to the core and pray that next year there will be confidence in the future and the economy will come back from the brink of doom.
Having said that, I will get to my subject and move on. I live near a small community that boasts of maybe a little under five hundred folks. I know from a personal meeting , they have one cop with a radar gun. There's three churches, one of which my wife and I are members of. On any Sunday, I would say there is around sixty in attendance. Our pastor has a full time job, but is there for us on Sundays and special events such as cookouts and funerals. Of course, there is a fire department made up of mostly volunteers and a little library across the street. These people are the salt of the earth. They work hard to scrap out a living, but enjoy the little community events on Main Street held on all the big holidays such as the Christmas parade and the Fourth of July. A few years ago they took advantage of a government grant and built a mile of concrete side walks that almost no one takes advantage of. They, of course, would prefer to use their pick-up trucks rather than walk.
I had a personal experience one Saturday with one guy. I was clearing a lot with paid help and needed my chain saw sharpened and of course on Saturdays everyone is taking the day off. I felt just a little desperate so I stopped in the one convenience store that sold pizzas and gas and asked if the owner knew of anyone that could sharpen my saw. He got on the phone and called a man who lived near by and asked him if he could sharpen my saw. The man was about ten miles away at a flea market , but was ready to head home and would meet my at the store in about an hour.
An hour later, he showed up at the convenience store and asked me to follow him home where he had his tools to sharpen the saw. I believe his name was Bill. As we drove about a mile, we turned down a little road that headed out into the country. I could not help but notice along the way, there were maybe four Confederate Flags hanging on poles or on the front porches. Now, if I had just moved here from up north and there are plenty of defectors around here, I may have felt a little uncomfortable. However being a southern boy, I felt secure among my own.
We went into his little shed that had no windows, but with the front door open there was enough light. Being a Saturday afternoon, I kind of wondered what he would charge me? I took some cash out as he was almost through and asked him what did I owe him? As he turned to me with the saw, he said " It's Saturday afternoon, and I don't charge on Saturday afternoons." I was a little taken back by this, as he refused to take the twenty dollar bill I had in my hand . I would think about this act of kindness and later took a cake and left it on his door steps with a thank you note.
In the same block on the main road near the Dollar Store, which is the only retail store, is a monument dedicated to those who died in the Civil War between 1861 and 1865. Carved in granite, along with a flag, are the names of those who gave their lives for the cause. They had lived in this tiny community made up of mostly farmers or share croppers. They had gone into the Confederate Army because Lee had asked for their support and not because they owned slaves. They were dirt poor, and not in the main stream of politics, but felt loyal and wanted to respond to what was being called the 'war of the northern aggression'. What little they did know was, it had to do with 'states rights' which was going to be taken away from them by a far away government. There were few newspapers in those days that made their way to the western 'dark corner' of South Carolina and most got their news by word of mouth. Of course most of them could not read. Are you shocked by this revelation? Even today over one hundred and forty seven years later, there are areas in our country where children graduating from high school cannot read at a fifth grade level, taught by union teachers.
So the question that sparked my interest the other night by a 'defector' friend that I love and respect very much, asked me "Why did I think the people in the small community near us, felt so loyal to the Confederacy? And why did they not just forget about a war that killed over one half million people and get on with their lives?"
I have thought about that and I really don't think there is a right or wrong answer to the question. Memories and events of the past effect all of us. History over the years is passed on down to all of us through books and from one generation to the next. It's like the genes in our make up, they are there and they shape how we feel about things that came before us.
To give an example of what I happen to think about the beliefs and feelings of those small southern community folks, is something that happened a long time ago. (There are those on the other side that want them to forget about their past.) Some defectors as I call them, love to live in the south better than the north (and who can not blame them for that?) Will say, "They are still fighting the war down here." " They think the south will rise again."
Look at it this way if you follow what's going on in our country today, you know there is a war going on here in America against God. That's right, a movement to get God out of our schools, "In God we Trust" off our money or prayer anywhere in public. The same thing can be also said for those who want true southerners to forget about their past. No, southerners are not going to forget about what happened to them nor are they going to forget about God. Nor should they. Only a small percentage of the total population owned slaves in 1860 that had been sold to the planters by northern slave traders and don't forget there were also northern slave owners to a lesser degree.
What we all need to do is let southerners have their memories. Their memories do not effect anyone (and I don't mean the trash that disrespects the Confederate Flag) and all of us should join in the battle as Christians to keep our God in all things we believe in.
Southern Boy
