Civil War

I've often wondered why they call the war between the states 'civil' when there was nothing civil about it. Our country almost tore itself apart at that time. That the current generation, most of whom are ignorant of their own history, is behind the movement to tear down civil war monuments speaks to that ignorance. The country needed to heal after that devastating war between brothers. The Confederate monuments were a symbol of that healing. They weren't erected to celebrate racism or slavery. They were erected to recognize the courage and bravery of a people who fought for what they believed in. Most of them never owned a single slave. Though many modern historians try to tell us that war was all about slavery it was much more complicated than that. It was about states rights and the refusal to be told what to do, how to live, by a central government.

There is no question that slavery is wrong. It is an evil that almost every nation on earth has some history of. Over 500,000 Americans died paying for the sin of slavery. To help heal the rift between the winners and the losers of that civil war monument were erected in many cities to acknowledge it. In much the same way streets were named after and statues erected to Martin Luther King...to  heal a rift between two factions. Having those monuments acknowledges a time in our past where our people were violently divided by what they believed.

That time of conflict was a time very much like now. Our country is tearing itself apart by people who are beginning to see those that don't agree with them as less than they are somehow. Both sides have likened the other to Nazis...by people who have no idea how evil Nazis were. We have a history of different factions clashing; of people striving to be recognized as equals of the majority. Europeans clashed with the Native Americans, society clashed over women's rights, blacks have clashed against whites, political parties have always clashed against each other...sometimes more violently than others. These are many things that have divided us...but somehow, through it all we, eventually, came together or at least called an uneasy truce.

The time of turmoil we are entering now is only in the beginning stages. We have some dark times ahead of us. Americans, once again, seem unwilling to talk to each other...or even acknowledge the other side isn't made up of evil people...just people who disagree. We have enemies all around the globe that lie in wait to pounce on us in a time of weakness. God help us that we can come through this time of turmoil and come back together like we have in the past.

If enough people can remember that what we have in common is far greater than the things that separate us we may come through this time. If not...history has it's lessons to teach us there too. Ahead lies darkness or light...

Only time will tell...