Wrote President of the Southern Baptist Convention and officers of the Ashley River Baptist Church and all the members of the Executive Board of the Southern Baptist Convention

I wrote a letter to Dr. Ronnie Floyd, President of the Southern Baptist Convention, all the board members of the Executive Committee as well as all the leaders of the Ashley River Baptist Church concerning the unfortunate decision of Ashley River Baptist Church to host the Sons of Confederate Veterans on their 2014 Reunion.

The letters are still working their way through the mail system as I type this post.

What is interesting is that the neo-Confederate movement has ridiculed the Southern Baptist Convention over their apology over slavery, yet the Ashley River Baptist Church has chosen to lend their facilities to a movement which mocks them.

I sent Dr. Floyd quite a bit of documentation. I think it will be somewhat surprising to the Southern Baptist to read the rather disrespectful and virulent condemnations of the Southern Baptist Church.

The letter sent to Dr. Floyd was sent by certified mail and the others were sent with proof of mailing.

The letter is as follows:

October 27, 2014

                                                                   Edward H. Sebesta

                                                                   

                                                                   edwardsebesta@gmail.com

Dr. Ronnie Floyd

President

The Executive Committee, Southern Baptist Convention

901 Commerce Street

Nashville, TN 37203-3699

Dear Dr. Floyd:

I regret to report that the Ashley River Baptist Church, a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, hosted an event for the 2014 National Reunion of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV). It is reported in the July 30, 2014 issue of the Times Examiner.  I enclose a copy, and the article can be read online at http://www.timesexaminer.com/historical/1914-2014-national-reunion-of-sons-of-confederate-veterans.

The SCV is a group which promotes what I believe and I think any rational person would believe are extremist and racist beliefs as documented in an article by myself at Black Commentator, http://www.blackcommentator.com/526/526_confederacy_sebesta_guest_share.html. I enclose a copy. I do investigative research regarding the neo-Confederate movement. My research has been published by university presses, peer reviewed academic journals, as well as by Black Commentator. My resume is online at www.templeofdemocracy.com/resume.htm. I enclose a copy.

When churches lend neo-Confederate groups the use of their facilities they not only give them support through the use of their facilities but additionally they lend the prestige and credibility of their individual church and denomination to that group. The church is also party to the enabling the agenda of the neo-Confederates.

I am disappointed in the Ashley River Baptist Church actions. The Southern Baptist churches have had a record of not hosting the national conventions of neo-Confederate groups. For national conventions from 1990 to 2014 only one Southern Baptist church had hosted the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which was First Baptist Church of Columbia in South Carolina.  For 1990 to 2013 I don’t find any record of a Southern Baptist church hosting the national convention of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. I enclose tables of hosting churches and bar graphs of the hosting by denomination.  This information can also be found online at the web page www.templeofdemocracy.com/churchesoftheconfederacy.htm.

I had had written the four denominations leading in hosting neo-Confederate national convention services not to host the SCV: Episcopalians (both factions), United Methodist, Presbyterians and Roman Catholics (See again enclosed bar graphs). There were indications that the SCV was having difficulties finding a church.

I did not write any organizations of Southern Baptists in South Carolina since I thought Southern Baptists wouldn’t do such a thing. The Southern Baptist church had seemed to be moving forward on the issue of race with such notable actions as the 1995 apology for slavery. It had seemed that the Southern Baptists comprehended that Christianity was a global effort with no one race or nation privileged over another. Yet this doesn’t seem to be the situation.

The neo-Confederate movement besides bringing back into print nearly every antebellum book defending slavery have also been publishing some modern theological defenses of slavery.

The neo-Confederates have been condemning the Southern Baptist Convention for their apology regarding slavery since the resolution was passed in 1995. (http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/899).  The notorious Southern Partisan had two condemnations published. [2^nd Quarter, Vol. 15, 1995, pp. 7 Wesley Pruden; 3^rd Quarter, Vol. 15, 1995, pp. 56 Samuel Francis. Documentation enclosed.]

Though the Sons of Confederate Veterans has not directly condemned the Southern Baptists for their resolution, they have strongly promoted and praised the writings that have condemned the Southern Baptists.

Gary Lee Roper has written a book, “Antebellum Slavery: An Orthodox View,” 2008, advocating a pro-slavery theology, in which on pages 281-82 he condemns the Southern Baptist apology and calls those who passed it “pompous ignoramus.” I enclose documentation.

This book is promoted and praised by the Sons of Confederate Veterans in their publication Chaplain’s Corps Chronicles of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. In the April 2008 issue the SCV Chaplain’s Corps praises the book and tells the readers it is a “must read.” Documentation enclosed.  (http://www.scv.org/pdf/chaplains/2008_Apr.pdf ).

The book is also sold in the SCV catalog, SCV’s online store, and in their official publication Confederate Veteran. I enclose documentation.

Walter D. Kennedy has written a book “Myths of American Slavery,” Pelican Publishing Company, 2003. The Southern Baptists are denounced for their apology on pages 88-96 in a section titled “Radical Influence in the Southern Baptist Convention,” in a chapter titled “Abolitionism Versus Christianity.” On page 89 the author states:

“The passing of the so-called Racial Reconciliation Resolution by the assembled delegates defamed and otherwise slandered the good name of Southern Baptists of the past 150 years. The resolution is nothing more than liberal double-speak for an act of cultural genocide against the South.”

Elsewhere on page 89 the resolution is called “infamous” and the author states, “The duped delegates regurgitated on cue the abolitionist (i.e. liberal) propaganda about the institution of African servitude and life in the Old South.” I enclose documentation.

This book is sold in the SCV catalog, SCV’s online store, and in their official publication Confederate Veteran. I enclose documentation.

The Southern Baptists may have apologized over slavery in 1995 but in 2014 it is aiding and abetting an organization that is promoting pro-slavery theology and a neo-Confederate ideology that condemns the Southern Baptist Convention.

One concern I have developed in investigating neo-Confederate groups is how they are enabled by mainstream organizations such as corporations, churches, government bodies and others. So I have decided to ask these groups to reconsider their relations with specific neo-Confederate groups. It is all well and good that I have written on extremist Confederate Christian nationalists for the Canadian Review of American Studies (http://www.templeofdemocracy.com/ConfederateChristianNationalism.pdf), but I have realized that the enabling of a racist historical consciousness in the general public and racist neo-Confederate groups by mainstream churches is as detrimental to America as these fringe churches referred to in my paper. The Christianity advocated by the SCV is largely similar. You can review their Chaplain’s Chronicle online at http://www.scv.org/about/chaplainsChronicle.php and http://chaplain-in-chief.com/.

In the summer of 2013 I had a successful campaign getting corporations to stop supporting the SCV as reported in a Black Commentator article which is available online at a free guest link at http://www.blackcommentator2.com/527_cover_scv_donation_loss_sebesta_guest.html. (Link is also in my online resume.) It took eight days for this campaign to succeed. I regret to say that so far the temples of Mammon were much more willing to give up neo-Confederacy than the churches of Christ.

I ask that the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention not host the events of neo-Confederate organizations.

Finally as other denominations inevitably move away from hosting neo-Confederate groups the neo-Confederate groups will seek alternatives and the Southern Baptist Convention risks being the leading church hosting neo-Confederate organizations. This transition seems to have already started.

                                                                   Sincerely Yours,

                                                                   Edward H. Sebesta

PS: My website is undergoing redesign, but there will be redirects for all the pages that were on www.templeofdemocracy.com and the web pages mentioned should be easily found. The resume will be Curriculum Vitae, etc.

CC:  See the tables on the following pages:

No	Name	Title	Mailing Address
1	Dr. Ronnie Floyd	President	The Executive Committee, SBC, 901 Commerce St., Nashville, TN 37203-3699
2	Michael W. Routt	Chairman Executive Committee	Senior Pastor Circle Drive Baptist Church, 801 N Circle Dr, Colorado Springs, CO 80909
3	John L. Yeats	Vice Chairman Executive Committee	Executive Director Missouri Baptist Convention, 400 E High St, Jefferson City, MO 65101
4	Carol A. Yarber	Secretary Executive Committee	Retired Office manager, Athens, TX
5	Shane B. Hall	Admin. Comm. Chair Executive Committee	Pastor First Southern Baptist Church, 6400 S Sooner Rd, Oklahoma City, OK 73135
6	Stephen N. Rummage	Bus. & Fin. Comm. Chair	Senior Pastor Bell Shoals Baptist Church, 2102 Bell Shoals Rd, Brandon, FL 33511
7	Benjamin F. Kelley	CP Comm. Chair	Vice President/Executive Director Baptist Health Care Foundation, Montgomery, AL
8	Debby Akerman	Executive Committee Member	Myrtle Beach, SC, WMU national President. 100 Missionary Ridge Dr, Birmingham, AL 35242
9	Kenneth W. Alford	Executive Committee Member	Senior Pastor Crossroads Baptist Church, 3001 Country Club Dr, Valdosta, GA 31602
10	James W. Averett	Executive Committee Member	Retired Southern Company, Birmingham, AL
11	Mark H. Ballard	Executive Committee Member	President Northeastern Baptist College, Northeastern Baptist College PO Box 4600 Bennington, VT 05201-4600
12	Tom Biles	Executive Committee Member	Executive Director Tampa Bay Baptist Assocaiton, 1060 W Busch Blvd, Tampa, FL 33612
13	Charles W. Boling	Executive Committee Member	Director of Missions, Williamson Baptist Assoc., 10093 Old Bainbridge Trail, Marion, IL 62959
14	Wilma J. Booth	Executive Committee Member	Retired teacher, Elgin, IL
15	Tim W. Brasher	Executive Committee Member	CEO, Scottsdale, AZ
16	Charles R. Chambers	Executive Committee Member	CFO Consultant, First Baptist, Toledo, OH
17	M. Kent Choate	Executive Committee Member	Community Groups Pastor, The Church At, Broken Arrow, OK SEND VIA HEADQUARTERS
18	Tony L. Crisp	Executive Committee Member	Eastanalle Baptist Church, 482 County Road 725, Riceville, TN 37370
19	B. Scott Davis	Executive Committee Member	Senior Pastor Pitts Baptist Chuch, 140 Pitts School Rd NW, Concord, NC 28027
20	Eddie W. DeHondt, Jr.	Executive Committee Member	Minister Rose Park Baptist Church, 5560 Buncombe Rd, Shreveport, LA 71129
21	Procopio U. DeLeon	Executive Committee Member	Senior Scientist, Laurel Springs, NJ.
22	David O. Dykes	Executive Committee Member	Pastor Green Acres Baptist Church, 1607 Troup Hwy, Tyler, TX 75701
23	J. Paul Fleming	Executive Committee Member	Executive Pastor Forestville Baptist Church, 2 Old McElhaney Rd, Greenville, SC 29617
24	Robert O. Freshour	Executive Committee Member	Pastor First Baptist Church-South Lyon, 60820 Marjorie Ann St, South Lyon, MI 48178
25	James W. Gregory	Executive Committee Member	Senior Pastor First Southern Baptist Church,1400 N 3rd E, Mountain Home, ID 83647
26	Ron F. Hale	Executive Committee Member	Senior Adult/Pastoral Care, West Jackson Baptist Church, 580 Oil Well Rd, Jackson, TN 38305
27	David A. Hall	Executive Committee Member	Senior Pastor, Oak Grove Baptist Chuch, 2106 Churchville Rd, Bel Air, MD 21015
28	David E. Hamilton	Executive Committee Member	Pastor West Heights Baptist Church, 336 W Oxford St, Pontotoc, MS 38863
29	Ted I. Haney	Executive Committee Member	Financial Planner, Lynn Haven, FL
30	Bedford F. Hanson	Executive Committee Member	Senior Pastor Mountain View Baptist Church, 4250 Poison Spider Rd, Mills, WY 82604
31	Phil Harper	Executive Committee Member	Accounting Professor, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN
32	Phillip Herring	Executive Committee Member	Minister of Education, First Baptist Church, 312 Kempsville Rd, Norfolk, VA 23502
33	Timonthy Hight	Executive Committee Member	Senior Pastor Grace Life Baptist Church, 1640 Peppers Ferry Road, Christiansburg, VA 24073
34	Mike Holloway	Executive Committee Member	Senior Pastor Cook Baptist Church, 2000 Cooktown Rd, Ruston, LA 71270
35	Rebecca S. Illingsworth	Executive Committee Member	Legal Secretary/Recruiting Assistance, Royse City, TX
36	Ralph Jenkins	Executive Committee Member	Pastor Airway Hieghts Baptist Church, 12322 W Sunset Hwy, Airway Heights, WA 99001
37	William E. Kinchen	Executive Committee Member	Semi-retired insurance, Jackson, MS
38	David W. King	Executive Committee Member	Rancher, Stanley, NM
39	Bobby L. Kirk	Executive Committee Member	Farmer, Real Estate Broker, Doddsville, MS
40	Franklin D. Kovaleski	Executive Committee Member	Retired NFHS, Anderson, IN
41	Michael L. Lawson	Executive Committee Member	Senior Pastor First Baptist Church, 400 S. Travis St., Sherman, TX  75090
42	Steven W. Loggins	Executive Committee Member	Director of Missions, Mount Olive, AL
43	R. Ron Madison	Executive Committee Member	Senior Pastor Mount Zion Baptist Church, 228 Mt Zion Rd, Huntsville, AL 35806
44	Timothy D. Maynard	Executive Committee Member	Pastor Fruit Cove Baptist Church, 501 Florida 13, St Johns, FL 32259
45	Paul E. McPherson	Executive Committee Member	Retired CPA, Magnolia, AR
46	Christopher D. Metcalf	Executive Committee Member	Pastor Lihue Baptist Church, 3223 Elua St, Lihue, HI 96766
47	Terry H. Montgomery	Executive Committee Member	President/CEO Charlotte, NC
48	John H. Moore	Executive Committee Member	Retired Physician, Associate Pastor Branson First Baptist Church, 400 S Sunshine St, Branson, MO 65616
49	D. Wayne Myrick	Executive Committee Member	CEO, MG Design & Construction, Verbena, AL
50	Robert Neely	Executive Committee Member	Pastoral Associate/Sales, Spartenburg, SC
51	Timothy A. Ohis	Executive Committee Member	Pastor Believers Southern Baptist Church, 13909 West 21st St N, Wichita, KS 67235
52	L. Douglas Passmore	Executive Committee Member	Pastor First Baptist East, 3302 SE Lee Blvd, Lawton, OK 73501
53	Jeff L. Paul	Executive Committee Member	Pastor First Baptist Church, 302 S Missouri St, Archie, MO 64725
54	Pat J. Pavlian	Executive Committee Member	Mortgage Banker, Highland, CA
55	David C. Perdue	Executive Committee Member	Business, Memphis, TN
56	Michael E. Pope	Executive Committee Member	Dentist, Somerset, TN
57	Bill Price	Executive Committee Member	Vocational Evangelist, Covington, GA
58	James A. Ray	Executive Committee Member	Banker, Clearwater, FL
59	Charles Rhinehart	Executive Committee Member	Engineer, Youngsville, LA
60	Wayne Robertson	Executive Committee Member	Pastor Morningside Baptist Church, 425 Connell Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602
61	Lovina K. Rush	Executive Committee Member	Retired Commerce Bank, Holt, MO
62	Cheryl S. Samples	Executive Committee Member	Retired Educator, Dallas, GA
63	Michael L. Scifres	Executive Committee Member	Retired pharmacist, Eufaula, OK
64	Jay F. Shell	Executive Committee Member	Attorney, Batesville, AR
65	John Mark Simmons	Executive Committee Member	Senior Pastor Highland Hills Baptist Church,  615 College Dr, Henderson, NV 89002
66	Danny S. Sinquefield	Executive Committee Member	Pastor Faith Baptist Church, 2775 Shelby St, Bartlett, TN 38134
67	Rotland E. Slade	Executive Committee Member	Pastor Meridian Southern Baptist Church, 660 S 3rd St, El Cajon, CA 92019
68	John E. Smith	Executive Committee Member	Pastor Munfordville Baptist Church, 501 N West St, Munfordville, KY 42765
69	Roger L. Spradlin	Executive Committee Member	Senior Pastor Valley Baptist Church, 4800 Fruitvale Ave, Bakersfield, CA 93308
70	Robert E. Stennett	Executive Committee Member	Attorney, Scott Depot, WV
71	Michael R. Stone	Executive Committee Member	Pastor Emannual Baptist Church, 217 W Carter Ave, Blackshear, GA 31516
72	Dale R. Suel	Executive Committee Member	Senior Pastor Amherst Baptist Church, 100 Willow Ridge Dr, Amherst, NY 14228
73	Robert D. Summerlin	Executive Committee Member	Senior Pastor Lone Oak First Baptist Church, 3601 Lone Oak Rd, Paducah, KY 42003
74	Stephen K. Swofford	Executive Committee Member	Pastor First Baptist Church, 610 S Goliad St, Rockwall, TX 75087
75	Thomas B. Tucker III	Executive Committee Member	Senior Pastor Sisk Memorial Baptist Church, 115 Massey St, Fort Mill, SC 29715
76	G. Harris Waner Jr.	Executive Committee Member	Attorney, Calloway, VA
77	Jeffrey B. Watson	Executive Committee Member	Attorney, Winston-Salem, NC
78	Stanley J. Welch	Executive Committee Member	Senior Pastor West Asheville Baptist Church, 926 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC 28806
79	Bradford M. Wheeler	Executive Committee Member	Pastor Capitol Hill Baptist Church,  525 A St NE, Washington, DC 20002
80	Bill D. Whitaker	Executive Committee Member	Retired Pastor, Glasgow Baptist Church, 401 S Green St, Glasgow, KY 42141
81	Andy H. Wilson	Executive Committee Member	Executive Leader -- Ministry & Operations, First Baptist Church, Springdale, AR. 1709 Johnson Rd, Springdale, AR 72762
82	Rev. Dave Patterson	Senior Pastor	Ashley River Baptist Church, 1101 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407
83	Rev. Ron Shearer	Pastor of Education	Ashley River Baptist Church, 1101 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407
84	Rev. David Martin Sr.	Pastor of Worship	Ashley River Baptist Church, 1101 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407
85	Rev. Kent Williams	Pastor of Youth and Missions	Ashley River Baptist Church, 1101 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407
86	Ms. Lauren Thomas	Director for Children's Ministries	Ashley River Baptist Church, 1101 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407
87	Mr. Albert Jenkins	Ministry Assistant for Finance	Ashley River Baptist Church, 1101 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407
88	Ms. Lynn Chamberlain	Ministry Assistant	Ashley River Baptist Church, 1101 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407
89	Mrs. Veronica Rodoski	Ministry Assistant	Ashley River Baptist Church, 1101 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407
90	Mr. Fred Lane	Head of Maintenance Department	Ashley River Baptist Church, 1101 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407
91	Ms. Heather McDonald	Child Development Director	Ashley River Baptist Church, 1101 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407
92	Mrs. Lindsay Welch	Child Development Assistant Director	Ashley River Baptist Church, 1101 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407

Continued next page.

No.	Denomination	Officer	Title	Address
1	National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.	Dr. Jerry Young	President Elect	Pastor Dr. Jerry Young, New Hope Baptist Church,  5202 Watkins Dr., Jackson, MS 39206
2	National Baptist Convention of America International Inc.	Rev. Samuel C. Tolbert Jr.	President Elect	National Baptist Convention of America International, Inc., 777 S R L Thornton Freeway, Suite # 210, Dallas, Texas 75203
3	National Missionary Baptist Convention of America	Dr. Nehemiah Davis	National President	NMBCA, 6925 Wofford Dr., Dallas, Texas 75227
4	Progressive National Baptist Conventions, Inc.	Dr. James C. Perkins	President	PROGRESSIVE NATIONAL BAPTIST CONVENTION, INC., 601 - 50th Street, NE , Washington, DC  20019
5	Full Gospel Baptist Church	Bishop Paul S. Morton Sr.	Presiding Bishop	Bishop Paul S. Morton Ministries, 3350 Greenbriar Pkwy SW, Atlanta, GA 30331, United States of America
6	Full Gospel Baptist Church	Bishop John W. Walker III	Presiding Bishop-Elect	Bishop Joseph Walker Ministries, P.O. Box 330374, Nashville, TN 37203

Another Abraham Lincoln film is being released.

Another Abraham Lincoln film is being released.

You can watch a trailer at Hulu http://www.hulu.com/watch/704756

The film title is "The Better Angels."

It was shown at the Sundance Film Festival

Click on the following to make it full screen to see the entire picture.

Episcopalians not hosting the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Richmond, VA

It turns out that the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is having its memorial service at Monumental Church which is run by the Historic Richmond Foundation.

http://www.historicrichmond.com/preservation-monumental.php

Evidently they found nothing wrong with enabling a neo-Confederate group.

It does show that the Episcopalians, though not responding to my letters, have decided not to host the UDC this year.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church had hosted the UDC six times since 2000 and every year the UDC had their convention in Richmond 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012.

www.templeofdemocracy.com/churchesoftheconfederacy.htm.

So it is somewhat odd that they didn't host this year. I think my letter writing campaign has had an effect.

One scenario I had for the campaign was that the denominations wouldn't reject the Confederacy outright, and would avoid responding to me as much as possible, but instead quietly not accept reservations.

In Charleston, SC the denomination that hosted the SCV was a church with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).  There hasn't been a SBC church hosting the SCV since 1990, and only once for the UDC in 2001. I hadn't even written them thinking they wouldn't do it.

All four of the denominations I did right, including both factions of the Episcopalians, did not host the SCV.

What is interesting is that the neo-Confederates have been castigating the SBC for their apology over slavery since 1993. The SBC aided their own enemies.

So it seems that I will need to write other denominations even if they have only hosted once since 1990.

It maybe that with no public declaration from any denominations I will achieve my goal in terms of getting mainstream denominations not to host neo-Confederate groups.

Ebola Crisis winding down, Neo-Confederate hopes dashed

The Ebola crisis is winding down. Recently 43 people were taken off observation. These were the people who had initial contact with the Liberian patient Duncan.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/dallas-ebola-watch-clears-group-quarantined/story?id=26316061

The person on the Carnival cruise ship tested negative.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/10/19/us-gets-blood-sample-from-woman-monitored-on-ship/17543409/

In my opinion it seems that Texas Presbyterian Hospital was incompetent despite all the "blah, blah, blah" that their corporate officials are now putting out. Hospitals across the country probably now know that sending a potential Ebola patient home isn't really an effective cost saving measure.

I am hoping the www.dallasobserver.com will do a story which will expose what really happened at Texas Presbyterian Hospital and show once again how the Dallas Morning News is complicit in not giving the full picture of what happened and is basically a shill for the establishment.

It seems that the CDC is probably going get straighten out. A lot of questions will be asked.

It really doesn't matter if we have advanced medical infrastructure and advanced medicine if we just stupidly bungle it up.

Likely the next visiting Ebola patient will be better handled.

However, it seems that Ebola will not be bringing down the United States of America as Gary North was obviously hoping in this www.lewrockwell.com blog posting:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/10/gary-north/ebola-could-overthrow-the-empire/

One would be tempted so say that Ebola overthrew Gary North's sanity, but that would presuppose that he had any sanity.

Other neo-Confederates I think obviously had hopes that Ebola would somehow realize their political objectives.

Already the League of the South has moved on.

It is really obvious a lot of people were planning to exploit this health problem for their own benefit. Now that no apocalypse is likely to be forthcoming the articles of hysteria will prove embarrassing to their authors.

"The sky is falling, the sky is falling." Neo-Confederates and Ebola

 Yesterday the website Lew Rockwell had this story.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/10/no_author/2nd-person-rushed-to-hospital-with-ebola-symptoms/

There was a red headline in large capitol letters, "BREAKING NEWS."

With the text and link:

"2nd Person Rushed to Hospital With Ebola SymptomsHe was in contact with Liberian immigrant who has now died."

The article opens up with the statement:

"A second patient with Ebola symptoms walked into a Texas clinic today and told medics he had been in contact with first victim Thomas Duncan."

A link was provided with to a local CBS channel. 

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/10/08/frisco-patient-exhibiting-ebola-symptoms/

However, if you read the CBS story and other news stories the patient hadn't ever been in contact with the Ebola patient Duncan. He had merely been in the late Duncan's apartment for 30 minutes.

His symptoms were feeling sore and "stomach issues."  He was tested for Ebola and the results have come back today. He tested negative. 

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/dallas-deputy-ebola-tests-confirm/story?id=26082627

Also, for those who read the CBS article, they would have read that the chances that the sheriff had Ebola was very low. 

From the article:

"Monnig’s children told CBS 11’s Andrea Lucia that their dad woke up this morning feeling sore and a little nauseated. 

“We were told by federal officials, county officials that you would have to come in direct contact with Duncan or direct contact with bodily fluids, and he did not,” said Monnig’s son, Logan, about the possibility of his dad contracting Ebola. Logan said it’s a very scary time for his family, but they do not expect that his dad will test positive for the virus. 

Monning was not one of the 48 people being monitored by federal, state and local health officials because he never had direct contact with the patient. Monnig did enter the apartment where Duncan had stayed before being admitted to the hospital."

As it turned out the sheriff had something else.

However, I am sure that www.lewrockwell.com will find some other imaginary terror. 

Neo-Confederates exploit ebola concerns Update. Update 2

In our globally interconnected world with its rapid transit it was likely that an ebola patient would sooner or later show up in the United States as with Thomas Eric Duncan who is currently getting better in a Dallas hospital. http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/04/health/ebola-us/

Update: New report is that Duncan is struggling for his life. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/us/ebola.html?_r=0

Update 2: Thomas Eric Duncan has died.

After some initial bungling, such as Texas Presbyterian Hospital sending Duncan home when he came in for treatment Duncan did receive treatment.  The City of Dallas having difficulties finding a crew to do clean up of vomit at the apartment complex has gotten a crew and they have cleaned up the mess. The state of Texas and the Federal government need to make sure their regulations regarding the transport of this waste are compatible. That is being worked out.

Thomas Eric Duncan got ebola when he forsook his own safety to rush a pregnant women to the hospital and then bring her back because the hospital was over flowing. The stories coming out of West Africa are heart breaking of people following their heart to take care of others and paying the ultimate price.

There are heroic stories of burial workers staying at their jobs even though they are forsaken by their own communities and have to sleep outside and often are paid late and have to run the risks. In the hospitals nurses have died while caring for others.

However, there are some who only see this as an opportunity to exploit for their own agenda. These are the neo-Confederates.

This League of the South blog posting decides that it is a big laugh and useful to advance their agenda on immigration.

http://www.lsrebellion.blogspot.com/2014/10/reader-comment-of-week.html

Quoting:

Who could fear anything so colorful? 

"No matter what happens we must resist ebolaphobia. These viruses are simply coming here for a better life, to do jobs that American viruses refuse to do." - Southron, in response to this post.

www.lewrockwell.com is claiming to know something about medical matters are and is hyping up hysteria over ebola.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/09/no_author/ebola-death-camps-coming/

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/10/tess-pennington/dont-trust-the-feds-for-ebola-info/


http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/10/no_author/ebola-immigration/


http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/10/tyler-durden/feds-ordered-160000-ebola-hazmat-suits/


The credibility of www.lewrockwell.com can be evaluated by considering their other medical articles.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/10/bill-sardi/is-a-cancer-cure-being-suppressed/

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/09/edward-group/6-facts-about-colloidal-silver/

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/09/no_author/death-by-almonds/

The Council of Conservative Citizens wants to exploit ebola also.


http://topconservativenews.com/2014/10/obama-regime-openly-admits-that-liberians-are-flooding-the-usa/

http://topconservativenews.com/2014/10/confirmed-ebola-patient-is-a-liberian-citizen/

http://topconservativenews.com/2014/09/is-obamas-2011-liberian-amnesty-responsible-for-ebola-case-in-texas/


Hysteria and misinformation is always a real danger in a health crisis. The neo-Confederate actions fanning hysteria are not of help, but since they are largely without influence they are not able to do much damage.

In their actions these neo-Confederates hope to advance their agenda. One of the neo-Confederate hopes is that there will be a crisis which discredits the establishment and they will have an opportunity to get public support.

The neo-Confederate might not admit it, but I think they will feel let down when ebola doesn't turn out to be a pandemic in the United States.

For some useful information about preventing ebola you can go to this website of the Center for Disease Control.

http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/prevention/

Note the first item is wash your hands with soap and water. Which is the first line of defense against any pathogen. You should be doing this anyways.

I did have some concerns about the initial response. Primarily the bungling and delays, but I think that this first case has helped get the USA ready for ebola. Hospitals will probably be much less likely to send ebola patients home. Cities are probably making sure that they have hazardous waste crews ready to clean up after ebola and not have crews that refuse to show up. In general institutions are making sure they are prepared.

The public is more educated as to what precautions to take.

One benefit might be that affluent nations will realize that working on tropical diseases needs to be a higher priority and there needs to an effort to develop vaccines for these diseases. If all the hospital workers and other health workers in West Africa had been vaccinated last year it would have made a huge difference in stopping Ebola.

If you see the images of the outbreak in Liberia you see the misery and horror. It isn't a matter for snarky jokes and exploitation.

Island of Great Britain will not have a boundary and will remain unbound

The island of Great Britain will not getting a boundary any time soon and will remain unbound. The world will avoid having an additional boundary.

The Scottish referendum for secession went down to defeat by about 55% to 45%, a substantial margin.

Those who love division and divisiveness, the neo-Confederates, were hoping to see Scottish secession succeed to give their own campaign for secession credibility.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) can't be considered entirely defeated. They are getting more devolved powers from the central government. Also, other regions of England have decided they would like some devolved powers also. However, this might strengthen the British union by providing some local flexibility allowing the ending of discontents.

It will be interesting to see what the impact on Scottish politics is. The "No" voters now see themselves as a majority and probably are a little tired of the whole Scottish independence movement. Alex Salmond said this in response to the results: 

Earlier, Scotland's first minister, Alex Salmond, struck a defiant note at a downbeat Scottish National party rally in Edinburgh, saying he accepted Scotland had not "at this stage" decided to vote for independence.

The "No" voters might not want to deal with any more "stages." They might want to have a majority in the Scottish parliament and push the SNP aside. People probably will realize that if you play with matches you might start a fire.

The neo-Confederates will have to go back to hoping for some catastrophe to discredit modern society and provide the disorder where they would hope to get power.

Prior blog on this:

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2014/09/scottish-secession.html#.VBwQmfldWSo

Scottish Secession Update1: Update 2: Secession vote lost.

Update 2: Scottish secession lost in the polls. 55.3% No (Against) to 44.7% Yes (For). Wasn't close.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2014/sep/18/-sp-scottish-independence-referendum-results-in-full

The neo-Confederates are deriving great hopes out of the increasing chances that Scotland will vote for secession in the Thursday Sept. 18, 2014 referendum that is coming up.

Also, I am getting a great many questions about it. Do I think Scotland will vote for secession, should Scotland secede, what will be the impact on the neo-Confederate movement?

I am not closely watching the Scottish secession campaign and the arguments. However, I have the following thoughts.

1. Will Scotland vote for secession?

I don't know. The polls show that the support for secession has been steadily increasing to the point it is now called a statistical tie between the pro- and anti-secession forces and there is some thought that this represents a continuing trend to a more pro-secession sentiment.

However, it isn't known if some people might say one thing to a pollster and vote differently in the voting booth.

The reporting that I have read says that the issues discussed have been around the economics of secession. These issues are important, but I think in the end you have a national identify beyond these issues. People die for their country and volunteer for military services for something more than economics or a discount at the mall.

The possibility has been steadily increasing. I don't think we will know until Sept. 18th.

2. Should Scotland secede?

I am surprised that the referendum is a simple majority. I would think that you wouldn't want to secede because at a specific time passions were running high over some issue and secession passed based on 50.0001%.  The American Constitution is amended by 2/3'rd vote of each congressional house and 3/4th ratification of the states.

However, it is their business how they do it.

Also, it is their business whether they want to do it or not.

Personally, I wouldn't want to be a citizen of a small country. I like taking road trips and driving thousands of miles and know that I will not be faced with any boundaries. I like a large job market and a vast nation with vast opportunities. But that is just me. I suppose those in the Vatican love the small size of their country.

3. What would Scottish Independence be?

However, it needs to be considered that Scottish independence is not going to be entirely independent. They are planning to join the European Union and then instead of being part of a government in London they will be part of an administration in Brussels.

The reason all these independence movements are thriving in Europe is that with the European Union (EU) you really don't need to be a part of larger European state. A EU citizen from Spain can easily get a job in Germany or move to England. You are part of a large continental economic system. You don't have to worry about being trapped in some small national economy.

In other ways the world's economy has become transnational. With the World Trade Organization and other economic groups regulations are defined by transnational bodies more and more and not by the specific state some region might find itself in.

In such a Europe and such a world the nation state becomes less relevant. If you want a free Ruritania I suppose you can.

The surge of secession sentiment in Europe is driven by transnational institutions as much as any local feeling. If you have a transnational defense force and a transnational state like the European Union the need for the current national government isn't that great if at all needed.

Of course as a small nation you don't have much of a prospect if you decide you want to leave a transnational state since you are no longer part of a state with a sufficient size to be independent of the transnational state.

4. Will Scottish secession lead to violence?

With independence people have to make a decision whether they are British citizens or Scottish citizens. With no national boundary existing in living memory there are probably a lot of people living in Scotland who will choose being British rather than Scottish.

I suppose that it will occur to someone to require Scottish citizenship for a lot of Scottish government jobs leading to people losing their jobs. Maybe there will be other discriminatory legislation.

What will be the condition of people living there who chose to remain British and can't vote and are suddenly foreigners?

How will the 45% that voted against secession feel suddenly being forced out of a nation they wanted to remain in?

How magnanimous will be the victors in a pro-secessionist vote?

What happens if the negotiations over the breakup are rancorous?

Given the nature of humanity to do the wrong thing and be obnoxious we can't dismiss the prospect that there will be some violence.

There might not be violence, but British residents might find a discriminatory atmosphere such as their children being taunted at school. There might be an large exodus from Scotland.

5. How will Scotland treat secession in Scotland?

When the issue of Quebec secession came up some Native Canadian groups said unequivocally that they weren't going to be a part of Quebec and would stay with Canada.

Some parts of Scotland might vote against secession, would they have to go along? Especially sections on the border with England would they have to go along with secession?

My feeling is that the leaders of Scottish independence aren't going to tolerate secession from Scotland.

6. Impact of Scottish secession in the United States of America:

A successful Scottish campaign will be a tremendous moral boost to the neo-Confederate movement, a radicalizing influence, and will greatly aid the neo-Confederate movement.

If someone had proposed that Scotland would be an independent nation in the 60s, 70s, 80s, it would have seemed laughable. The previous implausibility of Scottish secession will be a great encouragement for American secessionists to continue trying. The Scottish Nationalist Party got single digits in the polls when they started. Now it is a real possibility.

So the poor current prospects of any secessionist movement will suddenly be much much less of a discouragement. It might be that support is just a single digit, but so was the SNP's when it started. You just need to keep pushing and not give up.

It will be much easier to imagine being successful with the example of a successful independence movement whose initial prospects seemed ludicrously improbable.

The Union of Scotland and England happened 307 years ago. It predates the American republic. Just because a nation has existed for a long time will no longer mean it necessarily will persist in the future. What might have seemed eternal might prove to be transitory.  The American Civil War is about 150 years ago.

Czechoslovakia was independent nation between World War I and II and now is two nations. We don't think of Czechoslovakia much and Eastern Europe always seems to be being shuffled into new states with new boundaries. Scotland occupies a large place in the American imagination. It is an English speaking nation with a large number of descendants in the United States. It is not some distant third world nation. It occupies a large presence in English language literature. We imagine them as being similar to us. The American public will think about what happened in Scotland.

Samuel Francis, a strong supporter of honoring the Confederacy had a position that secession was "infantile" because he thought it was improbable. There are neo-Confederates like him who though they would have liked to see an independent Confederacy, thought it was romantic sentiment unrestrained by common sense. Now with Scottish secession I think neo-Confederates who thought secession as being a sentiment unrestrained by reason will re-think their position.

Also, for those who haven't considered the neo-Confederate movement  but identify with the Confederacy or are Lost Cause enthusiasts but reject secession as a widely improbable prospect, Scottish independence will result in them giving it some consideration for the same reasons it will encourage the people who currently are neo-Confederate secessionists.

Persons commenting on Scottish secession have noted that Scottish secession has gained support as a means to a political end, a liberal Scotland wishing to separate from a more conservative Britain. If you can't win the election, define a district where you can win the elections.

A lot of people living in the former Confederate states formerly without much interest in the Confederacy might get interested because of their discontent with national policies.

The example that this might happen is already shown by rural counties in Colorado and California who are advocating secession because they can't get their way. Their secession demand is based on no more than the idea that they don't like not getting their way and that somehow their votes ought to count more than the votes of others.

As I said before the secession movements in Scotland and Quebec started out in single digits. In the 1990s John Shelton Reed's opinion polls showed 15% support in the former Confederate states for secession, though it has to be remembered that he was one of the founders of the neo-Confederate movements so the poll is somewhat suspect to me.

However, recent polls have found surprisingly high identifications with the Confederacy. A recent Public Policy Poll survey found that 29% of Mississippians would back the Confederacy in another Civil War and 21% weren't sure. Those poll results are way better than the initial poll results of most independent movements.

With Scottish independence it can easily be imagined that what might have been merely wistful thinking will become a serious contemplation of possibility.

Also, with a referendum in Scotland on independence being held, the whole idea of having a referendum on secession will not be such a fringe idea. A state, possibly Mississippi could have a referendum on secession. They might not be able to implement the results if the vote is for secession passes, but that isn't so important. Once a secession referendum passes, the national government would lose legitimacy and that would start a series of causes and effects leading on to conflict.

As for the ability of our military and police to stop secessionists the recent events at the Clive Bundy ranch show how the government might not act against clearly illegal acts by secessionists. Clive Bunday was renting land and just decided it was his on the basis of some specious reasoning and decided not to pay his rent and got away having an armed insurrection against the authorities. The insurrectionists even set up road blocks on public roads resulting in complaints by people living in the area.

Follow up blog on this:

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2014/09/island-of-great-britain-will-not-have.html#.VBwQaPldWSo

Update:

Was interviewed for this article on Scottish secession.

http://www.annistonstar.com/news/article_8afe40f2-3bd1-11e4-b833-6f8c8335ebd3.html

"The Economist" says that the author of the pro-slavery review wasn't Alan Farmer. UPDATE:

The Economist contacted me and said Alan Farmer wasn't the author of the review.

I replied to the email asking them to tell me who the author was. If they wouldn't tell me I asked them  to forward a message from me asking the author to publicly admit to the review. We will see.

I also informed them about the neo-Confederate movement and their pro-slavery viewpoint.

I also mentioned three other possible authors.

UPDATE: I am still trying to identify the author. I would be interested in any suggestions. 

Possible clue to who "The Economist" review was. UPDATE: "The Economist" says it isn't Alan Farmer.

UPDATE: The Economist contacted me and said Alan Farmer wasn't the author of the review.

If you go to this website you will find the following PDF.

https://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/getattachment/Subjects/History/Series-pages/Access-to-History/Series-Boxes/Sample-Chapters/Sample-Chapters/United-States-Civil-War-causes,-course-and-effects.pdf.aspx

Floggings were rare, if only because slave owners had a vested interest in
the care and maintenance of their property. Just as most Rolls-Royce
owners today take good care of their cars, so slave owners looked after
their ‘property’. (A prime field hand was worth much the same as a
modern-day top-of-the-range car.)

The author of this chapter argues that the experience of slavery varied a lot and is in keeping with the reviewers opinion.

This "sample chapter" is from a history series they publish titled "

• United States Civil War: causes, course and effects 1840-1877

That is the link on the following pages.

 https://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/accesstohistory/samplechapters

The author seems to be Alan Farmer according to this link.

http://www.amazon.com/History-American-Courses-Consequences-1803-1877/dp/0340965878/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410138940&sr=1-3

He quotes Fogel and Engerman as if they were competent historians. 

I don't know if it is Alan Farmer who wrote The Economist review but they seem to have the same views on slavery.. He could just be another slavery apologist. Perhaps the educational and historical establishment in Britain is full of them.

I was able to identify Farmer with key phrases from The Economist review using Google.

Farmer is retired and so I am trying to locate a contact email.

Update: Have copy of review. "The Economist" pulls pro-slavery review of book, trying to track down copy of review and track down who wrote review.

UPDATE: I have figured out that the link has the full review and it isn't just an excerpt.


DOES ANYONE HAVE A COPY OF THE PULLED PRO-SLAVERY REVIEW THAT APPEARED IN THE ECONOMIST?

http://www.economist.com/news/books/21615864-how-slaves-built-american-capitalism-blood-cotton

The Economist pulled the review before I could get a copy. However, if I had copy of the review I could do some forensic analysis of the text and see who might have written it.

Yes, I know that The Economist reviews have no byline. Let's move past that. It doesn't mean that with the text I can't identify who wrote it or find out by other means.

Also, does anyone know through other means who might have written it? 

I have emailed Dr. Baptist to see if he has a copy. At least one other writer for The Economist has been named as a possible author. 

Could someone at The Economist tell me by email? 

From what is available online I can start doing some investigation now. However, the full text would really be useful. 

Asked Tim Donnelly to disavow his support for the Confederate flag.

I have finished with some other research business and I am starting to follow up with contacting people in California. I would like to see State Senator Stephen Knight be not re-elected if he doesn't disavow his vote for the Confederate flag. I am letting various people in California know about the neo-Confederate movement.

Tim Donnelly is a member of the California State Assembly. He was the lone vote in defense of the Confederate flag in a recent vote in the California State Assembly.

http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-confederate-flag-bill-20140820-story.html

He came in third in the recent Republican primary for governor.

I have asked Mr. Donnelly to reconsider his vote for the Confederate flag. I sent him the following email to his campaign website:

Dear Mr. Donnelly:

I learn with regret that you were the lone vote for the Confederate flag in the California Assembly. When I was young the Republican Party was the party of Abraham Lincoln and not Jefferson Davis.

I am an investigative academic researcher into the neo-Confederate movement. I am published by peer reviewed academic journals and university presses. My resume is online at www.templeofdemocracy.com/resume.htm.

People coming up with rationalizations for neo-Confederacy enable that movement.  At my online resume I think you will find material which will show why the neo-Confederate movement should not be enabled. Additionally there are free guest links to the my articles  and essays and reports at “Black Commentator” which I think you will find informative.

I ask you to disavow your vote in the Assembly regarding the ban on the Confederate flag.

A person who enables the neo-Confederate movement should not hold any office of public trust.

I hope that you will consider this.

Regards,

Edward H. Sebesta

Co-editor of “Neo-Confederacy: A Critical Introduction,” Univ. of Texas Press, 2008 (http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/excerpts/exhagneo.html), and “The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The ‘Great Truth’ About the ‘Lost Cause’” Univ. Press of Mississippi 2010. (http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/1338).  Author of chapter about the Civil War and Reconstruction in the notorious Texas teaching standards in Politics and the History Curriculum: The Struggle over Standards in Texas and the Nation, published by Palgrave Macmillan.  http://www.keitherekson.com/books/politics-and-the-history-curriculum/

John McKee Barr starts tearing apart Abbeville Institute Donald W. Livingston's "Confederate Emancipation" essay in the "Confederate Veterans"

John McKee Barr is reading and reviewing Donald W. Livingston's essay "Confederate Emancipation" which was published in the July/August 2014 Confederate Veteran.

http://loathinglincoln.com/confederate-emancipation-part-i/

Barr seeks not just to refute the historical argument but show the tactics of neo-Confederate argumentation. How they have serious errors in logical thinking, obscure the historical record, and are self-deluding.

The reader of John McKee Barr's series will not just learn that Livingston's essay misrepresents history, the reader will learn that Livingston's ideology prevents him from doing historical scholarship.

No posting on the Ice Bucket challenge with the Confederate flag and the head on fire.

Yes, I saw the ice bucket challenge that was done with a Confederate flag and in which the hair was set on fire. It was all over the internet. I saw it once, I don't want to see it again. I am not going to include a link to it. I am not going to have it on this blog.

I have some problems with it.

1. It sounds like the person who was doing the challenge was seriously hurt. I don't find that funny or entertaining.

2. I question whether this video was what it seemed. If it was a sincere ice bucket attempt, why would you put it on the internet when it was clearly a failure?  Why would you go to the effort to upload it?

I suspect, but I can't prove it, that perhaps the video was a staged to make fun of a stereotype.

It seems that the public has a certain stereotype of those who are supportive of the Confederacy and the Confederate flag that they are rural persons of low intelligence and lacking education and not able to pronounce many words.

The neo-Confederate movement is composed of educated people who are intelligent. These stereotypes of who supports the Confederate flag helps neo-Confederates by allowing them to represent themselves as not being racist.

Liberty University: American or Confederate?

The 12th Annual Scholars Conference is at Liberty University.

http://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/event/twelfth-annual-abbeville-institute-scholars-conference/

One year the history department at Liberty University put Abraham Lincoln on trial and found him guilty.

"Daily Caller" opinion editor J. Arthur Bloom justifies foul mouth.

Earlier this year I had a post about the comments of Jordan Arthur Bloom regarding myself.

Bloom's comments:  http://mitrailleuse.net/2014/06/22/secession-lagniappe-7/

Bloom's comment was in response to my campaign to ask churches no to host neo-Confederate groups. This campaign is documented online at www.templeofdemocracy.com/churchesoftheconfederacy.htm. In particular asking the Episcopalian church not to host neo-Confederate groups.

I did a blog on his comments on July 24, 2014 and the following is the link to the blog posting.

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2014/06/daily-caller-jordan-bloom-opinion.html#.U_4PhPldWSo

Yesterday, August 27, 2014 I got this response from him.

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1s66dm2

J. Arthur Bloom is actually an Opinion Editor for the Daily Caller. It is a website that seems to specialize in hysteria.

What I pointed out in my original blog posting about Bloom's comments about myself is that Jordan Arthur Bloom couldn't resort to any argument but resorted to scatological name calling.

I said in the post:

What is interesting is that despite all the pretensions of intellect, being Opinion Editor, obscure blog name, etc., the person is just a foul mouth character that has no argument to be put forth and thus resorts to name calling. 

Always swearing, cursing, profanity, obscenity, etc. is a failure of intellect, the failure to express your objection in real terms and it is just ranting. Also, it is ineffective in stinging anyone. It is just noise that people tune out. It really shows the mental incapacity of Bloom.

The title of the post was:

"Daily Caller" Jordan Bloom Opinion Editor's scatological and negative opinion of my Churches of the Confederacy campaign.

In Bloom's response he states:

... and the pearl-clutching, schoolmarmish title of this blog post suggests to me that in your heart you know your actions -- asking denominations to intervene in congregational decisions about what groups have the right to meet on church property -- are wrong.

I am not sure how the title of my blog posting is "pearl-clutching, schoolmarmish" or proves that I think that I am wrong, whether in my kidneys, heart or lungs.  Perhaps Bloom likes to assert that his opponent's opinions are like those of women. My posting simply is a blog posting pointing out that the Daily Caller employs a foul mouthed person as their opinion editor, an editor who uses foul language instead of a reasoned argument. However, if you read the Daily Caller, he probably is a perfect fit for an editorial position with them.

The conclusion of Bloom's essay is that since he really doesn't like my plan to get denominations to not host neo-Confederate groups it justifies him being foul mouthed in his writings.

Bloom denies that there is a neo-Confederate movement and makes other assertions about neo-Confederate groups.

Bloom's primary assertion is that it is "bullying" if I write denominational leaders a letter to consider that their denomination should not be hosting neo-Confederate groups because I don't think it is a good thing to do.

Denominational leaders are tasked with leading. They lead. So asking them to lead on an issue for their denomination by what authority or means granted to them by their denomination seems reasonable. None of my letters ask that thugs be employed. In situations like this you find that a writer has adopted a term with an elastic definition that encompasses the world so what ever you might do or say falls under the term.

Also, if you publicly complained about a denomination's practices without having written the leadership of a denomination about your complaint, people would think you were an idiot and rightly so.

Bloom's response is just over heated rhetoric using phrases like "pearl-clutching, schoolmarmish," and just labeling something he doesn't like with loaded terminology.

Also, Bloom is avoiding the issue in my campaign to get churches to stop hosting neo-Confederates by making up a distraction about "bullying."  This distraction is used by him to avoid discussion of the issues I raise and on which there is no comment forthcoming by Bloom.

Bloom real complaint with my efforts writing the Episcopalians is revealed in the following section of his response.

Your letter comes on the heels of a largely successful campaign on behalf of the bishop, costing tens of millions of dollars, aimed at confiscating the property of congregations that have opted to leave the Episcopal Church rather than obey its slate of progressive priorities.

I don't think I am responsible for the quarreling in the Episcopal church or how they are dividing up the property.

It would be interesting to get Bloom's thoughts on the Confederacy but I doubt that will happen since I think the primary purpose of this claim of "bullying" is to avoid the issues.

California and the Jefferson Davis Highway

Recently the California legislature has made it very clear that they don't care for the Confederate flag.

http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-confederate-flag-bill-20140820-story.html

I wonder if the California legislature knows that the California state government is allowing the United Daughters of the Confederacy to claim a stretch of highway as the Jefferson Davis Highway even though the California legislature was against it when they attempted to get an official designation.

I think that asking the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) to move their monuments off state property is a logical thing to ask for next.  The UDC had their Jefferson Davis highway monuments given back to them in the State of Washington, California would be next. That would get a trend going and the highway could be rolled back to Texas. Jefferson Davis was very explicit and negative in his opinions about Latin Americans.

I will likely write the whole legislature after the Confederate flag banning bill is signed by the governor.

Valdosta State University Professor Suffers Retaliation

VALDOSTA STATE UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR SUFFERS RETALIATION

A Valdosta State University Professor who had opposed all state Confederate monuments has suffered retaliation by the university and. His email account was shut down.

I recently tried emailing Mark Patrick George who I had emailed before and the email bounced. I didn't know what had happened until I found these news stories.


http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2014/08/18/vsu-prof-behind-effort-to-end-state-sponsored-confederate-memorials-alleges-retaliation-by-university-state

And this article

http://vsuspectator.com/2014/08/22/vsu-cracks-down-on-former-proffessor-protesting-against-confederate-memorials-in-georgia/

In the articles you can see the role of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in this.

Judge James F. Lockemy gives presentation on the Confederacy to United Daughters of the Confederacy chapter Ann Fulmore Harilee Chapter 1740 in Dillon, SC

It seems that Dillon, South Carolina has a Confederate judge.

The program was given by Honorable James E. Lockemy of Dillon, who presented an excellent PowerPoint presentation of Confederate art and poetry, adding interesting facts and stories of Lee and Jackson. [page 34, June/July 2014 United Daughters of the Confederacy Magazine.]

It seems to me that Lockemy should recuse himself from all cases before his court where any party is a minority member.

Neo-Confederates should be neither judge or jurors as explained in this paper at Black Commentator.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/507/507_confederacy_jury_selection_sebesta_hague_guests_share.html

Neo-Confederate movement becoming more known by the general public

There are more stories where people are realizing that the "Heritage not hate" slogan really isn't true and that the neo-Confederate movement really is extremist.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/11/christian-talker-marxist-lincoln-enslaved-us-all-by-ending-southern-slavery/

For those following the neo-Confederate movement the neo-Confederate rantings about Lincoln are no surprise, but to groups that track right wing extremism this is new.

Additionally there is this article about a divorced woman who went into hiding with her child.

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2014/08/florida_kidnapping_megan_everett_robert_baumann.php

Again, the neo-Confederate movement is something new to them.

Sons of Confederate Veteran Georgia Division Commander Ray McBerry scandal

These are quotes from the Atlantic Journal Constitution.

http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2010/04/29/parents-church-and-judge-told-future-gop-candidate-for-governor-leave-the-girl-alone/

Rachel Gandee was a band nerd in high school.

She didn’t drink. She didn’t smoke. Her grades were solid. The 16-year-old had just finished 10th grade and was, by her mother’s judgment, a good girl.

Then she fell in with Ray McBerry, a married history teacher and member of her small storefront church in McDonough. When their relationship began, McBerry was still four years away from his first Republican run for governor in 2006. He’s trying again this year.
Last month, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission released a summary of its investigation into McBerry, who resigned his position at Patrick Henry High School in Stockbridge in January 2003, shortly after Rachel’s mother filed a complaint. 

Eventually, in 2004, the GPSC would suspend his teaching certificate for five days for abuse of a student, lying to administrators and violation of the commission’s standard of conduct for teachers. 

The only person identified in that state report was McBerry. The identities of Rachel Gandee — her married name — and her parents were protected. 

But at some point, anonymity becomes a form of paralysis. The facts belong to those willing to discuss them in the open. 

Over the past few weeks, Rachel Gandee has eased herself onto the public stage, starting with a detailed account of her relationship with McBerry on SWGAPolitics.com, a southwest Georgia political blog run by Jeff Sexton. “The truth getting told,” she wrote, “might help me get over all this.”

There is a lot more in the story and the above is just a small part.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/03/ray-mcberry-sexual-partners-list_n_803889.html

The above article is about his suing people for libel.

Poll: 29 percent of Mississippians would back a new Confederacy. Regarding the poll results and Jury duty.

The Sun Herald had an article about a recent poll taken of attitudes towards secession.

http://www.sunherald.com/2014/07/17/5701899/poll-29-percent-of-mississippians.html

The question pollsters question was:

"If there were another Civil War today, would you side with the Confederate States of America or the United States of America?"

It was run by Public Policy Polling (PPP). It was asked of 691 Mississippians.

Of all Mississippians polled, 29% would back the Confederate States of America (CSA).

The article states that only 2% of African Americans would support the CSA. One can only imagine how the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) would be interested in locating these African Americans to parade them around with a Confederate flag.

The article doesn't tell the statistics regarding white people in the U.S.A.

The article does break it down by party affiliation though.

Democrats: 82% for the USA and 9% for the CSA.
Republicans: 41% for the USA and 37% for the CSA.

What is astounding is that less than half the Republicans in Mississippi would support the USA.

Perhaps the whole point of this poll was to show that Republicans aren't that patriotic. As I have stated in earlier blog postings one of the Republicans regular political activities was to assert that the Democrats were somehow unpatriotic and the Republicans were more patriotic. When you have less than half of your supporters choose the USA your assertion of being more patriotic becomes absurd.

The results were further broken down by who people supported in the Republican primary.

For Thad Cochran supporters 61% chose the USA which I think is very low, but not surprising for a candidate that interviewed in Southern Partisan, 22% chose the CSA.

For Tea Party challenger McDaniels, 38% chose the USA and 37% chose the CSA. What is rather amazing is that 62% would choose the CSA or aren't sure that they would chose the USA.

I was not able to find a link to the poll results at the PPP website.

I think that in Mississippi screening out pro-CSA supporters from jury pools is a very reasonable activity. People who would choose the CSA should not be be jurors.

The poll adds additional justification to my article on jury duty published in the Black Commentator. The following is the free guest link.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/507/507_confederacy_jury_selection_sebesta_hague_guests_share.html

Article on Neo-Confederate who won a Republican party primary in Maryland and neo-Confederate attempts to get involved with mainstream politics.

This article was published in the Huffington Post recently.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-hutson/meet-marylands-white-nati_b_5572556.html

It turns out that Michael Peroutka, a theocrat and former League of the South board member, was able to win the Republican party primary for an Anne Arundel County Council race in Maryland. and won a seat on the Republican Party Central Committee there. He runs an organization called Institute on the Constitution which is fairly openly neo-Confederate in its views.

What I found somewhat ominous is that Joseph Delimater III, who is closely tied to Peroutka, ran unopposed in the Republican primary for sheriff and could be elected in the general election.

The article is worth reading. It shows that neo-Confederates are not confined to some remote rural area or a particular region of the nation, or marginal.

Professor at Valdosta University in Georgia says that the State of Georgia should drop all Confederate commemorations

The article is online here:

http://clatl.com/atlanta/activists-state-should-end-all-confederate-memorials/Content?oid=11620447

From Confederate Memorial Day to streets named for Ku Klux Klan founders, the state of Georgia should pull the plug on its official support of Confederacy celebrations, say two Valdosta activists in a recent open letter to Gov. Nathan Deal and the entire General Assembly. 

Such "Southern heritage" memorials are simply taxpayer-funded pseudo-history that celebrates white supremacy, they say. And state leaders so far aren't biting.

The letter is the brainchild of Mark Patrick George, a Valdosta State University sociologist who runs a project studying a local lynching spree of the early 1900s, and the Rev. Floyd Rose of the Lowndes/Valdosta chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

"We contact you today to respectfully call for an end to the state of Georgia's endorsement, promotion and support of all Confederate holidays, events, and its management of historic sites and monuments related to the Confederacy. We also call for an immediate change to all state roads and highways currently named for Confederate leaders," says the letter, sent on June 23. 

George says they are acting on their own, though they have started reaching out to civil rights groups. They want to spark discussion of racial issues and raise awareness that the "heritage, not hate" mythos is factually wrong. The idea came from a documentary film that George, who grew up in South Georgia, is making about Civil War re-enactors, many of whom, he says, falsely believe the Confederacy was not primarily motivated by slavery and racism. 

"What exactly are we celebrating?" George asks. The ultimate answer, he says, is leaders and soldiers "who said God declared white people should be in charge of black people ... Where are the thoughts and feelings of African-Americans who are citizens of this state? Black people are paying for, in many ways, their own degradation."

The whole Lost Cause nonsense needs to go into the garbage can. More people are seeing this.

Washington and Lee decide to pull Confederate Battle flag. Excuses and rationalizations don't seem to work anymore.

It appears that Washington & Lee University has decided to pull Confederate Battle flags out of the Lee Chapel. Evidently excuses and rationalizations weren't accepted by minority students in The Committee who were fighting Washington and Lee University's long standing plan to be a Confederate shrine. The story is here:

http://www.roanoke.com/news/virginia/w-l-will-remove-confederate-battle-flags-from-lee-chapel/article_a13cae23-4367-56c5-9861-8ffd90e673e1.html

I don't know if Washington & Lee University tried the rationalization that since African Americans spoke at the Lee Chapel the Battle flags were okay. Perhaps if Kevin Levin had talked to The Committee the flags would still be up, I doubt it though.

This is a significant breakthrough. As each university gives up pandering to the Lost Cause, other universities that continue to pander to the Lost Cause will find their pandering increasingly obvious and unacceptable to the public.

As one institution, place or group gives up the Lost Cause the remaining groups and institutions that still pander to it will increasingly seem unacceptable.

Though this doesn't seem to be a great victory. Mostly the university is shuffling things around.

Starting to speak before the public about the neo-Confederate movement

In mid-August I will be speaking to the public about the neo-Confederate movement. I have been working on a Powerpoint presentation. Now I am working on what type of portable technology I want to use to do presentations with small groups.

With the time for the presentation I don't have time to cover all the various animosities that neo-Confederates have to one minority or another, so I am just treating on the topic of civil rights. The primary focus is going to be the neo-Confederates movement's hostility towards egalitarianism from their promotion of pro-slavery theology to their opposition to civil rights legislation to their hostility to democracy itself and the critical supports for a democracy such as public education.

The Southern Partisan hasn't been published for some time, so I am focusing more on the contemporary neo-Confederate movement. Some of the items from the Confederate Veteran, Southern Mercury, and other publications should get a lot of interest.

I believe that an informed public is a public which will critically examine what the neo-Confederates.

Hillary Clinton and the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC)

Bill Clinton sent three letters of congratulations to the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), the first of them in slightly less than a year after Carol Moseley-Braun's victory over the UDC in the U.S. Senate. The link to the story is online.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/274/274_clinton_udc.html

Bill Clinton never retracted his letters or apologized for them. The question comes up whether Hillary Clinton would ever send a letter of congratulations to a neo-Confederate group or would send a wreath to the Confederate Monument in the Arlington Cemetery.

I will have to write both of them.

In the news on www.salon.com. Article about neo-Confederates, secession and religious extremists

There is an article about neo-Confederates and religious extremists at Salon.

http://www.salon.com/2014/07/01/christian_right_secession_fantasy_spooky_neo_confederate_talk_grows_louder_at_the_fringes/