Originally Posted by
Giacomo 1
I have been deeply troubled by all this talk about the Confederate Flag at a time when we should be celebrating the testimony of those beautiful Christians that were so quick to forgive the murdering terrorist. At this time, that is what we should be talking about. These wonderful martyrs aren't even buried yet, but we talk about this flag as if it is the most important issue arising from this heinous crime.
What has happened to this once great Christian land, that at one time was unafraid to talk openly of their Christian heritage? That openly spoke about God in the public square? That often and openly invoked God in speeches? These days, we can't even honor the loss of these great martyrs, and celebrate the great testimony of the survivors without interference of some ancillary issue, like this flag. I find it deplorable and deeply troubling. It is a terrible sign for our times, that at a time when ISIS, in the name of religion, is drowning, burning and cutting off the heads of people, that we should be showing the world that Christianity is love, not hatred, yet our media, our President and the national debate is silent on the good that God brings out of this tragedy.
There should be a discussion on the matter of this flag, but it should be at a more appropriate time. First we need to mourn this loss of beautiful life, and we need to celebrate the beauty of Christianity, which was once the glue that held our wonderful country together...
You use the term "Martyrs." The victims in the AME church are only martyrs if they died for a cause. If no change comes about because of their deaths, then they're not martyrs, they're just statistics.
The flag is a side issue to the actual problems that led to the church shooting, but the reason the flag came up is that the people now defending the flag wouldn't let anyone talk about the actual problems that led to the church shooting, ie, cultural racism and freely available bang-bang sticks.
So this is the one time in America when, after a mass-shooting, instead of just shrugging, and saying "whaddya gonna do? We can't change the constitution or the culture or the law," people have been able to do something that they felt helped, if even only a little, in some small way. By taking down Confederate symbols from government buildings in America, maybe it will help get across to people the point that no, armed insurrection against the United States in defence of the right of certain people to keep certain other people as property is not cool.