The Church and the Confederate flag

I am departing from my usual format of scripture meditations taken from the Daily Office Lectionary to address an issue that has been bubbling in my mind for many years, occasionally bursting out in what seems to me a mixture of compassion and wrath.  To one side of the issue, I will seem to be preaching to the choir.  To the other side, I will be dismissed as having been brainwashed by the liberal media.  But I’m going to say it anyway, because it’s about more than one issue.  And ultimately, kindness to my neighbor is about more than just refusing to condone the Confederate flag.

I am inclined to say that there are many views about the Confederate flag (which by this point we all know was not the national flag of the Confederate States of America but in fact the battle flag of the Virginian army) but there are only three.  As a friend of mine described it, it is “what a flag meant, what it means to some today, and what it means to most everyone else today.”  What it meant, most charitably, was “I am going to fight for my state’s freedom to self-govern without interference from the Federal government.”  This is entirely skating over which issues might have been under threat from the government.  What it means to some today is “Southern pride” or “Southern cultural values”.  What it means to most everyone else today is, simply, white supremacy.

What I would expect from the Confederate flag if it were a symbol of a state’s right to govern itself is to see it waved at rallies opposing the Federal government.  It would be brought out as an act of rebellion, a statement that if you carry through with this action we may secede.  It would be a relatively extreme statement and we wouldn’t expect to see it often.  Alternately, we might see it waved as a continuous statement that we are always in danger of seceding and refuse to accept the Union or the defeat of the Confederacy in the Civil War.  At its most denotative interpretation, it is a statement that I am ready to commit treason against the United States.

The response to the treason charge?  We are told throughout scripture to submit to the authorities over us, and particularly government authorities.  I’m relatively certain that this rules out treason, unless it is directly a choice between committing treason or renouncing our faith.

In response to the way that some people view the flag, as a symbol of Southern values and pride, I would also have an expectation.  Namely, I would expect to see this flag flown by one major demographic: Southerners.  This would include all races, because this flag is only about the South and has nothing to do with race.  Black people would wave it proudly, because it’s about their home.  And we wouldn’t expect to see it often outside of the South, unless it’s at the home of a transplanted Southerner or someone who really appreciates Southern culture.  But this flag isn’t flown by Southerners; it is flown by white people.  It is only flown by white people.

Now let’s look at what the majority of the world sees when we see that flag.  The most prominent image in my mind is that flag being waved by men in white hoods.  It began as a banner under which to fight for my state’s right to self-govern, then once the war ended it became a banner under which to fight for my race’s right to murder another race.  It is relevant that most people also get very focused on the issue that seemed to be at stake in the Civil War.  So the flag started as a banner to fight for my right to own my fellow man (who, incidentally, I do not see as a human being or at least an equal human being) and it became a banner under which to kill my fellow man (who I still do not see as an [equal] human being).  It started as either a symbol of racism or treason, it quickly became a symbol of racism.  (The treason is rarely considered these days, because it’s buried under the mountain of racism.)

Historically, the Confederate flag has never been a positive symbol in the way that, for instance, the Christian cross is a positive symbol.  For most of its life, the cross has been a symbol of hope.  Hope for forgiveness because of Christ’s death on the cross.  It is also a statement that I am willing to take up my cross, to die to my self, as Jesus requires.  But atrocities were committed under the cross, and some people may find it offensive.  They might be hurt because you display the cross.  In this case, I would see the cross as an emblem that could still be displayed, because the cross was only co-opted as a banner under which to kill.  Yes, at one point it was co-opted by a segment of history, serving as the banner under which Europe prosecuted the Crusades.  But at its beginning it was a good symbol and throughout most of its history and by most people who have used it, it has remained a good symbol.  The symbol of the cross is altogether different from the symbol of the Confederate flag.

For many, the Confederate flag is a reminder that there was a time when people were enslaved simply for having their skin color.  It is a reminder that after their owners were forced to free them (after fighting a war that may or may not have been about this issue) people still treated them like they were not human beings.  It is a reminder of segregation, of being forced to live in poorer neighborhoods, of being less likely to be able to find work and far more likely to be jailed, of the systemic hatred that follows them simply because of the color of their skin.  For many, the Confederate flag reminds them “The side that was fighting for you won the war.  But you still lost.”  It is a reminder that they will not be accepted as full members of society because of the color of their skin.

Black people in this country are constantly being told that their lives and their experiences are not valid or do not matter.  When they are offended, they are not heard.  Instead, they are told that they should not be offended because we don’t mean anything offensive.  When they say that a symbol is hurtful or offensive, they are insulted, being told that they do not understand history or the meaning of a symbol.  So we heap harm upon harm, further dividing our country and the church.

So here is the crux of the issue:  We as Christians are called to die to ourselves, to consider others better than ourselves.  We are given the example of St. Paul who was willing to only eat vegetables rather than give offense to those who might be harmed by his eating meat because that meat might possibly have been sacrificed to an idol, which Paul understood was a meaningless distinction anyway because idols are not gods so the meat was sacrificed to nothing.  It was more important to maintain peace and love within the church than for Paul to eat meat.

Is the Confederate flag a symbol of hatred and oppression or a symbol of Southern pride?  It doesn’t matter.  Our response should be the same.  If it is a symbol of hate, then obviously we should stop displaying it rather than align ourselves with hatred of our fellow man.  And we know that most people do interpret it as a symbol of hate.  But is it merely a benign symbol of Southern pride?  If so, then we must recognize that it is benign to us and powerful to hurt others.  It hurts our brothers and sisters.  So rather than give offense, we ought to be willing to give up this symbol.  For the sake of the gospel, let us sacrifice our pride.