The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness: The Family

Principles From the Heart of Dixie

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Family Government

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2012-02-02

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver delivers a message celebrating the biblical principles that historically distinguished the American South. He argues that the South's greatness stems not from mere regional pride but from its foundation on biblical Christianity, a strong work ethic, hospitality, and a commitment to limited government. Weaver contends that the War Between the States was fundamentally a theological conflict between Christian orthodoxy and Northern Unitarian rationalism, and that Reconstruction and modern political correctness are attempts to undermine these enduring principles. He calls for a return to these values and for godly men to uphold them.

[John Weaver] I want to bring a message which I've entitled Principles from the Heart of Dixie. Principles from the Heart of Dixie. And if you have your Bibles, we're going to be looking at a number of scriptures today. If you don't, I'll quote them. That'll be fine. But as I talk about Principles from the Heart of Dixie, one of the most devastating truths that a Southerner will ever hear is that the word Dixie does not appear in the Bible. However, The word South does indeed appear in the Bible a number of times. And the truth of the matter is this, it seems as if good and godly men down through history have always preferred to live in the South. For instance, the Bible says this in Genesis 12 and verse 9, an Abram journeyed going still toward the South. In Genesis 13 and verse 1, the Bible said an Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had and lot with him into the south. And then, of course, in Genesis 24, verse 62, the Bible says that Isaac came from the way of the whale, Lehiroi, for he dwelt in the south country.

[John Weaver] And, of course, I hope that you remember that our Lord Jesus Christ was also from a southern tribe, Judah, in the southern kingdom. And so, very obviously, the word south is indeed predominant in the Bible. We can think of a number of reasons why we should love the South. And there is certainly nothing wrong or unbiblical in loving the place where you were born, bred, and raised. There are people who love the South who were not born here.

[John Weaver] Some of you probably have seen the bumper sticker that some proudly display. It simply says this, I was not born in the South, but I got here as soon as I could. Well, very obviously, A lot of people do love the South. Have you ever asked yourself why in the world do people want to flock to the South? And by the way, it's not just the climate. You never hear of anyone retiring and moving up north, by the way. Obviously, the climate does indeed have something to do with it, that is for sure. But there is something entirely different about the South. There's something about the South that you do not find in the North, and you certainly do not find it in the East or in the West. There are things that make the South especially great.

[John Weaver] Edward Ward Carmack, who was a United States representative from Tennessee, he was born in 1858 and died in 1908. He wrote what is known today as Carmack's Pledge. That is his pledge to the South. Let me read to you this pledge. He says, the South is a land that is known sorrows. It's a land that has broken the ashen crust and moistened it with tears. A land scarred and riven by the plowshare of war and billowed with the graves of her dead. But a land of legend, a land of song, a land of hallowed and ironic memories. To that land, every drop of my blood, every fiber of my being, every pulsation of my heart is consecrated forever. I was born of her womb.

[John Weaver] I was nurtured at her breast. And when my last hour shall come, I pray that God will allow me to be pellet upon her bosom and rock asleep within her tender encircling arms." Certainly, Edward Ward Carmack loved the South. There's certainly nothing wrong with loving the place where you were born and raised. I'm going to give you a quote now from one old confederate who was retiring from Appomattox. And these are his exact words, not mine, but here's what he said as he left Appomattox Courthouse.

[John Weaver] He said, my shoes are gone. My clothes are almost gone. I'm weary. I'm sick. I'm hungry. My family has been killed or scattered. And I've suffered all this for my country. I love my country. But if this war is ever over, I'll be damned if I ever love another country. Very obviously, there were individuals who suffered and gave everything for their love of the country. Many of you will remember that Belle Boyd was a Confederate spy.

[John Weaver] She was captured and, of course, put in a Union prison. And they offered her release if she would just simply swear allegiance to the federal government. And Belle Boyd gave this answer. She said, if it is a crime to love the South, its cause and its president, then I'm a criminal. I would rather lie down in this prison and rot and die than leave it owing allegiance to a government such as yours." Very obviously, she did indeed love the South. Let me just simply say it again, there's nothing wrong with loving the South. But let me point out, the reason the South is so special is not just simply because it is the South. It's the principles that were taught and believed and embraced in the South that produced a society in which many people desire to live.

[John Weaver] I realize that we have deteriorated in this day and time. I understand that there are a lot of Southerners that have been reconstructed, so to speak. There are plenty of people in the South now who have swallowed the politically correct line and the politically correct stance. Besides that, we've been invaded by numerous Yankee hordes endeavoring to leave their utopian society in the north, but still there are these principles that are ingrained in our being, and these principles still hold sway in our lives. By the way, I talked about the utopian north. I never will forget the time that I learned what the word utopian really means. You read about these utopian societies, the socialist utopia, the communist utopia, the northern utopia, I remember when I took my first year of Greek, we had to learn a lot of vocabulary. And I came upon this word, utopos. And I thought, that word sounds familiar, utopos. It is the Greek word from which we get our English word, utopia. Utopos is a Greek word made up of two words.

[John Weaver] U is a negative, which means no. And topos is the Greek word for place. The word utopia literally means no place. In other words, utopia does not exist. It's a figment of someone's imagination. It is not reality. So whenever you hear about a communistic or a socialistic utopia, you just understand this. There's no such place in reality. It's all a figment of the imagination. The South, however, did not hold to a utopian dream. The South held to a biblical reality. You've got to remember that the South was known as the Bible Belt.

[John Weaver] And by the way, we did not choose that name for ourselves. That name was given to us as a means of castigation. In other words, it was the North in their Unitarian Transcendentalist Rationalistic Society that put that term upon us, the Bible Belt, as a term of derision because we would not forsake the Word of God and follow their rationalistic, humanistic dreams. We would not abandon the Word of God.

[John Weaver] After we lost the War of Northern Aggression, then there was that period known as Reconstruction. That period was to reconstruct the South, not physically, But culturally, religiously, ideologically, in other words, we were to be trained to think and talk and act as the northern crowd thought and act. Thankfully, not everyone was reconstructed. Not everyone bit into that line. Now, why in the world should we love the South? And why in the world is the South a special place? What were the principles that make the South special?

[John Weaver] Let me give you several of them today. First of all, Dixie was and is known for her biblical Christianity. Notice what I said. Dixie was and is known for her biblical Christianity. There was recently a Gallup poll placed and it was printed and the title of that Gallup poll was this. Where does your state rank in religious belief? This was posted February the 15th, 2009. And let me just read this brief article. A recent poll of more than 350,000 Americans on the importance of religion revealed that the nation is separated into enclaves of widely divergent viewpoints on faith, which some states and regions clearly religious and others significantly secular. Now notice it didn't take a scholar to figure this out that the region, this country, is divided by divergent viewpoints on faith. Gallup conducted a telephone poll of 355,334 United States adults asking the question, is religion an important part of your daily life?

[John Weaver] As one might suspect, states from the Bible Belt scored highest with 85% of Mississippians and 79% of Tennesseans, for example, answering yes. The poll also revealed, however, that in addition to the Bible Belt, the United States also has a pair of secular strips. The New England states, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine scored the lowest in the nation, with only 42% of Vermont residents, or less than half the percentage of those in Mississippi, answering yes. The other secular strip, can be found in the West, where Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada all scored in the bottom 10 states for affirming religion's importance in daily life. Isn't that amazing?

[John Weaver] You see, the difference that existed in 1861 and 1865 is a difference that still exists today. You have to remember that the South was settled by Scotch and Scotch-Irish people mainly. In fact, during the war, about 75% of the population was either Scotch or Scotch-Irish. And these people held tenaciously to the Word of God. The Bible did indeed play a very important role in the lives of Southern men and women. One of our problems today is this. We have not understood the extent that the Bible indeed played a role in their lives. Many have not grasped this simple fact that there was indeed a theological aspect to the war of northern aggression.

[John Weaver] Yes, there were economic reasons. Yes, there were political reasons. But there was also a theological reason. It was southern Presbyterian historian, author, and scholar James Henley Thornwell, who died the first year of the war. He died in 1861. But Thornwell wrote this concerning the conflict before he died. He said, the parties in this conflict are not merely abolitionists and slaveholders. They are atheists, socialists, communists, red republicans, jocobins on the one side, he's talking about the north, and on the other side, the friends of order and regulated freedom on the other. We're talking about the South. In one word, the world is the battleground, Christianity and atheism the combatants, and the progress of Christianity or the progress of humanity is at stake. So here James Henley Thornwell saw this again as a theological war. By and large, in 1861 to 1865, the South was unashamedly Christian and believed that the Bible was indeed the inspired and errant word of God. Also, by and large, in 1861 to 1865, the North predominantly was Unitarian, rationalistic, and humanistic.

[John Weaver] Now, that does not mean that everyone in the South was a Christian, nor does it mean that there were no Christians in the North. It just simply points out that there was a large difference in theology between the North and the South. For instance, Robert E. Lee said this concerning the Bible. He said, the Bible is the book of books, a book which supplies the place of all others and cannot be replaced. A little later Lee said this, there are many things in that old book that I may never be able to explain, but I accept them as the infallible Word of God and receive its teachings as inspired by the Holy Ghost. I prefer the Bible to any other book.

[John Weaver] There is enough in that to satisfy the most ardent thirst for knowledge, to open the way to true wisdom, and to teach the only road to salvation and eternal happiness. It is not above human comprehension and is sufficient to satisfy all desires. So like General Lee, many Christians in the South endeavored not only to believe but also to obey the Word of God and they were not going to forsake the Word of God for a humanistic religion.

[John Weaver] It's interesting that during that time many pastors really genuinely believed that the war was an attack on Biblical Christianity. You've got to remember something, because it was indeed an attack on Biblical Christianity, but you have to remember that you cannot change a culture until you first change its theology. There has to be a change in theology before there can be a change in the culture. Stop and think about this, for instance.

[John Weaver] Some of you are as old and some of you a little bit older than I am. But do you remember, there's a vast difference between where we live today and when and how and how we lived 50 years ago. I tell people, when I was a teenage boy, if I wanted to see a policeman, I had to go uptown. And not only did I have to go uptown, I had to look hard to find one.

[John Weaver] Now you can drive down the road and within five miles you've passed 10 or 15 of them. Have you ever wondered why there is such an increase in quote-unquote policemen today? And I'm going to tell you why. Because 50 years ago, there were more people regulated and ordered their lives by the Ten Commandments, by the Word of God, than there is today. And since we do not have God's control in our lives, there has to be the strong arm of man.

[John Weaver] Stop and think about this. Do you realize that our government used to send missionaries to foreign countries? We wanted to convert them to Christianity so that they could understand the principles of the Word of God. We no longer send missionaries, now we send armies. You stop and think of all the economic aid that we have sent to places like China, and India, and Iran, and Iraq, and guess what?

[John Weaver] There has been and there will be no changes in their culture. I do not care how much foreign aid you send them, I do not care how many diplomats are stationed there. I do not care how many embassies are there. I do not care how well men plead for these countries to embrace what modern day America calls democracy. You will never change a culture until you change their theology. And very obviously, you're not going to change their theology with armies. So very clearly, that's exactly what happened in the South when the South lost the war.

[John Weaver] Here came the army, here came the strong arm to make sure that you and I were reconstructed. So when the South did not voluntarily relinquish the word of God, its position on Christianity, we got reconstruction. Reconstruction was specifically designed to make Southerners think and act the way the Northern elite wanted us to think and to act. And by the way, Please understand that political correctness today is nothing more than another form of reconstruction. All political correctness is, is trying to train us to think and act the way the elite, those in control, want us to think and act.

[John Weaver] The theological aspect of the war has not been studied as it should. Basil Manley, who was a Baptist pastor and a chaplain to the Provisional Confederate Congress, viewed secession, listen to this, he viewed secession not as revolution, but as a Christian reform movement. W. W. Bennett, the author of the Great Revival of the Southern Armies, wrote this. He said, there, talking about the Southern men, their convictions of right in what they did were second only to their convictions of the truth of the Christian religion. nor has the stern logic of events eradicated this convictions from the southern mind.

[John Weaver] The cause is lost but its principles still live and must continue to live so long as there remains in human nature any perception and appreciation of justice, truth and virtue. Basically what he said is this, the war may have been lost but the principles still remain and they should remain. Henry Grady who was for years editor of the Atlanta Constitution, on December the 21st, 1886, was making an address to the New England Society in New York City. So here's a Southern man now speaking to the New England Society in New York City, and Henry Grady has this to say to them.

[John Weaver] The South has nothing for which to apologize. She believes that the late struggle between the states was war and not rebellion, revolution and no conspiracy, and that her convictions were as honest as yours. I should be unjust to the dauntless spirit of the South and to my own convictions if I did not make this plain in this presence. The South has nothing to take back. In my native town of Athens, Georgia, is a monument that crowns at Central Hill, a plain white shaft.

[John Weaver] Deep cut into its shining side is a name dear to me above the names of men, that of a brave and simple man who died in a brave and simple faith. Not for all the glories of New England, from Plymouth Rock all the way, would I exchange the heritage he left me in that soldier's death. To the foot of that shall I send my children's children to reverence him who ennobled their name with his heroic blood.

[John Weaver] Did you hear what Henry Grady said? Henry Grady said, I would not trade the valor and the honor of my Confederate ancestor for all the glory of Plymouth Rock and everything on down. Why in the world would Henry Grady so venerate the Confederate soldier? The answer is very simple. Because the Confederate soldier basically was fighting for truth, for righteousness, and for principle, and by and large, It can truthfully be said that our confederate ancestors died to prevent the very thing that we have today, a pagan, idolatrous, humanistic government that seeks to play God in the lives of all of its citizens, like our forefathers. We have to come back to the principle there is to be no king but King Jesus.

[John Weaver] The South was predominantly Christian and held to biblical Christianity. Here's a second reason we should love the South, because the South is known for her biblical work ethic. Do you realize that Southern men have always been known for their hard work, responsibility, and independence? Thankfully, some of those characteristics are still prevalent in the South today. By and large, America, and some in the Southern states, has become a welfare society. Now, instead of work, independence, and responsibility, many look to the federal government to supply all of their needs. Notice, if you would please, when there's a hurricane, when there's a tornado, when there's a flood, when there's a drought, usually instead of crying to the sovereign God of heaven and earth for help and relief, most today just simply cry to Washington, D.C.

[John Weaver] Let me just point out one thing about this impending economic collapse that is upon us and about to take place in a more drastic way, I believe, is certainly one good thing. Most people are going to recognize the fact that government is not God. They're going to recognize that government cannot and will not take care of us. We have to assume responsibility for ourselves. we have to have a biblical work ethic. One of my favorite stories to illustrate this is about a Negro slave.

[John Weaver] Years ago, Wendell Phillips, who was an ardent abolitionist from New England. Wendell Phillips came to Charleston, South Carolina, and he was staying in a, what you and I would call a hotel today, but he was being waited on by a Negro servant. In fact, he was served his breakfast in his room. So Wendell Phillips then took the opportunity to represent to the black man that he regarded the black man as a man and as a brother. And moreover, Wendell Phillips told him that he was an abolitionist. And the old black man just stood there. Finally, Wendell Phillips could not stand it any longer. And he said, look, I just cannot stand to be waited on by a slave. You're excused, please leave the room. To which the black man replied, excuse me sir, I is obliged to stay here because I be responsible for the silverware. Let me tell you something folks, the old timers, black and white, knew what it was to work and be responsible. They knew what it was to have to work hard.

[John Weaver] The Bible has a great deal to say about laziness and about sluggards. For instance, in Proverbs 6 and verse 6, the Word of God says, Go to the aunt thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise. In Proverbs 6 and verse 9, God asks, How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 13 and verse 4. The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing But the soul of the diligent shall be made fat."

[John Weaver] Now listen to what he said. The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing. You can sit back and wish for a new vehicle. You can sit back and wish for a beautiful home. You can sit back and wish for anything, but you will never have it if you're a sluggard. The Bible says, the soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing, but it's the soul of the diligent that shall be made fat. The Bible says in Proverbs 20 and verse 4, The sluggard will not plow by reason of the coal, therefore shall he beg and harvest and have nothing."

[John Weaver] In other words, he's too lazy to work and just a little bit of cold weather will keep him from working. But the Apostle Paul said it very plainly in 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 10. He said, for even when we were with you, we commanded you that if any would not work, neither should he eat. We've got to understand there is indeed a biblical responsibility to work.

[John Weaver] We cannot be dependent upon a government that takes and steals and confiscates from others to give to people who do not deserve it. God has decreed and God has demanded that we earn our bread by the sweat of our brow. And the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 8, that if any will not provide for his own, especially the day of his own household, he's worse than an infidel, he's denied the faith.

[John Weaver] Let me just spell this out very clearly for you. My wife and my children and my family are my responsibility. They're not the government's responsibility. I can say it even more plainly. It is not my responsibility to educate or train or feed or provide for your wife and your children. That is your responsibility. If I were to share some Christian charity, that's one thing. But it's not my place to provide for your own. That is your responsibility.

[John Weaver] It was Thomas Jefferson who said this, A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned, that is the sum of good government. You stop and think, folks. Our grandparents, and sometimes our parents, would have been absolutely humiliated and embarrassed to even think about food stamps and welfare and subsidies. They depended solely upon the Lord and their own hard work. You've got to remember something, folks. You have to remember that government cannot give to someone without first taking from someone else.

[John Weaver] There is a difference between illegal plunder and legal plunder. If you don't know that difference, I would encourage you to read a book entitled The Law, written by Frédéric Bastier. He was a Frenchman. It was written a long time ago. It's a small book. But in that book, he differentiates between illegal and legal plunder.

[John Weaver] Now, if I were to reach in my pocket and pull out a pistol, and stick it in your face and say, give me all of your money, that is illegal plunder. I could be in real trouble for that. I mean, you might be able to overpower me and take that weapon from me and kill me. Or you might have a weapon of your own. Or if I got caught, I might conserve time in prison for something like that. But do you ever realize, if you take from someone legally, if they resist, they're the ones that go to prison. In this book, the law written by Frederick Bastier, he distinguishes between legal plunder and illegal plunder.

[John Weaver] Listen to what he writes. Please think about this in light of what is happening today. And remember, this was written over a hundred years ago. He said, but how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply, see if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if a law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizens themselves cannot do without committing a crime. Now, legal plunder can be committed in an infinite number of ways. Thus, we have an infinite number of plans for organizing it.

[John Weaver] Tariffs, protection, benefits, subsidies, encouragements, progressive taxation, public schools, guaranteed jobs, guaranteed profits, minimum wages, a right to relief, a right to the tools of labor, free credit, and so on and so on. All these plans as a whole, with their common aim of legal plunder, constitute socialism. Socialists desire to practice legal plunder and not illegal plunder. Socialists, like all other monopolists, desire to make the law their own weapon. And when once the law is on the side of socialism, how can it be used against socialism? For when plunder is abetted by the law, it does not fear your courts, your police, or your prison.

[John Weaver] Rather, it calls upon them for help. The question of legal plunder must be settled once and for all, and there are only three ways to settle it. Number one, the few plunder the many. Number two, everybody plunders everybody. And number three, nobody plunders anybody. Well, if you read the book, you would find that Bastier certainly hits the nail on the head. The truth of the matter is this, when you and I leave off biblical responsibility, when you and I leave off a biblical work ethic, the only thing that is left is socialism. Socialism is just simply a straight road to communism.

[John Weaver] In the land of the free and in the home of the brave, we have been plundered by our own politicians and by our own government. Why? And the answer is because we have forsaken the work ethic and we now desire, as a people, everything to be given to us, everything to be handed to us on a silver platter. We've grown to love our socialistic form of life.

[John Weaver] I'm going to tell you something. However, when all of this socialism is suddenly and abruptly taken from us, We're going to change our minds. And you're going to find there's going to be a lot of people that are so used to having everything given to them, they're going to riot to the nth degree because they can no longer have it. As Margaret Thatcher once said, socialism works very well until you run out of other people's money. And then, of course, it no longer works.

[John Weaver] But Dixie was known not only for her biblical Christianity, but also for her biblical work ethic. Thirdly, Dixie was known for her biblical hospitality. Do you realize that the South is the most friendly and the most hospitable section of the country? All natural Southerners speak to each other. Whether we know their name or not, whether we ever have met them before. We just simply do that. All of us have experience riding down the road and folks just throw up their hands and wave. They nod because we understand, look, this is the South.

[John Weaver] I had an aunt and uncle that lived for years in Toledo, Ohio. And of course, they were from the South, but went up there to work. And when they retired, they came back from the South. And my aunt just could not get used to people just waving and speaking to her. And she said, you know, it's so different down here. She said, up north, when a stranger waves at you and speaks to you, you run because they have ulterior motives. Well, if you did that down south, you'd be running yourself to death. Southerners love barbecues and get-togethers and reunions and company of families and friends. That's just part of biblical hospitality. When I was a child, we had company every Sunday afternoon, every Sunday, Some family came home with us from church, they ate dinner with us, they spent the afternoon with us, they ate supper with us, and they went back to church with us at night.

[John Weaver] My wife can tell you that after she and I married, we would come home to visit my parents, we would sit down at the table, and so help me, I would sit down to eat with people I've never seen before in my entire life. The principle was this, if you were at our house and it was dinner time, you came in and ate. Didn't matter who you were, You just came in and ate.

[John Weaver] Southerners are known for their hospitality. The Bible says in Romans 12 and verse 13 that we're to distribute to the necessity of the saints given to hospitality. In 1 Peter 4 and verse 19, the Bible commands us to use hospitality one to another without drudging. When you look in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 2 and Titus 1 and verse 8, the pastor above all is to be known as an example of hospitality. Southerners are naturally hospitable.

[John Weaver] That just simply stands to reason. You're in the South. That's how you grew up. That's how you live now. Henry Benjamin Whipple was a bishop from Minnesota, and he visited the South in 1843 and 1844, supposedly to regain his health. Those Minnesotan winters, I guess, were very difficult, but he was in St. Augustine, Florida. And he wrote this in his diary. Listen carefully. November the 25th, St. Augustine, Florida.

[John Weaver] The people of the southern states are generally much more hospitable than northerners. And the difference must be attributed to the fact that they are not such money-loving people. You do not see the low, mean cupidity, the base selfishness so striking a characteristic of one portion of our restless Yankee brethren. I am more and more convinced that that most of the exaggerated stories of abolitionists exist only in the imagination. And from personal observation, I know that the efforts of the abolitionists at the North have only served to injure the slave and to destroy the kind and fraternal feeling which should exist between Northern and Southern states. Now here's a Yankee saying, basically, that the Southern people are very unlike Northern people. They're not selfish. They're not money-grubbing and money-loving. They love people.

[John Weaver] Very obviously, the South was indeed a place of biblical hospitality. Very quickly forth, let me tell you that the South and Dixie is known for her stand on freedom and limited government.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to stop and think about the word freedom. You remember the movie that Mel Gibson made on Braveheart. You remember there when he was being tortured, they asked him, did he have anything to say? And they thought he was going to recant, but he just shouted as loudly as he could, freedom. Stop and think about that word, freedom. Freedom is not only the ability to move around and do as you please under the law of God. Another aspect of freedom is freedom from the domination and control of sin, as well as freedom from the control and domination of government that often tries to regulate us for our good. When you stop and ask, who's responsible for your welfare? The answer has to come back, you are responsible for your welfare. It's not Washington DC. It's not Atlanta, Georgia. We as individuals are responsible for every area of our lives. And I can assure you, when you stand before God on Judgment Day, it will not be the federal government that answers for you.

[John Weaver] It will not be the state government that answers for you. You will answer individually because you are responsible and accountable. Historically and biblically, the South always believed that government was not only limited by the word of God, but also by the Constitution. In fact, It was Jefferson who said, bind it down by the chains of the constitutions. Unhappily, our governments today have taken the attitude of those kings and rulers in Psalm 2, where the Bible says the kings of the earth and the rulers thereof take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointing, saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us.

[John Weaver] In other words, we don't like God's limitations. We want everything different. Depraved men like to play God. Therefore, they refuse His boundaries. The Bible says in the book of Hosea chapter 5 and verse 10, the princes of Judah were like them that removed the bound. Therefore, said God, I'll pour up my wrath upon them like water. So the princes of Judah, they didn't like God's limitations. They didn't like God's boundaries. They removed those boundaries. God said, I'll pour up my wrath upon them like water.

[John Weaver] So it was a sow. that sought to restrain the federal government in 1861. And when that became impossible, then we seceded. The war was not over slavery. Slavery only became an issue later on in the war. The war was over freedom. By the way, even Europe understood what the war was about. Lord Acton from England, in a letter to General Robert E. Lee, said this, I saw in states' rights the only availing check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will, and secession filled me with hope, not as the destruction, but the redemption of democracy. I deem that you, that is General Lee and his people, were fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization, and I mourn for the stake that was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which is saved at Waterloo." Notice what this Englishman said, he mourned for that which was lost at Appomattox in Richmond. Why? He saw here that Lee and the South was fighting for a limited government. We will never ever return to liberty and freedom until we return to a biblical and constitutional government.

[John Weaver] Biblical government, constitutional government is always a limited government. General Robert E. Lee said this, All that the South has ever desired was that the union established by our forefathers should be preserved and that the government as originally organized should be administered in purity and in truth. General Lee also warned, and he said this, the consolidation of the states into one vast empire, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be certain the precursor of ruin which has overwhelmed all that preceded it." Notice what he said. When you have a consolidation of the states into one vast empire, it's going to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home. It's certainly true that the state or the government that seeks to play God shall be destroyed by God.

[John Weaver] As Hosea 5 and verse 10 said, he shall pour his wrath upon them like water. Let me read to you a quote by R.J. Rush Dooney. R.J. Rush Dooney died in 2001, and I want you to listen to what he wrote, and I'm going to tell you the date in which he wrote it after I finish. One short paragraph. Here's what he said. The authority of the state is everywhere in decay. but everywhere the state is grasping for more power as the cure-all for man's problems. The powers of the state are thus likely to increase markedly in the years ahead, but that increase is the forerunner of the state's collapse as man's saving agency." Now listen to what he said. He said, everywhere the marks of the collapse of the state are evident. But as it collapses, it's going to grasp for more and more power until it is absolutely and totally destroyed. And R.J. Rushdoony wrote that in 1971.

[John Weaver] Almost as if it had been written yesterday. You see, the South believed in a limited government. And I'm going to tell you something, folks. I could say truthfully that we will eventually have a limited government. We will either have it through obedience or through destruction, but we will have it one way or the other. Until then, we need men. Men who can be counted on. Men who understand the principles for which our forefathers fought and died. Men who embrace them. Men who love them. Men who live them. Men who will fight for them.

[John Weaver] It was Josiah Gilbert Holland. who died in 1881, who wrote this poem. Wanted is the title. God give us men. A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, a true faith, and ready hands. Men whom the lust of office does not kill. Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy. Men who will possess opinions in a will. Men who have honor. Men who will not lie. Men who can stand before a demagogue and damn his treacherous flatteries without winking. Tall men, sun-crowned men, who live above the fog, in duty, in public duty and in private thinking.

[John Weaver] For while the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds, their large professions and little deeds, mingle in selfish strife, lo, freedom weeps. Wrong rules the land and waiting justice sleeps. But notice what he said, God give us men. And may I submit to you, the men we need are like the men who fought and died as our ancestors fought and died. They lived what they believed. They held these principles tenaciously. They believed them. They applied them. And may God give us men.

[John Weaver] Have you ever stopped to think? What a difference it would make in our government, in our country, in our states, in our communities, if we had men like Robert Edward Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Jeb Stuart, Jubal Early. What about these men? Godly men. Determined men. Men of conviction and principle. God give us men. Robert E. Lee's first duty station. a great place to come back to what General Lee believed. And he believed the foundation of all society was indeed the Word of God. Let's pray, shall we?

[John Weaver] Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we are so thankful for this opportunity again on Confederate Memorial Day to honor Thee and honor our ancestors by proclaiming once again the principles, not only from Your Word, but also the principles for which our forefathers lived and died. And Lord, we do need men. God, give us men, godly men, holy men, righteous men, who will stand for truth. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen. Amen.

Principles From the Heart of Dixie

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	_oYfsS6XC7E
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness: The Family
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-02-02
Dictation Name
Book	Book 028: The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness — Chapter 18
Source Timed Segments	62

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: The Biblical South

Weaver introduces the theme by noting that while 'Dixie' is not in the Bible, 'south' appears frequently, and godly men like Abraham and Isaac dwelt in the south. He affirms that loving one's homeland is not unbiblical.

I want to bring a message which I've entitled Principles from the Heart of Dixie. Principles from the Heart of Dixie. And if you have your Bibles, we're going to be looking at a number of scriptures today. If you don't, I'll quote them. That'll be fine. But as I talk about Principles from the Heart of Dixie, one of the most devastating truths that a Southerner will ever hear is that the word Dixie does not appear in the Bible. However, the word South does indeed appear in the Bible a number of times. And the truth of the matter is this, it seems as if good and godly men down through history have always preferred to live in the South. For instance, the Bible says this in Genesis 12 and verse 9,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 12:9

"And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south."

In Genesis 13 and verse 1, the Bible said, "And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south." And then, of course, in Genesis 24, verse 62, the Bible says that Isaac came from the way of the well Lahai-roi, for he dwelt in the south country.

And, of course, I hope that you remember that our Lord Jesus Christ was also from a southern tribe, Judah, in the southern kingdom. And so, very obviously, the word south is indeed predominant in the Bible. We can think of a number of reasons why we should love the South. And there is certainly nothing wrong or unbiblical in loving the place where you were born, bred, and raised. There are people who love the South who were not born here.

Why People Love the South

Weaver explores reasons for the South's appeal beyond climate, citing Edward Ward Carmack's pledge and a Confederate soldier's devotion to illustrate deep regional love rooted in suffering and sacrifice.

Some of you probably have seen the bumper sticker that some proudly display. It simply says this, "I was not born in the South, but I got here as soon as I could." Well, very obviously, a lot of people do love the South. Have you ever asked yourself why in the world do people want to flock to the South? And by the way, it's not just the climate. You never hear of anyone retiring and moving up north, by the way. Obviously, the climate does indeed have something to do with it, that is for sure. But there is something entirely different about the South. There's something about the South that you do not find in the North, and you certainly do not find it in the East or in the West. There are things that make the South especially great.

Edward Ward Carmack, who was a United States representative from Tennessee, he was born in 1858 and died in 1908. He wrote what is known today as Carmack's Pledge. That is his pledge to the South. Let me read to you this pledge. He says, "The South is a land that has known sorrows. It's a land that has broken the ashen crust and moistened it with tears. A land scarred and riven by the plowshare of war and billowed with the graves of her dead. But a land of legend, a land of song, a land of hallowed and ironic memories. To that land, every drop of my blood, every fiber of my being, every pulsation of my heart is consecrated forever. I was born of her womb.

I was nurtured at her breast. And when my last hour shall come, I pray that God will allow me to be pillowed upon her bosom and rocked asleep within her tender encircling arms." Certainly, Edward Ward Carmack loved the South. There's certainly nothing wrong with loving the place where you were born and raised. I'm going to give you a quote now from one old Confederate who was retiring from Appomattox. And these are his exact words, not mine, but here's what he said as he left Appomattox Courthouse. He said, "My shoes are gone. My clothes are almost gone. I'm weary. I'm sick. I'm hungry. My family has been killed or scattered. And I've suffered all this for my country. I love my country. But if this war is ever over, I'll be damned if I ever love another country." Very obviously, there were individuals who suffered and gave everything for their love of the country. Many of you will remember that Belle Boyd was a Confederate spy.

She was captured and, of course, put in a Union prison. And they offered her release if she would just simply swear allegiance to the federal government. And Belle Boyd gave this answer. She said, "If it is a crime to love the South, its cause and its president, then I'm a criminal. I would rather lie down in this prison and rot and die than leave it owing allegiance to a government such as yours." Very obviously, she did indeed love the South. Let me just simply say it again, there's nothing wrong with loving the South. But let me point out, the reason the South is so special is not just simply because it is the South. It's the principles that were taught and believed and embraced in the South that produced a society in which many people desire to live.

The South's Biblical Christianity

The South was known as the Bible Belt, a term of derision from the North. Weaver presents poll data showing the South remains more religious, and argues the Civil War had a theological dimension between Christianity and atheism.

I realize that we have deteriorated in this day and time. I understand that there are a lot of Southerners that have been reconstructed, so to speak. There are plenty of people in the South now who have swallowed the politically correct line and the politically correct stance. Besides that, we've been invaded by numerous Yankee hordes endeavoring to leave their utopian society in the north, but still there are these principles that are ingrained in our being, and these principles still hold sway in our lives. By the way, I talked about the utopian north. I never will forget the time that I learned what the word utopian really means. You read about these utopian societies, the socialist utopia, the communist utopia, the northern utopia. I remember when I took my first year of Greek, we had to learn a lot of vocabulary. And I came upon this word, utopos. And I thought, that word sounds familiar, utopos. It is the Greek word from which we get our English word, utopia. Utopos is a Greek word made up of two words.

"U" is a negative, which means no. And "topos" is the Greek word for place. The word utopia literally means no place. In other words, utopia does not exist. It's a figment of someone's imagination. It is not reality. So whenever you hear about a communistic or a socialistic utopia, you just understand this. There's no such place in reality. It's all a figment of the imagination. The South, however, did not hold to a utopian dream. The South held to a biblical reality. You've got to remember that the South was known as the Bible Belt.

And by the way, we did not choose that name for ourselves. That name was given to us as a means of castigation. In other words, it was the North in their Unitarian Transcendentalist Rationalistic Society that put that term upon us, the Bible Belt, as a term of derision because we would not forsake the Word of God and follow their rationalistic, humanistic dreams. We would not abandon the Word of God.

After we lost the War of Northern Aggression, then there was that period known as Reconstruction. That period was to reconstruct the South, not physically, but culturally, religiously, ideologically. In other words, we were to be trained to think and talk and act as the northern crowd thought and acted. Thankfully, not everyone was reconstructed. Not everyone bit into that line. Now, why in the world should we love the South? And why in the world is the South a special place? What were the principles that make the South special?

Let me give you several of them today. First of all, Dixie was and is known for her biblical Christianity. Notice what I said. Dixie was and is known for her biblical Christianity. There was recently a Gallup poll placed and it was printed and the title of that Gallup poll was this: "Where does your state rank in religious belief?" This was posted February the 15th, 2009. And let me just read this brief article. A recent poll of more than 350,000 Americans on the importance of religion revealed that the nation is separated into enclaves of widely divergent viewpoints on faith, with some states and regions clearly religious and others significantly secular. Now notice it didn't take a scholar to figure this out, that the region, this country, is divided by divergent viewpoints on faith. Gallup conducted a telephone poll of 355,334 United States adults asking the question, "Is religion an important part of your daily life?"

As one might suspect, states from the Bible Belt scored highest with 85% of Mississippians and 79% of Tennesseans, for example, answering yes. The poll also revealed, however, that in addition to the Bible Belt, the United States also has a pair of secular strips. The New England states—Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine—scored the lowest in the nation, with only 42% of Vermont residents, or less than half the percentage of those in Mississippi, answering yes. The other secular strip can be found in the West, where Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada all scored in the bottom 10 states for affirming religion's importance in daily life. Isn't that amazing? You see, the difference that existed in 1861 and 1865 is a difference that still exists today. You have to remember that the South was settled by Scotch and Scotch-Irish people mainly. In fact, during the war, about 75% of the population was either Scotch or Scotch-Irish. And these people held tenaciously to the Word of God. The Bible did indeed play a very important role in the lives of Southern men and women. One of our problems today is this. We have not understood the extent that the Bible indeed played a role in their lives. Many have not grasped this simple fact that there was indeed a theological aspect to the war of northern aggression.

Yes, there were economic reasons. Yes, there were political reasons. But there was also a theological reason. It was southern Presbyterian historian, author, and scholar James Henley Thornwell, who died the first year of the war. He died in 1861. But Thornwell wrote this concerning the conflict before he died. He said, "The parties in this conflict are not merely abolitionists and slaveholders. They are atheists, socialists, communists, red republicans, Jacobins on the one side"—he's talking about the north—"and on the other side, the friends of order and regulated freedom on the other." We're talking about the South. "In one word, the world is the battleground, Christianity and atheism the combatants, and the progress of Christianity or the progress of humanity is at stake." So here James Henley Thornwell saw this again as a theological war. By and large, in 1861 to 1865, the South was unashamedly Christian and believed that the Bible was indeed the inspired and inerrant Word of God. Also, by and large, in 1861 to 1865, the North predominantly was Unitarian, rationalistic, and humanistic.

Now, that does not mean that everyone in the South was a Christian, nor does it mean that there were no Christians in the North. It just simply points out that there was a large difference in theology between the North and the South. For instance, Robert E. Lee said this concerning the Bible. He said, "The Bible is the book of books, a book which supplies the place of all others and cannot be replaced." A little later Lee said this, "There are many things in that old book that I may never be able to explain, but I accept them as the infallible Word of God and receive its teachings as inspired by the Holy Ghost. I prefer the Bible to any other book.

Theological War and Reconstruction

Weaver explains that changing a culture requires changing its theology. Reconstruction aimed to make Southerners think like Northerners, and modern political correctness is a new form of reconstruction.

There is enough in that to satisfy the most ardent thirst for knowledge, to open the way to true wisdom, and to teach the only road to salvation and eternal happiness. It is not above human comprehension and is sufficient to satisfy all desires." So like General Lee, many Christians in the South endeavored not only to believe but also to obey the Word of God and they were not going to forsake the Word of God for a humanistic religion. It's interesting that during that time many pastors really genuinely believed that the war was an attack on Biblical Christianity. You've got to remember something, because it was indeed an attack on Biblical Christianity, but you have to remember that you cannot change a culture until you first change its theology. There has to be a change in theology before there can be a change in the culture. Stop and think about this, for instance.

Some of you are as old and some of you a little bit older than I am. But do you remember, there's a vast difference between where we live today and how we lived 50 years ago. I tell people, when I was a teenage boy, if I wanted to see a policeman, I had to go uptown. And not only did I have to go uptown, I had to look hard to find one.

Now you can drive down the road and within five miles you've passed 10 or 15 of them. Have you ever wondered why there is such an increase in quote-unquote policemen today? And I'm going to tell you why. Because 50 years ago, there were more people regulated and ordered their lives by the Ten Commandments, by the Word of God, than there is today. And since we do not have God's control in our lives, there has to be the strong arm of man. Stop and think about this. Do you realize that our government used to send missionaries to foreign countries? We wanted to convert them to Christianity so that they could understand the principles of the Word of God. We no longer send missionaries, now we send armies. You stop and think of all the economic aid that we have sent to places like China, and India, and Iran, and Iraq, and guess what?

There has been and there will be no changes in their culture. I do not care how much foreign aid you send them, I do not care how many diplomats are stationed there. I do not care how many embassies are there. I do not care how well men plead for these countries to embrace what modern day America calls democracy. You will never change a culture until you change their theology. And very obviously, you're not going to change their theology with armies. So very clearly, that's exactly what happened in the South when the South lost the war.

Here came the army, here came the strong arm to make sure that you and I were reconstructed. So when the South did not voluntarily relinquish the word of God, its position on Christianity, we got reconstruction. Reconstruction was specifically designed to make Southerners think and act the way the Northern elite wanted us to think and to act. And by the way, please understand that political correctness today is nothing more than another form of reconstruction. All political correctness is, is trying to train us to think and act the way the elite, those in control, want us to think and act. The theological aspect of the war has not been studied as it should. Basil Manly, who was a Baptist pastor and a chaplain to the Provisional Confederate Congress, viewed secession—listen to this—he viewed secession not as revolution, but as a Christian reform movement. W. W. Bennett, the author of "The Great Revival of the Southern Armies," wrote this. He said, "There"—talking about the Southern men—"their convictions of right in what they did were second only to their convictions of the truth of the Christian religion. Nor has the stern logic of events eradicated these convictions from the southern mind.

The South's Biblical Work Ethic

Southerners were known for hard work and independence. Weaver contrasts this with modern welfare dependency, citing Proverbs and 2 Thessalonians to emphasize personal responsibility and the dangers of socialism.

The South was predominantly Christian and held to biblical Christianity. Here's a second reason we should love the South, because the South is known for her biblical work ethic. Do you realize that Southern men have always been known for their hard work, responsibility, and independence? Thankfully, some of those characteristics are still prevalent in the South today. By and large, America, and some in the Southern states, has become a welfare society. Now, instead of work, independence, and responsibility, many look to the federal government to supply all of their needs. Notice, if you would please, when there's a hurricane, when there's a tornado, when there's a flood, when there's a drought, usually instead of crying to the sovereign God of heaven and earth for help and relief, most today just simply cry to Washington, D.C.

Let me just point out one thing about this impending economic collapse that is upon us and about to take place in a more drastic way, I believe, is certainly one good thing. Most people are going to recognize the fact that government is not God. They're going to recognize that government cannot and will not take care of us. We have to assume responsibility for ourselves. We have to have a biblical work ethic. One of my favorite stories to illustrate this is about a Negro slave. Years ago, Wendell Phillips, who was an ardent abolitionist from New England. Wendell Phillips came to Charleston, South Carolina, and he was staying in a, what you and I would call a hotel today, but he was being waited on by a Negro servant. In fact, he was served his breakfast in his room. So Wendell Phillips then took the opportunity to represent to the black man that he regarded the black man as a man and as a brother. And moreover, Wendell Phillips told him that he was an abolitionist. And the old black man just stood there. Finally, Wendell Phillips could not stand it any longer. And he said, "Look, I just cannot stand to be waited on by a slave. You're excused, please leave the room." To which the black man replied, "Excuse me sir, I is obliged to stay here because I be responsible for the silverware." Let me tell you something folks, the old timers, black and white, knew what it was to work and be responsible. They knew what it was to have to work hard.

The Bible has a great deal to say about laziness and about sluggards. For instance, in Proverbs 6 and verse 6, the Word of God says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 6:6

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise."

In Proverbs 6 and verse 9, God asks, "How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?" One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 13 and verse 4. "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat."

Now listen to what he said.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 13:4

"The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing."

You can sit back and wish for a new vehicle. You can sit back and wish for a beautiful home. You can sit back and wish for anything, but you will never have it if you're a sluggard. The Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 13:4

"The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but it's the soul of the diligent that shall be made fat."

The Bible says in Proverbs 20 and verse 4, "The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing." In other words, he's too lazy to work and just a little bit of cold weather will keep him from working. But the Apostle Paul said it very plainly in 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 10. He said, "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." We've got to understand there is indeed a biblical responsibility to work.

We cannot be dependent upon a government that takes and steals and confiscates from others to give to people who do not deserve it. God has decreed and God has demanded that we earn our bread by the sweat of our brow. And the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 8, that if any will not provide for his own, especially for those of his own household, he's worse than an infidel, he's denied the faith. Let me just spell this out very clearly for you. My wife and my children and my family are my responsibility. They're not the government's responsibility. I can say it even more plainly. It is not my responsibility to educate or train or feed or provide for your wife and your children. That is your responsibility. If I were to share some Christian charity, that's one thing. But it's not my place to provide for your own. That is your responsibility.

It was Thomas Jefferson who said this, "A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned, that is the sum of good government." You stop and think, folks. Our grandparents, and sometimes our parents, would have been absolutely humiliated and embarrassed to even think about food stamps and welfare and subsidies. They depended solely upon the Lord and their own hard work. You've got to remember something, folks. You have to remember that government cannot give to someone without first taking from someone else.

There is a difference between illegal plunder and legal plunder. If you don't know that difference, I would encourage you to read a book entitled "The Law," written by Frédéric Bastiat. He was a Frenchman. It was written a long time ago. It's a small book. But in that book, he differentiates between illegal and legal plunder.

Now, if I were to reach in my pocket and pull out a pistol, and stick it in your face and say, "Give me all of your money," that is illegal plunder. I could be in real trouble for that. I mean, you might be able to overpower me and take that weapon from me and kill me. Or you might have a weapon of your own. Or if I got caught, I might serve time in prison for something like that. But do you ever realize, if you take from someone legally, if they resist, they're the ones that go to prison. In this book, "The Law" written by Frédéric Bastiat, he distinguishes between legal plunder and illegal plunder.

Listen to what he writes. Please think about this in light of what is happening today. And remember, this was written over a hundred years ago. He said, "But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply, see if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if a law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizens themselves cannot do without committing a crime. Now, legal plunder can be committed in an infinite number of ways. Thus, we have an infinite number of plans for organizing it.

Tariffs, protection, benefits, subsidies, encouragements, progressive taxation, public schools, guaranteed jobs, guaranteed profits, minimum wages, a right to relief, a right to the tools of labor, free credit, and so on and so on. All these plans as a whole, with their common aim of legal plunder, constitute socialism. Socialists desire to practice legal plunder and not illegal plunder. Socialists, like all other monopolists, desire to make the law their own weapon. And when once the law is on the side of socialism, how can it be used against socialism? For when plunder is abetted by the law, it does not fear your courts, your police, or your prison. Rather, it calls upon them for help. The question of legal plunder must be settled once and for all, and there are only three ways to settle it. Number one, the few plunder the many. Number two, everybody plunders everybody. And number three, nobody plunders anybody." Well, if you read the book, you would find that Bastiat certainly hits the nail on the head. The truth of the matter is this, when you and I leave off biblical responsibility, when you and I leave off a biblical work ethic, the only thing that is left is socialism. Socialism is just simply a straight road to communism.

In the land of the free and in the home of the brave, we have been plundered by our own politicians and by our own government. Why? And the answer is because we have forsaken the work ethic and we now desire, as a people, everything to be given to us, everything to be handed to us on a silver platter. We've grown to love our socialistic form of life.

The South's Biblical Hospitality

Weaver highlights Southern friendliness and hospitality as a biblical command, illustrated by personal anecdotes and a Northern bishop's diary observations about Southern generosity versus Yankee selfishness.

But Dixie was known not only for her biblical Christianity, but also for her biblical work ethic. Thirdly, Dixie was known for her biblical hospitality. Do you realize that the South is the most friendly and the most hospitable section of the country? All natural Southerners speak to each other. Whether we know their name or not, whether we ever have met them before. We just simply do that. All of us have experience riding down the road and folks just throw up their hands and wave. They nod because we understand, look, this is the South.

I had an aunt and uncle that lived for years in Toledo, Ohio. And of course, they were from the South, but went up there to work. And when they retired, they came back to the South. And my aunt just could not get used to people just waving and speaking to her. And she said, "You know, it's so different down here." She said, "Up north, when a stranger waves at you and speaks to you, you run because they have ulterior motives." Well, if you did that down south, you'd be running yourself to death. Southerners love barbecues and get-togethers and reunions and company of families and friends. That's just part of biblical hospitality. When I was a child, we had company every Sunday afternoon, every Sunday. Some family came home with us from church, they ate dinner with us, they spent the afternoon with us, they ate supper with us, and they went back to church with us at night.

My wife can tell you that after she and I married, we would come home to visit my parents, we would sit down at the table, and so help me, I would sit down to eat with people I've never seen before in my entire life. The principle was this, if you were at our house and it was dinner time, you came in and ate. Didn't matter who you were, you just came in and ate. Southerners are known for their hospitality. The Bible says in Romans 12 and verse 13 that we're to distribute to the necessity of the saints, given to hospitality. In 1 Peter 4 and verse 9, the Bible commands us to use hospitality one to another without grudging. When you look in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 2 and Titus 1 and verse 8, the pastor above all is to be known as an example of hospitality. Southerners are naturally hospitable.

That just simply stands to reason. You're in the South. That's how you grew up. That's how you live now. Henry Benjamin Whipple was a bishop from Minnesota, and he visited the South in 1843 and 1844, supposedly to regain his health. Those Minnesotan winters, I guess, were very difficult, but he was in St. Augustine, Florida. And he wrote this in his diary. Listen carefully. "November the 25th, St. Augustine, Florida.

The people of the southern states are generally much more hospitable than northerners. And the difference must be attributed to the fact that they are not such money-loving people. You do not see the low, mean cupidity, the base selfishness so striking a characteristic of one portion of our restless Yankee brethren. I am more and more convinced that most of the exaggerated stories of abolitionists exist only in the imagination. And from personal observation, I know that the efforts of the abolitionists at the North have only served to injure the slave and to destroy the kind and fraternal feeling which should exist between Northern and Southern states." Now here's a Yankee saying, basically, that the Southern people are very unlike Northern people. They're not selfish. They're not money-grubbing and money-loving. They love people.

Very obviously, the South was indeed a place of biblical hospitality. Very quickly fourth, let me tell you that the South and Dixie is known for her stand on freedom and limited government.

The South's Stand on Freedom and Limited Government

The South fought for limited government and states' rights, not slavery. Weaver cites Lord Acton and Robert E. Lee to argue that consolidation leads to despotism, and that a return to constitutional limits is essential.

Now I want you to stop and think about the word freedom. You remember the movie that Mel Gibson made on Braveheart. You remember there when he was being tortured, they asked him, did he have anything to say? And they thought he was going to recant, but he just shouted as loudly as he could, "Freedom!" Stop and think about that word, freedom. Freedom is not only the ability to move around and do as you please under the law of God. Another aspect of freedom is freedom from the domination and control of sin, as well as freedom from the control and domination of government that often tries to regulate us for our good. When you stop and ask, who's responsible for your welfare? The answer has to come back, you are responsible for your welfare. It's not Washington D.C. It's not Atlanta, Georgia. We as individuals are responsible for every area of our lives. And I can assure you, when you stand before God on Judgment Day, it will not be the federal government that answers for you.

It will not be the state government that answers for you. You will answer individually because you are responsible and accountable. Historically and biblically, the South always believed that government was not only limited by the word of God, but also by the Constitution. In fact, it was Jefferson who said, "Bind it down by the chains of the constitutions." Unhappily, our governments today have taken the attitude of those kings and rulers in Psalm 2, where the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 2:2-3

"The kings of the earth and the rulers thereof take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us."

In other words, we don't like God's limitations. We want everything different. Depraved men like to play God. Therefore, they refuse His boundaries. The Bible says in the book of Hosea chapter 5 and verse 10, "The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water." So the princes of Judah, they didn't like God's limitations. They didn't like God's boundaries. They removed those boundaries. God said, "I'll pour out my wrath upon them like water."

So it was the South that sought to restrain the federal government in 1861. And when that became impossible, then we seceded. The war was not over slavery. Slavery only became an issue later on in the war. The war was over freedom. By the way, even Europe understood what the war was about. Lord Acton from England, in a letter to General Robert E. Lee, said this, "I saw in states' rights the only availing check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will, and secession filled me with hope, not as the destruction, but the redemption of democracy. I deem that you"—that is General Lee and his people—"were fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization, and I mourn for the stake that was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which is saved at Waterloo." Notice what this Englishman said, he mourned for that which was lost at Appomattox in Richmond. Why? He saw here that Lee and the South was fighting for a limited government. We will never ever return to liberty and freedom until we return to a biblical and constitutional government.

Biblical government, constitutional government is always a limited government. General Robert E. Lee said this, "All that the South has ever desired was that the union established by our forefathers should be preserved and that the government as originally organized should be administered in purity and in truth." General Lee also warned, and he said this, "The consolidation of the states into one vast empire, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be certain the precursor of ruin which has overwhelmed all that preceded it." Notice what he said. When you have a consolidation of the states into one vast empire, it's going to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home. It's certainly true that the state or the government that seeks to play God shall be destroyed by God. As Hosea 5 and verse 10 said, "He shall pour his wrath upon them like water." Let me read to you a quote by R.J. Rushdoony. R.J. Rushdoony died in 2001, and I want you to listen to what he wrote, and I'm going to tell you the date in which he wrote it after I finish. One short paragraph. Here's what he said. "The authority of the state is everywhere in decay. But everywhere the state is grasping for more power as the cure-all for man's problems. The powers of the state are thus likely to increase markedly in the years ahead, but that increase is the forerunner of the state's collapse as man's saving agency." Now listen to what he said. He said, "Everywhere the marks of the collapse of the state are evident. But as it collapses, it's going to grasp for more and more power until it is absolutely and totally destroyed." And R.J. Rushdoony wrote that in 1971.

Almost as if it had been written yesterday. You see, the South believed in a limited government. And I'm going to tell you something, folks. I could say truthfully that we will eventually have a limited government. We will either have it through obedience or through destruction, but we will have it one way or the other. Until then, we need men. Men who can be counted on. Men who understand the principles for which our forefathers fought and died. Men who embrace them. Men who love them. Men who live them. Men who will fight for them.

Conclusion: A Call for Godly Men

Weaver concludes with Josiah Gilbert Holland's poem 'Wanted,' calling for men of conviction like Lee and Jackson. He prays for God to raise up such men to restore biblical principles.

It was Josiah Gilbert Holland, who died in 1881, who wrote this poem. "Wanted" is the title. "God give us men. A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, a true faith, and ready hands. Men whom the lust of office does not kill. Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy. Men who will possess opinions and a will. Men who have honor. Men who will not lie. Men who can stand before a demagogue and damn his treacherous flatteries without winking. Tall men, sun-crowned men, who live above the fog, in duty, in public duty and in private thinking.

For while the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds, their large professions and little deeds, mingle in selfish strife, lo, freedom weeps. Wrong rules the land and waiting justice sleeps." But notice what he said, "God give us men." And may I submit to you, the men we need are like the men who fought and died as our ancestors fought and died. They lived what they believed. They held these principles tenaciously. They believed them. They applied them. And may God give us men.

Have you ever stopped to think? What a difference it would make in our government, in our country, in our states, in our communities, if we had men like Robert Edward Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Jeb Stuart, Jubal Early. What about these men? Godly men. Determined men. Men of conviction and principle. God give us men. Robert E. Lee's first duty station. A great place to come back to what General Lee believed. And he believed the foundation of all society was indeed the Word of God. Let's pray, shall we?

Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we are so thankful for this opportunity again on Confederate Memorial Day to honor Thee and honor our ancestors by proclaiming once again the principles, not only from Your Word, but also the principles for which our forefathers lived and died. And Lord, we do need men. God, give us men, godly men, holy men, righteous men, who will stand for truth. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Biblical Christianity as the Foundation of the South

Summary: The South's distinctiveness is rooted in its adherence to biblical Christianity, which shaped its culture and was the underlying issue in the Civil War.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Dixie was and is known for her biblical Christianity,' and cites Gallup poll data showing the Bible Belt remains more religious. He quotes James Henley Thornwell calling the war a conflict between Christianity and atheism.

Theological Nature of the War Between the States

Summary: The Civil War was fundamentally a theological war between Southern Christian orthodoxy and Northern Unitarian rationalism, not merely a political or economic conflict.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'There was indeed a theological aspect to the war of northern aggression,' and quotes Thornwell: 'The parties in this conflict are not merely abolitionists and slaveholders. They are atheists, socialists, communists... on the one side... and on the other side, the friends of order and regulated freedom.'

Reconstruction and Political Correctness as Cultural Warfare

Summary: Reconstruction was an attempt to change Southern theology and culture, and modern political correctness is a continuation of that effort to conform thinking to elite control.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'Reconstruction was specifically designed to make Southerners think and act the way the Northern elite wanted us to think and to act... political correctness today is nothing more than another form of reconstruction.'

Biblical Work Ethic vs. Socialism

Summary: The South historically valued hard work and personal responsibility, in contrast to modern welfare dependency and socialism, which Weaver condemns as legal plunder.

Evidence: Weaver cites Proverbs and 2 Thessalonians 3:10, and quotes Frédéric Bastiat on legal plunder: 'Socialists desire to practice legal plunder and not illegal plunder.'

Biblical Hospitality as a Southern Virtue

Summary: Southern friendliness and hospitality are expressions of biblical commands and a contrast to Northern selfishness.

Evidence: Weaver shares personal stories and quotes Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple: 'The people of the southern states are generally much more hospitable than northerners... they are not such money-loving people.'

Limited Government and States' Rights

Summary: The South stood for freedom and limited constitutional government, opposing consolidation into a despotic empire. This principle remains vital for liberty.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Lord Acton: 'I saw in states' rights the only availing check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will,' and Robert E. Lee warning against consolidation.

The Need for Godly Men of Conviction

Summary: Restoring biblical principles requires men of character like Confederate heroes, who live by truth and honor.

Evidence: Weaver recites Holland's poem 'Wanted' and prays, 'God, give us men, godly men, holy men, righteous men, who will stand for truth.'

Key Arguments

The South's greatness is due to biblical principles, not mere geography.

Summary: Weaver argues that the South is special because of the principles it embraced, not just because it is the South.

Evidence: He states, 'The reason the South is so special is not just simply because it is the South. It's the principles that were taught and believed and embraced in the South that produced a society in which many people desire to live.'

The Civil War was a theological conflict.

Summary: Weaver contends that the war was fundamentally about Christianity versus atheism, with the South defending biblical truth.

Evidence: He quotes Thornwell: 'In one word, the world is the battleground, Christianity and atheism the combatants, and the progress of Christianity or the progress of humanity is at stake.'

Culture change requires theological change.

Summary: Weaver asserts that you cannot change a culture until you first change its theology, explaining Reconstruction and modern political correctness.

Evidence: He says, 'You cannot change a culture until you first change its theology. There has to be a change in theology before there can be a change in the culture.'

Socialism is legal plunder and contrary to biblical work ethic.

Summary: Weaver uses Bastiat's concept of legal plunder to argue that government welfare is theft and violates scriptural commands to work.

Evidence: He reads Bastiat: 'See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong... All these plans... constitute socialism.'

The South fought for limited government, not slavery.

Summary: Weaver claims the war was over freedom and states' rights, with slavery becoming an issue only later.

Evidence: He states, 'The war was not over slavery. Slavery only became an issue later on in the war. The war was over freedom.'

Consolidation of government leads to despotism and ruin.

Summary: Weaver warns that a vast centralized empire will be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, citing Robert E. Lee.

Evidence: He quotes Lee: 'The consolidation of the states into one vast empire, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be certain the precursor of ruin.'

Scripture References

Genesis 12:9

Context: Weaver notes that Abram journeyed toward the south, showing godly men preferred the South.

Genesis 13:1

Context: Abram went into the south after leaving Egypt.

Genesis 24:62

Context: Isaac dwelt in the south country.

Proverbs 6:6

Context: Weaver cites this to teach against laziness: 'Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.'

Proverbs 6:9

Context: God asks the sluggard how long he will sleep.

Proverbs 13:4

Context: The soul of the sluggard desires but has nothing; the diligent shall be made fat.

Proverbs 20:4

Context: The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore he shall beg in harvest.

2 Thessalonians 3:10

Context: Paul commands that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

1 Timothy 5:8

Context: If any provide not for his own, he is worse than an infidel.

Romans 12:13

Context: Believers are to distribute to the necessity of saints and be given to hospitality.

1 Peter 4:9

Context: Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

1 Timothy 3:2

Context: A pastor must be given to hospitality.

Titus 1:8

Context: A bishop must be a lover of hospitality.

Psalm 2:2-3

Context: Kings and rulers take counsel against the Lord, saying, 'Let us break their bands asunder.'

Hosea 5:10

Context: The princes of Judah removed the bounds; therefore God will pour out wrath like water.

Historical References

Edward Ward Carmack (1858-1908)

Context: U.S. Representative from Tennessee who wrote 'Carmack's Pledge' expressing devotion to the South.

Belle Boyd, Confederate spy

Context: Captured and offered release for swearing allegiance to the Union; she refused, declaring she would rather rot in prison.

James Henley Thornwell (1812-1861)

Context: Southern Presbyterian theologian who viewed the Civil War as a conflict between Christianity and atheism.

Robert E. Lee

Context: Confederate general who affirmed the Bible as the infallible Word of God and warned against consolidation of the states.

Basil Manly (1798-1868)

Context: Baptist pastor and chaplain to the Provisional Confederate Congress who viewed secession as a Christian reform movement.

Henry Grady (1850-1889)

Context: Editor of the Atlanta Constitution who declared the South had nothing to apologize for and venerated Confederate sacrifice.

Wendell Phillips (1811-1884)

Context: Abolitionist from New England whose encounter with a responsible black servant in Charleston illustrated Southern work ethic.

Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850)

Context: French economist whose book 'The Law' distinguishes legal plunder (socialism) from illegal plunder.

Lord Acton (1834-1902)

Context: English historian who wrote to Robert E. Lee that the South was fighting for liberty and limited government.

R.J. Rushdoony (1916-2001)

Context: Theologian who wrote in 1971 about the state's collapse and increasing grasp for power.

Important Quotes

If it is a crime to love the South, its cause and its president, then I'm a criminal. I would rather lie down in this prison and rot and die than leave it owing allegiance to a government such as yours.

Significance: Belle Boyd's defiance illustrates the unwavering commitment to Southern principles even under duress.

The Bible is the book of books, a book which supplies the place of all others and cannot be replaced.

Significance: Robert E. Lee's high view of Scripture supports Weaver's claim of the South's biblical foundation.

The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

Significance: This Proverbs quote underscores the biblical work ethic Weaver promotes as a Southern principle.

See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if a law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizens themselves cannot do without committing a crime.

Significance: Bastiat's definition of legal plunder is used to condemn modern welfare and socialism.

I saw in states' rights the only availing check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will, and secession filled me with hope, not as the destruction, but the redemption of democracy.

Significance: Lord Acton's letter validates Weaver's claim that the South fought for limited government and liberty.

God give us men. A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, a true faith, and ready hands. Men whom the lust of office does not kill. Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy. Men who will possess opinions and a will. Men who have honor. Men who will not lie.

Significance: Holland's poem encapsulates Weaver's concluding call for principled, godly leadership.

Discussion Questions

How does Weaver distinguish between loving one's homeland and idolizing it? What biblical boundaries does he imply?

Context: Weaver affirms love for the South but roots its value in biblical principles rather than mere geography.

Do you agree with Weaver's claim that the Civil War was primarily a theological conflict? What evidence does he offer, and how might it be challenged?

Context: Weaver quotes Thornwell and contrasts Southern orthodoxy with Northern Unitarianism.

In what ways does Weaver equate modern political correctness with Reconstruction? Is this a valid comparison?

Context: He argues both are attempts to force ideological conformity by elites.

How does the biblical work ethic, as presented by Weaver, challenge contemporary welfare systems? What are the practical implications for Christians?

Context: Weaver cites Proverbs and 2 Thessalonians, and uses Bastiat's critique of legal plunder.

Weaver says, 'You cannot change a culture until you first change its theology.' How does this principle apply to current cultural battles?

Context: He uses this to explain Reconstruction and the failure of foreign aid without theological change.

What does biblical hospitality look like in practice, according to Weaver, and how does it contrast with Northern culture as he describes it?

Context: He shares personal anecdotes and quotes Bishop Whipple's diary.

Weaver argues that the South fought for limited government, not slavery. How does he support this, and how should Christians evaluate states' rights versus federal authority today?

Context: He cites Lord Acton and Robert E. Lee, and references Psalm 2 and Hosea 5.

What characteristics does Weaver believe are needed in men today, and how do they reflect the examples of Lee, Jackson, and other Confederate leaders?

Context: He recites Holland's poem 'Wanted' and prays for godly men.

Applications

Embrace biblical Christianity as the foundation of life and society.

Summary: Weaver calls believers to hold tenaciously to the Bible as the inspired, inerrant Word of God, following the example of Southern forefathers like Robert E. Lee.

Evidence: He quotes Lee: 'I accept them as the infallible Word of God,' and states, 'We would not forsake the Word of God.'

Cultivate a biblical work ethic and personal responsibility.

Summary: Weaver urges listeners to reject laziness and dependency, working diligently to provide for their families as Scripture commands.

Evidence: He cites Proverbs and 1 Timothy 5:8, and says, 'My wife and my children and my family are my responsibility.'

Practice hospitality as a Christian duty.

Summary: Weaver encourages Southern-style hospitality—welcoming others into homes and lives—as a direct biblical command.

Evidence: He references Romans 12:13 and 1 Peter 4:9, and shares personal examples of family hospitality.

Advocate for limited, constitutional government.

Summary: Weaver calls for a return to the principle of limited government bound by God's law and the Constitution, resisting the growth of despotic state power.

Evidence: He quotes Jefferson: 'Bind it down by the chains of the constitutions,' and warns against consolidation.

Resist ideological conformity and political correctness.

Summary: Weaver warns against being 'reconstructed' by modern cultural pressures, urging believers to think and act according to biblical principles rather than elite dictates.

Evidence: He says, 'Political correctness today is nothing more than another form of reconstruction.'

Raise up godly men of conviction.

Summary: Weaver prays for and challenges men to be like Lee and Jackson—men of honor, truth, and courage who will stand for righteousness in public and private life.

Evidence: He recites 'Wanted' and prays, 'God, give us men, godly men, holy men, righteous men, who will stand for truth.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T17:30:16Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-05T20:11:41Z

Clean Transcript

Principles From the Heart of Dixie

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

I want to bring a message which I've entitled Principles from the Heart of Dixie. Principles from the Heart of Dixie. And if you have your Bibles, we're going to be looking at a number of scriptures today. If you don't, I'll quote them. That'll be fine. But as I talk about Principles from the Heart of Dixie, one of the most devastating truths that a Southerner will ever hear is that the word Dixie does not appear in the Bible. However, the word South does indeed appear in the Bible a number of times. And the truth of the matter is this, it seems as if good and godly men down through history have always preferred to live in the South. For instance, the Bible says this in Genesis 12 and verse 9, "And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south." In Genesis 13 and verse 1, the Bible said, "And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south." And then, of course, in Genesis 24, verse 62, the Bible says that Isaac came from the way of the well Lahai-roi, for he dwelt in the south country.
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And, of course, I hope that you remember that our Lord Jesus Christ was also from a southern tribe, Judah, in the southern kingdom. And so, very obviously, the word south is indeed predominant in the Bible. We can think of a number of reasons why we should love the South. And there is certainly nothing wrong or unbiblical in loving the place where you were born, bred, and raised. There are people who love the South who were not born here.
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Some of you probably have seen the bumper sticker that some proudly display. It simply says this, "I was not born in the South, but I got here as soon as I could." Well, very obviously, a lot of people do love the South. Have you ever asked yourself why in the world do people want to flock to the South? And by the way, it's not just the climate. You never hear of anyone retiring and moving up north, by the way. Obviously, the climate does indeed have something to do with it, that is for sure. But there is something entirely different about the South. There's something about the South that you do not find in the North, and you certainly do not find it in the East or in the West. There are things that make the South especially great.
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Edward Ward Carmack, who was a United States representative from Tennessee, he was born in 1858 and died in 1908. He wrote what is known today as Carmack's Pledge. That is his pledge to the South. Let me read to you this pledge. He says, "The South is a land that has known sorrows. It's a land that has broken the ashen crust and moistened it with tears. A land scarred and riven by the plowshare of war and billowed with the graves of her dead. But a land of legend, a land of song, a land of hallowed and ironic memories. To that land, every drop of my blood, every fiber of my being, every pulsation of my heart is consecrated forever. I was born of her womb.
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I was nurtured at her breast. And when my last hour shall come, I pray that God will allow me to be pillowed upon her bosom and rocked asleep within her tender encircling arms." Certainly, Edward Ward Carmack loved the South. There's certainly nothing wrong with loving the place where you were born and raised. I'm going to give you a quote now from one old Confederate who was retiring from Appomattox. And these are his exact words, not mine, but here's what he said as he left Appomattox Courthouse.
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He said, "My shoes are gone. My clothes are almost gone. I'm weary. I'm sick. I'm hungry. My family has been killed or scattered. And I've suffered all this for my country. I love my country. But if this war is ever over, I'll be damned if I ever love another country." Very obviously, there were individuals who suffered and gave everything for their love of the country. Many of you will remember that Belle Boyd was a Confederate spy.
#6 | 4:11 to 4:43 | cleaned
She was captured and, of course, put in a Union prison. And they offered her release if she would just simply swear allegiance to the federal government. And Belle Boyd gave this answer. She said, "If it is a crime to love the South, its cause and its president, then I'm a criminal. I would rather lie down in this prison and rot and die than leave it owing allegiance to a government such as yours." Very obviously, she did indeed love the South. Let me just simply say it again, there's nothing wrong with loving the South. But let me point out, the reason the South is so special is not just simply because it is the South. It's the principles that were taught and believed and embraced in the South that produced a society in which many people desire to live.
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I realize that we have deteriorated in this day and time. I understand that there are a lot of Southerners that have been reconstructed, so to speak. There are plenty of people in the South now who have swallowed the politically correct line and the politically correct stance. Besides that, we've been invaded by numerous Yankee hordes endeavoring to leave their utopian society in the north, but still there are these principles that are ingrained in our being, and these principles still hold sway in our lives. By the way, I talked about the utopian north. I never will forget the time that I learned what the word utopian really means. You read about these utopian societies, the socialist utopia, the communist utopia, the northern utopia. I remember when I took my first year of Greek, we had to learn a lot of vocabulary. And I came upon this word, utopos. And I thought, that word sounds familiar, utopos. It is the Greek word from which we get our English word, utopia. Utopos is a Greek word made up of two words.
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"U" is a negative, which means no. And "topos" is the Greek word for place. The word utopia literally means no place. In other words, utopia does not exist. It's a figment of someone's imagination. It is not reality. So whenever you hear about a communistic or a socialistic utopia, you just understand this. There's no such place in reality. It's all a figment of the imagination. The South, however, did not hold to a utopian dream. The South held to a biblical reality. You've got to remember that the South was known as the Bible Belt.
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And by the way, we did not choose that name for ourselves. That name was given to us as a means of castigation. In other words, it was the North in their Unitarian Transcendentalist Rationalistic Society that put that term upon us, the Bible Belt, as a term of derision because we would not forsake the Word of God and follow their rationalistic, humanistic dreams. We would not abandon the Word of God.
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After we lost the War of Northern Aggression, then there was that period known as Reconstruction. That period was to reconstruct the South, not physically, but culturally, religiously, ideologically. In other words, we were to be trained to think and talk and act as the northern crowd thought and acted. Thankfully, not everyone was reconstructed. Not everyone bit into that line. Now, why in the world should we love the South? And why in the world is the South a special place? What were the principles that make the South special?
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Let me give you several of them today. First of all, Dixie was and is known for her biblical Christianity. Notice what I said. Dixie was and is known for her biblical Christianity. There was recently a Gallup poll placed and it was printed and the title of that Gallup poll was this: "Where does your state rank in religious belief?" This was posted February the 15th, 2009. And let me just read this brief article. A recent poll of more than 350,000 Americans on the importance of religion revealed that the nation is separated into enclaves of widely divergent viewpoints on faith, with some states and regions clearly religious and others significantly secular. Now notice it didn't take a scholar to figure this out, that the region, this country, is divided by divergent viewpoints on faith. Gallup conducted a telephone poll of 355,334 United States adults asking the question, "Is religion an important part of your daily life?"
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As one might suspect, states from the Bible Belt scored highest with 85% of Mississippians and 79% of Tennesseans, for example, answering yes. The poll also revealed, however, that in addition to the Bible Belt, the United States also has a pair of secular strips. The New England states—Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine—scored the lowest in the nation, with only 42% of Vermont residents, or less than half the percentage of those in Mississippi, answering yes. The other secular strip can be found in the West, where Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada all scored in the bottom 10 states for affirming religion's importance in daily life. Isn't that amazing?
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You see, the difference that existed in 1861 and 1865 is a difference that still exists today. You have to remember that the South was settled by Scotch and Scotch-Irish people mainly. In fact, during the war, about 75% of the population was either Scotch or Scotch-Irish. And these people held tenaciously to the Word of God. The Bible did indeed play a very important role in the lives of Southern men and women. One of our problems today is this. We have not understood the extent that the Bible indeed played a role in their lives. Many have not grasped this simple fact that there was indeed a theological aspect to the war of northern aggression.
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Yes, there were economic reasons. Yes, there were political reasons. But there was also a theological reason. It was southern Presbyterian historian, author, and scholar James Henley Thornwell, who died the first year of the war. He died in 1861. But Thornwell wrote this concerning the conflict before he died. He said, "The parties in this conflict are not merely abolitionists and slaveholders. They are atheists, socialists, communists, red republicans, Jacobins on the one side"—he's talking about the north—"and on the other side, the friends of order and regulated freedom on the other." We're talking about the South. "In one word, the world is the battleground, Christianity and atheism the combatants, and the progress of Christianity or the progress of humanity is at stake." So here James Henley Thornwell saw this again as a theological war. By and large, in 1861 to 1865, the South was unashamedly Christian and believed that the Bible was indeed the inspired and inerrant Word of God. Also, by and large, in 1861 to 1865, the North predominantly was Unitarian, rationalistic, and humanistic.
#15 | 11:45 to 13:11 | cleaned
Now, that does not mean that everyone in the South was a Christian, nor does it mean that there were no Christians in the North. It just simply points out that there was a large difference in theology between the North and the South. For instance, Robert E. Lee said this concerning the Bible. He said, "The Bible is the book of books, a book which supplies the place of all others and cannot be replaced." A little later Lee said this, "There are many things in that old book that I may never be able to explain, but I accept them as the infallible Word of God and receive its teachings as inspired by the Holy Ghost. I prefer the Bible to any other book.
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There is enough in that to satisfy the most ardent thirst for knowledge, to open the way to true wisdom, and to teach the only road to salvation and eternal happiness. It is not above human comprehension and is sufficient to satisfy all desires." So like General Lee, many Christians in the South endeavored not only to believe but also to obey the Word of God and they were not going to forsake the Word of God for a humanistic religion.
#17 | 13:52 to 14:19 | cleaned
It's interesting that during that time many pastors really genuinely believed that the war was an attack on Biblical Christianity. You've got to remember something, because it was indeed an attack on Biblical Christianity, but you have to remember that you cannot change a culture until you first change its theology. There has to be a change in theology before there can be a change in the culture. Stop and think about this, for instance.
#18 | 14:20 to 14:47 | cleaned
Some of you are as old and some of you a little bit older than I am. But do you remember, there's a vast difference between where we live today and how we lived 50 years ago. I tell people, when I was a teenage boy, if I wanted to see a policeman, I had to go uptown. And not only did I have to go uptown, I had to look hard to find one.
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Now you can drive down the road and within five miles you've passed 10 or 15 of them. Have you ever wondered why there is such an increase in quote-unquote policemen today? And I'm going to tell you why. Because 50 years ago, there were more people regulated and ordered their lives by the Ten Commandments, by the Word of God, than there is today. And since we do not have God's control in our lives, there has to be the strong arm of man.
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Stop and think about this. Do you realize that our government used to send missionaries to foreign countries? We wanted to convert them to Christianity so that they could understand the principles of the Word of God. We no longer send missionaries, now we send armies. You stop and think of all the economic aid that we have sent to places like China, and India, and Iran, and Iraq, and guess what?
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There has been and there will be no changes in their culture. I do not care how much foreign aid you send them, I do not care how many diplomats are stationed there. I do not care how many embassies are there. I do not care how well men plead for these countries to embrace what modern day America calls democracy. You will never change a culture until you change their theology. And very obviously, you're not going to change their theology with armies. So very clearly, that's exactly what happened in the South when the South lost the war.
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Here came the army, here came the strong arm to make sure that you and I were reconstructed. So when the South did not voluntarily relinquish the word of God, its position on Christianity, we got reconstruction. Reconstruction was specifically designed to make Southerners think and act the way the Northern elite wanted us to think and to act. And by the way, please understand that political correctness today is nothing more than another form of reconstruction. All political correctness is, is trying to train us to think and act the way the elite, those in control, want us to think and act.
#23 | 17:03 to 17:47 | cleaned
The theological aspect of the war has not been studied as it should. Basil Manly, who was a Baptist pastor and a chaplain to the Provisional Confederate Congress, viewed secession—listen to this—he viewed secession not as revolution, but as a Christian reform movement. W. W. Bennett, the author of "The Great Revival of the Southern Armies," wrote this. He said, "There"—talking about the Southern men—"their convictions of right in what they did were second only to their convictions of the truth of the Christian religion. Nor has the stern logic of events eradicated these convictions from the southern mind.
#24 | 17:47 to 18:30 | cleaned
The cause is lost but its principles still live and must continue to live so long as there remains in human nature any perception and appreciation of justice, truth and virtue." Basically what he said is this, the war may have been lost but the principles still remain and they should remain. Henry Grady who was for years editor of the Atlanta Constitution, on December the 21st, 1886, was making an address to the New England Society in New York City. So here's a Southern man now speaking to the New England Society in New York City, and Henry Grady has this to say to them.
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"The South has nothing for which to apologize. She believes that the late struggle between the states was war and not rebellion, revolution and no conspiracy, and that her convictions were as honest as yours. I should be unjust to the dauntless spirit of the South and to my own convictions if I did not make this plain in this presence. The South has nothing to take back. In my native town of Athens, Georgia, is a monument that crowns at Central Hill, a plain white shaft.
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Deep cut into its shining side is a name dear to me above the names of men, that of a brave and simple man who died in a brave and simple faith. Not for all the glories of New England, from Plymouth Rock all the way, would I exchange the heritage he left me in that soldier's death. To the foot of that shaft I send my children's children to reverence him who ennobled their name with his heroic blood.
#27 | 19:52 to 20:18 | cleaned
Did you hear what Henry Grady said? Henry Grady said, I would not trade the valor and the honor of my Confederate ancestor for all the glory of Plymouth Rock and everything on down. Why in the world would Henry Grady so venerate the Confederate soldier? The answer is very simple. Because the Confederate soldier basically was fighting for truth, for righteousness, and for principle, and by and large, it can truthfully be said that our confederate ancestors died to prevent the very thing that we have today, a pagan, idolatrous, humanistic government that seeks to play God in the lives of all of its citizens, like our forefathers. We have to come back to the principle there is to be no king but King Jesus.
#28 | 20:19 to 21:12 | cleaned
The South was predominantly Christian and held to biblical Christianity. Here's a second reason we should love the South, because the South is known for her biblical work ethic. Do you realize that Southern men have always been known for their hard work, responsibility, and independence? Thankfully, some of those characteristics are still prevalent in the South today. By and large, America, and some in the Southern states, has become a welfare society. Now, instead of work, independence, and responsibility, many look to the federal government to supply all of their needs. Notice, if you would please, when there's a hurricane, when there's a tornado, when there's a flood, when there's a drought, usually instead of crying to the sovereign God of heaven and earth for help and relief, most today just simply cry to Washington, D.C.
#29 | 21:12 to 22:15 | cleaned
Let me just point out one thing about this impending economic collapse that is upon us and about to take place in a more drastic way, I believe, is certainly one good thing. Most people are going to recognize the fact that government is not God. They're going to recognize that government cannot and will not take care of us. We have to assume responsibility for ourselves. We have to have a biblical work ethic. One of my favorite stories to illustrate this is about a Negro slave.
#30 | 22:16 to 22:51 | cleaned
Years ago, Wendell Phillips, who was an ardent abolitionist from New England. Wendell Phillips came to Charleston, South Carolina, and he was staying in a, what you and I would call a hotel today, but he was being waited on by a Negro servant. In fact, he was served his breakfast in his room. So Wendell Phillips then took the opportunity to represent to the black man that he regarded the black man as a man and as a brother. And moreover, Wendell Phillips told him that he was an abolitionist. And the old black man just stood there. Finally, Wendell Phillips could not stand it any longer. And he said, "Look, I just cannot stand to be waited on by a slave. You're excused, please leave the room." To which the black man replied, "Excuse me sir, I is obliged to stay here because I be responsible for the silverware." Let me tell you something folks, the old timers, black and white, knew what it was to work and be responsible. They knew what it was to have to work hard.
#31 | 22:52 to 24:10 | cleaned
The Bible has a great deal to say about laziness and about sluggards. For instance, in Proverbs 6 and verse 6, the Word of God says, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise." In Proverbs 6 and verse 9, God asks, "How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?" One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 13 and verse 4. "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat."
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Now listen to what he said. "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing." You can sit back and wish for a new vehicle. You can sit back and wish for a beautiful home. You can sit back and wish for anything, but you will never have it if you're a sluggard. The Bible says, "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but it's the soul of the diligent that shall be made fat." The Bible says in Proverbs 20 and verse 4, "The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing."
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In other words, he's too lazy to work and just a little bit of cold weather will keep him from working. But the Apostle Paul said it very plainly in 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 10. He said, "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." We've got to understand there is indeed a biblical responsibility to work.
#34 | 25:12 to 25:36 | cleaned
We cannot be dependent upon a government that takes and steals and confiscates from others to give to people who do not deserve it. God has decreed and God has demanded that we earn our bread by the sweat of our brow. And the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 8, that if any will not provide for his own, especially for those of his own household, he's worse than an infidel, he's denied the faith.
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Let me just spell this out very clearly for you. My wife and my children and my family are my responsibility. They're not the government's responsibility. I can say it even more plainly. It is not my responsibility to educate or train or feed or provide for your wife and your children. That is your responsibility. If I were to share some Christian charity, that's one thing. But it's not my place to provide for your own. That is your responsibility.
#36 | 26:05 to 26:42 | cleaned
It was Thomas Jefferson who said this, "A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned, that is the sum of good government." You stop and think, folks. Our grandparents, and sometimes our parents, would have been absolutely humiliated and embarrassed to even think about food stamps and welfare and subsidies. They depended solely upon the Lord and their own hard work. You've got to remember something, folks. You have to remember that government cannot give to someone without first taking from someone else.
#37 | 26:43 to 27:31 | cleaned
There is a difference between illegal plunder and legal plunder. If you don't know that difference, I would encourage you to read a book entitled "The Law," written by Frédéric Bastiat. He was a Frenchman. It was written a long time ago. It's a small book. But in that book, he differentiates between illegal and legal plunder.
#38 | 27:33 to 27:54 | cleaned
Now, if I were to reach in my pocket and pull out a pistol, and stick it in your face and say, "Give me all of your money," that is illegal plunder. I could be in real trouble for that. I mean, you might be able to overpower me and take that weapon from me and kill me. Or you might have a weapon of your own. Or if I got caught, I might serve time in prison for something like that. But do you ever realize, if you take from someone legally, if they resist, they're the ones that go to prison. In this book, "The Law" written by Frédéric Bastiat, he distinguishes between legal plunder and illegal plunder.
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Listen to what he writes. Please think about this in light of what is happening today. And remember, this was written over a hundred years ago. He said, "But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply, see if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if a law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizens themselves cannot do without committing a crime. Now, legal plunder can be committed in an infinite number of ways. Thus, we have an infinite number of plans for organizing it.
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Tariffs, protection, benefits, subsidies, encouragements, progressive taxation, public schools, guaranteed jobs, guaranteed profits, minimum wages, a right to relief, a right to the tools of labor, free credit, and so on and so on. All these plans as a whole, with their common aim of legal plunder, constitute socialism. Socialists desire to practice legal plunder and not illegal plunder. Socialists, like all other monopolists, desire to make the law their own weapon. And when once the law is on the side of socialism, how can it be used against socialism? For when plunder is abetted by the law, it does not fear your courts, your police, or your prison.
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Rather, it calls upon them for help. The question of legal plunder must be settled once and for all, and there are only three ways to settle it. Number one, the few plunder the many. Number two, everybody plunders everybody. And number three, nobody plunders anybody." Well, if you read the book, you would find that Bastiat certainly hits the nail on the head. The truth of the matter is this, when you and I leave off biblical responsibility, when you and I leave off a biblical work ethic, the only thing that is left is socialism. Socialism is just simply a straight road to communism.
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In the land of the free and in the home of the brave, we have been plundered by our own politicians and by our own government. Why? And the answer is because we have forsaken the work ethic and we now desire, as a people, everything to be given to us, everything to be handed to us on a silver platter. We've grown to love our socialistic form of life.
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I'm going to tell you something. However, when all of this socialism is suddenly and abruptly taken from us, we're going to change our minds. And you're going to find there's going to be a lot of people that are so used to having everything given to them, they're going to riot to the nth degree because they can no longer have it. As Margaret Thatcher once said, "Socialism works very well until you run out of other people's money." And then, of course, it no longer works.
#44 | 31:06 to 31:43 | cleaned
But Dixie was known not only for her biblical Christianity, but also for her biblical work ethic. Thirdly, Dixie was known for her biblical hospitality. Do you realize that the South is the most friendly and the most hospitable section of the country? All natural Southerners speak to each other. Whether we know their name or not, whether we ever have met them before. We just simply do that. All of us have experience riding down the road and folks just throw up their hands and wave. They nod because we understand, look, this is the South.
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I had an aunt and uncle that lived for years in Toledo, Ohio. And of course, they were from the South, but went up there to work. And when they retired, they came back to the South. And my aunt just could not get used to people just waving and speaking to her. And she said, "You know, it's so different down here." She said, "Up north, when a stranger waves at you and speaks to you, you run because they have ulterior motives." Well, if you did that down south, you'd be running yourself to death. Southerners love barbecues and get-togethers and reunions and company of families and friends. That's just part of biblical hospitality. When I was a child, we had company every Sunday afternoon, every Sunday. Some family came home with us from church, they ate dinner with us, they spent the afternoon with us, they ate supper with us, and they went back to church with us at night.
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My wife can tell you that after she and I married, we would come home to visit my parents, we would sit down at the table, and so help me, I would sit down to eat with people I've never seen before in my entire life. The principle was this, if you were at our house and it was dinner time, you came in and ate. Didn't matter who you were, you just came in and ate.
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Southerners are known for their hospitality. The Bible says in Romans 12 and verse 13 that we're to distribute to the necessity of the saints, given to hospitality. In 1 Peter 4 and verse 9, the Bible commands us to use hospitality one to another without grudging. When you look in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 2 and Titus 1 and verse 8, the pastor above all is to be known as an example of hospitality. Southerners are naturally hospitable.
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That just simply stands to reason. You're in the South. That's how you grew up. That's how you live now. Henry Benjamin Whipple was a bishop from Minnesota, and he visited the South in 1843 and 1844, supposedly to regain his health. Those Minnesotan winters, I guess, were very difficult, but he was in St. Augustine, Florida. And he wrote this in his diary. Listen carefully. "November the 25th, St. Augustine, Florida.
#49 | 34:13 to 34:45 | cleaned
The people of the southern states are generally much more hospitable than northerners. And the difference must be attributed to the fact that they are not such money-loving people. You do not see the low, mean cupidity, the base selfishness so striking a characteristic of one portion of our restless Yankee brethren. I am more and more convinced that most of the exaggerated stories of abolitionists exist only in the imagination. And from personal observation, I know that the efforts of the abolitionists at the North have only served to injure the slave and to destroy the kind and fraternal feeling which should exist between Northern and Southern states." Now here's a Yankee saying, basically, that the Southern people are very unlike Northern people. They're not selfish. They're not money-grubbing and money-loving. They love people.
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Very obviously, the South was indeed a place of biblical hospitality. Very quickly fourth, let me tell you that the South and Dixie is known for her stand on freedom and limited government.
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Now I want you to stop and think about the word freedom. You remember the movie that Mel Gibson made on Braveheart. You remember there when he was being tortured, they asked him, did he have anything to say? And they thought he was going to recant, but he just shouted as loudly as he could, "Freedom!" Stop and think about that word, freedom. Freedom is not only the ability to move around and do as you please under the law of God. Another aspect of freedom is freedom from the domination and control of sin, as well as freedom from the control and domination of government that often tries to regulate us for our good. When you stop and ask, who's responsible for your welfare? The answer has to come back, you are responsible for your welfare. It's not Washington D.C. It's not Atlanta, Georgia. We as individuals are responsible for every area of our lives. And I can assure you, when you stand before God on Judgment Day, it will not be the federal government that answers for you.
#52 | 35:58 to 37:13 | cleaned
It will not be the state government that answers for you. You will answer individually because you are responsible and accountable. Historically and biblically, the South always believed that government was not only limited by the word of God, but also by the Constitution. In fact, it was Jefferson who said, "Bind it down by the chains of the constitutions." Unhappily, our governments today have taken the attitude of those kings and rulers in Psalm 2, where the Bible says, "The kings of the earth and the rulers thereof take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us."
#53 | 37:13 to 37:55 | cleaned
In other words, we don't like God's limitations. We want everything different. Depraved men like to play God. Therefore, they refuse His boundaries. The Bible says in the book of Hosea chapter 5 and verse 10, "The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water." So the princes of Judah, they didn't like God's limitations. They didn't like God's boundaries. They removed those boundaries. God said, "I'll pour out my wrath upon them like water."
#54 | 37:55 to 38:28 | cleaned
So it was the South that sought to restrain the federal government in 1861. And when that became impossible, then we seceded. The war was not over slavery. Slavery only became an issue later on in the war. The war was over freedom. By the way, even Europe understood what the war was about. Lord Acton from England, in a letter to General Robert E. Lee, said this, "I saw in states' rights the only availing check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will, and secession filled me with hope, not as the destruction, but the redemption of democracy. I deem that you"—that is General Lee and his people—"were fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization, and I mourn for the stake that was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which is saved at Waterloo." Notice what this Englishman said, he mourned for that which was lost at Appomattox in Richmond. Why? He saw here that Lee and the South was fighting for a limited government. We will never ever return to liberty and freedom until we return to a biblical and constitutional government.
#55 | 38:28 to 39:49 | cleaned
Biblical government, constitutional government is always a limited government. General Robert E. Lee said this, "All that the South has ever desired was that the union established by our forefathers should be preserved and that the government as originally organized should be administered in purity and in truth." General Lee also warned, and he said this, "The consolidation of the states into one vast empire, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be certain the precursor of ruin which has overwhelmed all that preceded it." Notice what he said. When you have a consolidation of the states into one vast empire, it's going to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home. It's certainly true that the state or the government that seeks to play God shall be destroyed by God.
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As Hosea 5 and verse 10 said, "He shall pour his wrath upon them like water." Let me read to you a quote by R.J. Rushdoony. R.J. Rushdoony died in 2001, and I want you to listen to what he wrote, and I'm going to tell you the date in which he wrote it after I finish. One short paragraph. Here's what he said. "The authority of the state is everywhere in decay. But everywhere the state is grasping for more power as the cure-all for man's problems. The powers of the state are thus likely to increase markedly in the years ahead, but that increase is the forerunner of the state's collapse as man's saving agency." Now listen to what he said. He said, "Everywhere the marks of the collapse of the state are evident. But as it collapses, it's going to grasp for more and more power until it is absolutely and totally destroyed." And R.J. Rushdoony wrote that in 1971.
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Almost as if it had been written yesterday. You see, the South believed in a limited government. And I'm going to tell you something, folks. I could say truthfully that we will eventually have a limited government. We will either have it through obedience or through destruction, but we will have it one way or the other. Until then, we need men. Men who can be counted on. Men who understand the principles for which our forefathers fought and died. Men who embrace them. Men who love them. Men who live them. Men who will fight for them.
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It was Josiah Gilbert Holland, who died in 1881, who wrote this poem. "Wanted" is the title. "God give us men. A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, a true faith, and ready hands. Men whom the lust of office does not kill. Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy. Men who will possess opinions and a will. Men who have honor. Men who will not lie. Men who can stand before a demagogue and damn his treacherous flatteries without winking. Tall men, sun-crowned men, who live above the fog, in duty, in public duty and in private thinking.
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For while the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds, their large professions and little deeds, mingle in selfish strife, lo, freedom weeps. Wrong rules the land and waiting justice sleeps." But notice what he said, "God give us men." And may I submit to you, the men we need are like the men who fought and died as our ancestors fought and died. They lived what they believed. They held these principles tenaciously. They believed them. They applied them. And may God give us men.
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Have you ever stopped to think? What a difference it would make in our government, in our country, in our states, in our communities, if we had men like Robert Edward Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Jeb Stuart, Jubal Early. What about these men? Godly men. Determined men. Men of conviction and principle. God give us men. Robert E. Lee's first duty station. A great place to come back to what General Lee believed. And he believed the foundation of all society was indeed the Word of God. Let's pray, shall we?
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Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we are so thankful for this opportunity again on Confederate Memorial Day to honor Thee and honor our ancestors by proclaiming once again the principles, not only from Your Word, but also the principles for which our forefathers lived and died. And Lord, we do need men. God, give us men, godly men, holy men, righteous men, who will stand for truth. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T17:30:16Z

Principles From the Heart of Dixie

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver delivers a message celebrating the biblical principles that historically distinguished the American South. He argues that the South's greatness stems not from mere regional pride but from its foundation on biblical Christianity, a strong work ethic, hospitality, and a commitment to limited government. Weaver contends that the War Between the States was fundamentally a theological conflict between Christian orthodoxy and Northern Unitarian rationalism, and that Reconstruction and modern political correctness are attempts to undermine these enduring principles. He calls for a return to these values and for godly men to uphold them.

Introduction: The Biblical South

Scripture Reading — Genesis 12:9

"And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south."

Why People Love the South

The South's Biblical Christianity

Theological War and Reconstruction

The South's Biblical Work Ethic

The Bible has a great deal to say about laziness and about sluggards. For instance, in Proverbs 6 and verse 6, the Word of God says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 6:6

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise."

Now listen to what he said.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 13:4

"The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing."

You can sit back and wish for a new vehicle. You can sit back and wish for a beautiful home. You can sit back and wish for anything, but you will never have it if you're a sluggard. The Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 13:4

"The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but it's the soul of the diligent that shall be made fat."

The South's Biblical Hospitality

Very obviously, the South was indeed a place of biblical hospitality. Very quickly fourth, let me tell you that the South and Dixie is known for her stand on freedom and limited government.

The South's Stand on Freedom and Limited Government

Scripture Reading — Psalm 2:2-3

"The kings of the earth and the rulers thereof take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us."

Conclusion: A Call for Godly Men

Weaver concludes with Josiah Gilbert Holland's poem 'Wanted,' calling for men of conviction like Lee and Jackson. He prays for God to raise up such men to restore biblical principles.

Principles From the Heart of Dixie

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	_oYfsS6XC7E
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness: The Family
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-02-02
Dictation Name
Book	Book 028: The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness — Chapter 18
Source Timed Segments	62

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Biblical South: Weaver introduces the theme by noting that while 'Dixie' is not in the Bible, 'south' appears frequently, and godly men like Abraham and Isaac dwelt in the south. He affirms that loving one's homeland is not unbiblical.
Why People Love the South: Weaver explores reasons for the South's appeal beyond climate, citing Edward Ward Carmack's pledge and a Confederate soldier's devotion to illustrate deep regional love rooted in suffering and sacrifice.
The South's Biblical Christianity: The South was known as the Bible Belt, a term of derision from the North. Weaver presents poll data showing the South remains more religious, and argues the Civil War had a theological dimension between Christianity and atheism.
Theological War and Reconstruction: Weaver explains that changing a culture requires changing its theology. Reconstruction aimed to make Southerners think like Northerners, and modern political correctness is a new form of reconstruction.
The South's Biblical Work Ethic: Southerners were known for hard work and independence. Weaver contrasts this with modern welfare dependency, citing Proverbs and 2 Thessalonians to emphasize personal responsibility and the dangers of socialism.
The South's Biblical Hospitality: Weaver highlights Southern friendliness and hospitality as a biblical command, illustrated by personal anecdotes and a Northern bishop's diary observations about Southern generosity versus Yankee selfishness.
The South's Stand on Freedom and Limited Government: The South fought for limited government and states' rights, not slavery. Weaver cites Lord Acton and Robert E. Lee to argue that consolidation leads to despotism, and that a return to constitutional limits is essential.
Conclusion: A Call for Godly Men: Weaver concludes with Josiah Gilbert Holland's poem 'Wanted,' calling for men of conviction like Lee and Jackson. He prays for God to raise up such men to restore biblical principles.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

The South's greatness is due to biblical principles, not mere geography.

Weaver argues that the South is special because of the principles it embraced, not just because it is the South.

He states, 'The reason the South is so special is not just simply because it is the South. It's the principles that were taught and believed and embraced in the South that produced a society in which many people desire to live.'

The Civil War was a theological conflict.

Weaver contends that the war was fundamentally about Christianity versus atheism, with the South defending biblical truth.

He quotes Thornwell: 'In one word, the world is the battleground, Christianity and atheism the combatants, and the progress of Christianity or the progress of humanity is at stake.'

Culture change requires theological change.

Weaver asserts that you cannot change a culture until you first change its theology, explaining Reconstruction and modern political correctness.

He says, 'You cannot change a culture until you first change its theology. There has to be a change in theology before there can be a change in the culture.'

Socialism is legal plunder and contrary to biblical work ethic.

Weaver uses Bastiat's concept of legal plunder to argue that government welfare is theft and violates scriptural commands to work.

He reads Bastiat: 'See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong... All these plans... constitute socialism.'

The South fought for limited government, not slavery.

Weaver claims the war was over freedom and states' rights, with slavery becoming an issue only later.

He states, 'The war was not over slavery. Slavery only became an issue later on in the war. The war was over freedom.'

Consolidation of government leads to despotism and ruin.

Weaver warns that a vast centralized empire will be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, citing Robert E. Lee.

He quotes Lee: 'The consolidation of the states into one vast empire, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be certain the precursor of ruin.'

Scripture References

Genesis 12:9: Weaver notes that Abram journeyed toward the south, showing godly men preferred the South.
Genesis 13:1: Abram went into the south after leaving Egypt.
Genesis 24:62: Isaac dwelt in the south country.
Proverbs 6:6: Weaver cites this to teach against laziness: 'Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.'
Proverbs 6:9: God asks the sluggard how long he will sleep.
Proverbs 13:4: The soul of the sluggard desires but has nothing; the diligent shall be made fat.
Proverbs 20:4: The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore he shall beg in harvest.
2 Thessalonians 3:10: Paul commands that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
1 Timothy 5:8: If any provide not for his own, he is worse than an infidel.
Romans 12:13: Believers are to distribute to the necessity of saints and be given to hospitality.
1 Peter 4:9: Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
1 Timothy 3:2: A pastor must be given to hospitality.
Titus 1:8: A bishop must be a lover of hospitality.
Psalm 2:2-3: Kings and rulers take counsel against the Lord, saying, 'Let us break their bands asunder.'
Hosea 5:10: The princes of Judah removed the bounds; therefore God will pour out wrath like water.

Historical References

Edward Ward Carmack (1858-1908): U.S. Representative from Tennessee who wrote 'Carmack's Pledge' expressing devotion to the South.
Belle Boyd, Confederate spy: Captured and offered release for swearing allegiance to the Union; she refused, declaring she would rather rot in prison.
James Henley Thornwell (1812-1861): Southern Presbyterian theologian who viewed the Civil War as a conflict between Christianity and atheism.
Robert E. Lee: Confederate general who affirmed the Bible as the infallible Word of God and warned against consolidation of the states.
Basil Manly (1798-1868): Baptist pastor and chaplain to the Provisional Confederate Congress who viewed secession as a Christian reform movement.
Henry Grady (1850-1889): Editor of the Atlanta Constitution who declared the South had nothing to apologize for and venerated Confederate sacrifice.
Wendell Phillips (1811-1884): Abolitionist from New England whose encounter with a responsible black servant in Charleston illustrated Southern work ethic.
Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850): French economist whose book 'The Law' distinguishes legal plunder (socialism) from illegal plunder.
Lord Acton (1834-1902): English historian who wrote to Robert E. Lee that the South was fighting for liberty and limited government.
R.J. Rushdoony (1916-2001): Theologian who wrote in 1971 about the state's collapse and increasing grasp for power.

Important Quotes

If it is a crime to love the South, its cause and its president, then I'm a criminal. I would rather lie down in this prison and rot and die than leave it owing allegiance to a government such as yours.

Belle Boyd's defiance illustrates the unwavering commitment to Southern principles even under duress.

The Bible is the book of books, a book which supplies the place of all others and cannot be replaced.

Robert E. Lee's high view of Scripture supports Weaver's claim of the South's biblical foundation.

The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

This Proverbs quote underscores the biblical work ethic Weaver promotes as a Southern principle.

See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if a law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizens themselves cannot do without committing a crime.

Bastiat's definition of legal plunder is used to condemn modern welfare and socialism.

I saw in states' rights the only availing check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will, and secession filled me with hope, not as the destruction, but the redemption of democracy.

Lord Acton's letter validates Weaver's claim that the South fought for limited government and liberty.

God give us men. A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, a true faith, and ready hands. Men whom the lust of office does not kill. Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy. Men who will possess opinions and a will. Men who have honor. Men who will not lie.

Holland's poem encapsulates Weaver's concluding call for principled, godly leadership.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does Weaver distinguish between loving one's homeland and idolizing it? What biblical boundaries does he imply?

[Context]

Weaver affirms love for the South but roots its value in biblical principles rather than mere geography.

[Question]

Do you agree with Weaver's claim that the Civil War was primarily a theological conflict? What evidence does he offer, and how might it be challenged?

[Context]

Weaver quotes Thornwell and contrasts Southern orthodoxy with Northern Unitarianism.

[Question]

In what ways does Weaver equate modern political correctness with Reconstruction? Is this a valid comparison?

[Context]

He argues both are attempts to force ideological conformity by elites.

[Question]

How does the biblical work ethic, as presented by Weaver, challenge contemporary welfare systems? What are the practical implications for Christians?

[Context]

Weaver cites Proverbs and 2 Thessalonians, and uses Bastiat's critique of legal plunder.

[Question]

Weaver says, 'You cannot change a culture until you first change its theology.' How does this principle apply to current cultural battles?

[Context]

He uses this to explain Reconstruction and the failure of foreign aid without theological change.

[Question]

What does biblical hospitality look like in practice, according to Weaver, and how does it contrast with Northern culture as he describes it?

[Context]

He shares personal anecdotes and quotes Bishop Whipple's diary.

[Question]

Weaver argues that the South fought for limited government, not slavery. How does he support this, and how should Christians evaluate states' rights versus federal authority today?

[Context]

He cites Lord Acton and Robert E. Lee, and references Psalm 2 and Hosea 5.

[Question]

What characteristics does Weaver believe are needed in men today, and how do they reflect the examples of Lee, Jackson, and other Confederate leaders?

[Context]

He recites Holland's poem 'Wanted' and prays for godly men.

Applications

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