Rebuilding Christian Civilization

The Truth Concerning The Confederate Battle Flag

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Christian Civilization

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2016-07-18

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver argues that the Confederate battle flag is not a racist or pro-slavery symbol, but a Christian flag representing freedom from tyranny, states' rights, and Southern heritage. He claims the Civil War was not fought over slavery, citing Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment and other historical documents, and asserts that attacks on the flag are attacks on Christianity and truth.

[John Weaver] The following presentation by Pastor John Weaver points out only a few of the facts our modern history books ignore concerning the war between the states. It is intended to spark interest in the true heritage of the South and expose the efforts of the politically correct to slander the noble and heroic stand of Southerners, both black and white, against the tyranny of unconstitutional usurpation of power by the federal government.

[John Weaver] Is the confederate flag a Christian symbol? Is the confederate flag a Christian flag? Interestingly, when one mentions the confederate flag, usually what comes up in someone's mind is the battle flag, as we see right here. I want you to know tonight that there were numerous confederate flags. This is the battle flag. Let me just point out the fact There were five major flags. There were many, many more. But the first flag that I want to point out was the Bonnie Blue Flag, which was a solid blue flag with a single star right in the middle. Now, the Bonnie Blue Flag was the unofficial flag of the Confederate States of America. It was never officially adopted, but it was an extremely popular flag, and there's a song written about it from that period on the Bonnie Blue Flag. Then secondly, there is what is known as the first national flag, which is sometimes called the Stars and Bars. Now there's a problem, and I'm going to deal with it just a little bit later, but the Stars and Bars look a lot like the Stars and Stripes.

[John Weaver] And there was a conflict because of that. But there was the stars and bars of the first national flag. Then secondly, or thirdly, I should say, there was the second national flag, which is referred to as the stainless banner. It just had this symbol in the upper left-hand corner, and then it was pure white. It was silk. The only problem with the stainless banner was, when the wind was not blowing and it was folded, it sometimes looked like a flag of truce or a flag of surrender. And then thirdly, we have the third national flag, or fourthly I should say, it's the third national flag. And that was the same stainless banner, but with a solid red bar all the way down it. And that's the one that is usually flying today, the third national flag.

[John Weaver] It was officially adopted, but very few of them were issued. And then, of course, we have the Confederate battle flag as we know it. Interestingly enough, the first four flags are very rarely spoken against, because most people don't even know about their existence. And they're totally absolutely ignorant of them and so consequently it is the battle flag that catches most of the flack. So let me begin tonight with some negatives. I want to tell you what the confederate battle flag does not represent. I want to tell you what it does not symbolize. And I want you to hear me very carefully because I'm going to give you the historical proof for what I'm going to say. First of all, the Confederate battle flag is not a racist flag. I can hear it now though, but Brother Weaver, don't you know that the KKK uses the confederate flag? And don't you know the white supremacist groups use the confederate flag? And don't you know the hate groups use the confederate flag? Yes. But I also know that they use the stars and stripes.

[John Weaver] And I also know they even use the Christian flag as well. Let me ask you a question. Why are not the stars and the stripes and the Christian flag considered racist flags as well? I mean, if someone is going to be guilty by association, or if something is going to be guilty by association, I can show you pictures of the Ku Klux Klan marching in Washington, D.C., and there is not one Confederate flag amongst them. They're all carrying the stars and stripes, the U.S. flag. If we're going to condemn a flag because the KKK and the white supremacist groups and the hate groups use it, let's condemn all the flags. Be consistent. condemn the Stars and Stripes, condemn the Christian flag. Let me ask you another question just to show you the certainty of this position. Do you realize that the Darlington 400 for years used a picture of the Confederate flag on its billboard and advertised itself as the Rebel Raceway? Does that mean, therefore, that all those Winston Cup drivers are racists?

[John Weaver] Does that mean that anyone who tends the Darlington 400 is a racist? What about the Scottish soldiers? I'll explain this a little bit later. Even today, Scottish soldiers who are in British Army wear the cross of St. Andrews. Does that mean that all Scottish soldiers are racist as well? Let me show you the enmity and the hatred and the venom that is being spoken against this flag.

[John Weaver] And I'm going to tell you why before I close tonight. But I got a website. And the name of the website was basically The Confederate Flag Must Go. And it was put there by Jack Crawford, who evidently is a black man, based upon his other writings. And here is what he said. I'm quoting him verbatim. I took it off his website. He says this, quote, The Confederate flag is a well-recognized international symbol of racism, slavery, hatred, murder, and white supremacy.

[John Weaver] It should be outlawed, not just banned. Anyone flying it should be corrected in a manner that is usually reserved for overseers, slave masters, and leaders of lynch mobs responsible for the murder of children. Am I clear?" So what does Mr. Jack Crawford say? He says anyone who flies this flag ought to be killed. That's basically what he's saying. What would you do to a murderer who formed a lynch mob and hung a child?

[John Weaver] Well, very clearly, you would see that he got the death penalty. Well, that's what he's saying.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just tell you very quickly, Mr. Crawford's statement is unhistorical, it is unconstitutional, and it is untrue. Do you realize that most attackers of the flag are either motivated by historical ignorance or pure, unadulterated malice toward the South, its symbol, its heritage, and its people? In 1994, a Harris poll found that two-thirds of black Americans have no problem with the confederate flag. No problem at all. Why in the world make the flag an issue. In fact, there are numerous black Americans that speak out for the Confederate flag.

[John Weaver] Let me give you one of them. R.J. Wilkins of Miami, Florida, had this to say. They were flying the Confederate flag at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida, and he wrote this, I'm a black man who is not offended by the flying of the Confederate flag beside the Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida. The Confederate flag is as much a part of my history as of any white person's.

[John Weaver] It may not represent the best of my race or be held by some as a contribution to this country's greatness, but it does to me. My great-grandparents were a part of the plantations. They worked the cotton fields, cleaned the big houses, and in many ways supported the development of American society. We should let the Confederate flag fly as a reminder of our American history, both black and white."

[John Weaver] But let me tell you something. You want to hear a black man speak out? and speak the truth? Let me give you a quote that W. Earl Douglas gave. He was a black journalist in Charleston, South Carolina. He's now dead. But here is what he said concerning the Confederate flag. Now listen carefully. Quote, if hate had been the prevailing emotion between the races, then it is a safe bet that the Confederacy would have never been born.

[John Weaver] Let me just stop there. Did you hear what he said? If hate had been the prevailing emotions between the blacks and the whites in the South. He is saying it's a safe bet that the Confederacy would have never, ever been born. I continue. Fortunately, he says, there was love, understanding, and compassion. Now listen to what this black man says. And the two greatest lies ever perpetrated by history are, number one, that the South instigated the war, And number two, that it was fought by the North for the purpose of freeing the slaves.

[John Weaver] The Negro was merely used as the excuse for that war, while the real reason for it is reflected in every area of our lives, where the tentacles of government form the bars of a new slavery. No, don't furl that Confederate battle flag. Let it wave all across the South to remind Americans that there exists here a yearning for liberty, freedom, and independence that will not be denied.

[John Weaver] Let it fly as a testimonial to real men and real women who would rather work and fight than shed tears and beg for governmental charity." Amen. He understood, folks. He had more sense. and more knowledge than most people today. You see, the Confederate battle flag is not a racist symbol and it never has been. One of my favorite stories is about a black representative, John F. Harris, who was a legislator in Washington County, Mississippi. And he had the opportunity to vote for Senate Bill Number 25, which was a bill to erect a Confederate monument on the Capitol Square in Jackson, Mississippi. Now, the bill did pass. And Mr. Harris, who was sick and got out of his bed to give his speech before the Senate, did so. And of course, on February the 23rd, 1890, the Daily Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi printed his speech in full.

[John Weaver] Let me read a portion of it to you. He says, Mr. Speaker, I have arisen here in my place to offer a few words on the bill. I have come from a sick bed. Perhaps it was not prudent for me to come. But sir, I could not sit quietly in my room without contributing a few remarks of my own. I was sorry to hear the speech of the young gentleman from Marshall County. I am sorry that any son of a soldier should go on record as opposed to the erection of a monument in honor of the brave dead. And sir, I'm convinced that had he seen what I saw at Seven Pines in the seven days fighting around Richmond, the battlefield covered with the mangled forms of those who fought for their country and for their country's honor, he would not have made that speech.

[John Weaver] When the news came that the South had been invaded, those men went forth to fight for what they believed, and they made no requests for monuments. But they died, and their virtues should be remembered. Sir, I went with them. I too wore the gray, the same color my master wore. We stayed four long years, and if that war had gone on till now, I would have been there yet. I want to honor those brave men who died for their convictions. When my mother died, I was a boy. Who, sir, then acted a part of a mother to the orphaned slave boy but my old missus?

[John Weaver] Were she living now, or could speak to me from those high realms where are gathered the sainted dead? She would tell me to vote for this bill, and sir, I shall vote for it. I want it known to all the world that my vote is given in favor of the bill to erect a monument in honor of the Confederate dead." Here was a man, a black man, who wore the Confederate gray, and he understood the war was not a racist war. Now, let me tell you, the Confederate flag is not a racist flag, but now wait, if you want racism, if you want hatred, if you want white supremacy, I will tell you where to find it, under the stars and stripes, not under the confederate flag.

[John Weaver] Do you realize the Emancipation Proclamation was signed on January 1st, 1863, on August the 14th, 1862. Less than five months before the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, Abraham Lincoln invited a number of leading blacks to the White House to give them his words of wisdom and to demonstrate to them why he was attempting to colonize them back in Africa. By the way, Lincoln's Negro policy was to send them all black back to Africa. That was his policy.

[John Weaver] William Seward, William Stanton, all of them same thing. And so he invited these Negroes to come to the White House to hear his words of wisdom and I'm quoting verbatim what Lincoln said. Listen carefully. He says, why should people of your race be colonized and where? Why should they leave this country? This is perhaps the first question for proper consideration. You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference that exists between almost any other two races.

[John Weaver] Whether it is right or wrong, I need not discuss. But this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think. Your race suffers very greatly, many of them by living among us, while ours suffers from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side. If this is admitted, it affords a reason, at least, why we should be separated. You are freemen here, I suppose.

[John Weaver] Perhaps you have been long free all of your lives. Your race is suffering, in my judgment, the greatest wrong inflicted on any people. But even when you cease to be slaves, you are yet far removed from being placed on an equality with the white race. The aspiration of men is to enjoy equality with the best when free. But on this broad continent, not a single man of your race is made the equal of a single man of our race." Abraham Lincoln. Let me translate that. Blacks aren't equal to whites. Never will be.

[John Weaver] That's what he got through saying. Listen to what Lincoln said in a speech in Charleston, Illinois, 1858. Lincoln said, I am not now nor have ever been in favor of bringing about in any way the social or the political equality of a white and black racist. I am not now nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor of intermarriages with white people. There is a physical difference between the white and black races, which will forever forbid the two races from living together on social or political equality. There must be a position of superior and inferior, and I am in favor of assigning the superior position to the white man." Abraham Lincoln.

[John Weaver] You see, the Confederate flag has never stood as a racist symbol. If you want racism, you go to the Stars and Stripes. In the South, although there was separation, the blacks respected the whites and the whites respected the blacks, and I'll tell you this, there was no trouble in the South back then, nor in the 1960s, until the North came down and started stirring up trouble. So the Confederate flag is not a racist flag. Secondly tonight, The Confederate flag is not a flag of slavery. It does not represent slavery. Are you listening to me tonight? There is not one slave ever brought into this country under the Confederate flag. Every slave that was brought into this country was brought in by northern ships under the Stars and Stripes. There was not even a slave brought into this country on a southern vessel. The slaves are brought into this country on northern vessels under the stars and stripes. Did you know out of the 224 years in this country that slavery was legal? And by the way, there were slaves in this country in 1620.

[John Weaver] The 224 years that slavery was legal in this country, only four of those years did the Confederate battle flag fly. What flag flew over the country more than any other flag during those 224 years? It was the Stars and Stripes. It wasn't the Confederate battle flag. It was the Stars and Stripes. Why hate and attack the Confederate flag? I mean, if you want to hate a flag of slavery, then you ought to hate the Stars and Stripes.

[John Weaver] That was the one that brought the slaves over. And if you want to hate another flag of slavery, why not hate the British flag? Did you know that England was responsible for taking five million blacks from Africa and selling them to every country under the sun? If you want to hate a flag, why not hate the Dutch flag, or the Portuguese flag, or the Spanish flag? They sold slaves. And if you want to hate a flag even today, how about hating the Muslim flags? Because even today, the Muslims are still involved in slavery.

[John Weaver] I mean, let's be honest. Now, if you want to believe that the war of 1861 to 1865 was over slavery, I can show you two things that ought to forever correct your thinking in that area. The war was not over slavery. It was not an issue. Let me prove to you just by two simple statements, I'll give you more, but let me prove to you that the war was not fought over slavery and therefore this flag could never ever have represented slavery.

[John Weaver] You see, Abraham Lincoln proposed a 13th Amendment to the Constitution. He proposed that 13th Amendment in March of 1861. Here was Abraham Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment. Quote, no amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give Congress the power to abolish or interfere within any state with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said state." Did you hear that? Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment said Congress shall not have the power to interfere with any institutions within any state, including those held to labor or service by the laws of that state. In other words, what Abraham Lincoln was saying to the South If you will accept this proposed 13th Amendment, you may forever keep slaves.

[John Weaver] Folks, Beauregard never fired on Fort Sumter until April the 9th. This was in March of 1861. If a war had been about slavery and if the South wanted just to keep slaves and that was it, why fire a gun? Why fire a shot? Just simply accept this proposed 13th Amendment and it would all be over. Let me read to you. This resolution was passed unanimously by Congress on July the 23rd, 1861. You may read it for yourself in the congressional record. Here's what this resolution says.

[John Weaver] The war is waged by the government of the United States, not in the spirit of conquest or subjection, nor for the purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or institutions of the states, but to defend and protect the Union. Congress said, the war's not about slavery. Lincoln said, the war's not about slavery. I will even give you a 13th Amendment that will allow you to make slavery permanent.

[John Weaver] You see, what was happening was this. There's a lot of issues, and I can't cover them all tonight, but one of the issues was an economic issue. Do you realize the South, before the war, was extremely wealthy? And the South, before the war, funded probably 75 to 80 percent of all the taxes. But the South, but the North wanted a 40 percent tariff. The South said, no, the most we will ever agree to is a 10 percent tariff.

[John Weaver] And what Lincoln and the radical Republicans were doing was this. They were saying, we will give you the 13th Amendment. We will let you keep your slaves if that's what you want. You just let us keep our tariffs. In other words, the North was willing to sell the blacks out for money, for higher taxes. They weren't interested in the slaves. They could care less. You see, Hapgood's book, Abraham Lincoln, The Man of the People on page 273, quotes Abraham Lincoln as saying, if I could save the Union without freeing any of the slaves, I would do it. Abraham Lincoln later said that slaves are property.

[John Weaver] And if freed, they should be paid for. Later on Lincoln said, I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so and I have no inclination to do so. Now here Lincoln is acknowledging that he has no lawful right to interfere with slavery. Slavery, by the way, was constitutional.

[John Weaver] All 13 colonies agreed on it. And by the way, in 1776, all 13 colonies held slaves. Not just the South, all of them. Lincoln said, I have no lawful right to interfere, nor, he says, do I have an inclination to do so. In a letter to Alexander Stevens, who happened to be later the vice president of the Confederacy, Lincoln wrote Alexander Hamilton Stevens and says this, Do the people of the South really entertain fear that a Republican administration would directly or indirectly interfere with their slaves? Or with them about their slaves?

[John Weaver] If they do, I wish to assure you that once as a friend, and still I hope not an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears. The South would be in no more danger in this respect than it was in the days of Washington. So once again, Lincoln is saying, it's not over slavery. You say, but Brother Weaver, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. And the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves. No it didn't. The Emancipation Proclamation did not free one slave. Do you know what Abraham Lincoln tried to do with the Emancipation Proclamation?

[John Weaver] In fact, he says so himself. And so does other men in his cabinet. They say that the Emancipation Proclamation was a war measure. Lincoln, number one, wanted to keep England specifically, and the rest of Europe particularly, from joining in with or recognizing the Confederate States of America. That was his first goal in that Emancipation Proclamation. His second goal was a war measure, another war measure, in the sense he was hoping that the blacks in the South would rise up in rebellion against their white masters and their white people.

[John Weaver] Let me tell you something. Just to show you there was no trouble in the South. There was not one rebellion during that war of black folks. Do you realize a thousand torches in a thousand black hands would have emptied the confederate armies? Because the men would have gone home to protect their families. And Lincoln knew that. You see, what Lincoln did was this. Now listen to me. Lincoln tried to free the slaves in the South where he had absolutely no authority, and he refused to release the slaves in the North where he did have authority. Did you know that in the Northern armies, even when they were fighting the South, there were slaveholders in the Northern armies? Did you know that General Robert E. Lee, when he inherited some slaves, freed them? General Ulysses S. Grant, who was the main general of the North and afterwards became president, even after the war was over, he kept his slaves.

[John Weaver] And he did so with this excuse. Good help is hard to find. You see, the truth of the matter is this. The Emancipation Proclamation was not only unconstitutional, and everybody recognized it, it cost the Republicans a lot of elections. There were five northern states that refused after that to elect Republicans to Congress. And moreover, there were a lot of Union soldiers that deserted because of it and refused to fight.

[John Weaver] Slavery was not the issue. Slavery has never been the issue until recently, until political revisionists and the political correct people wanted to make it the issue. There have been numerous warnings down through history concerning our flag and concerning our heritage and our culture. One of those warnings came from General Patrick Cleburne. And I want to read to you what General Patrick Cleburne said in January of 1864.

[John Weaver] And he was warning the South in regards to subjugation. And you're talking about a prophet? Listen carefully. General Cleburne said this, if the South lost, it means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy. That our youth will be trained by northern school teachers, will learn from northern school books their version of the war. will be impressed by all of the influences of history and education to regard our gallant debtors as traitors and our maimed veterans as fit subjects for derision."

[John Weaver] Folks, let me tell you, that is exactly what has happened in this country. You pick up any textbook that you want to pick up and it'll just simply say, the war was over slavery, the North was right, the South was wrong. And most folks believe that junk. They'd been taught it. The war was not over slavery, not over slavery at all. One of my favorite stories is about a reconstructed Southerner who ran into Mildred Lewis Rutherford. Mildred Lewis Rutherford was one of the finest Southern historians that you could ever come across. I believe she died in 1928. But this one reconstructed Southerner said to Mrs. Rutherford, he said, my father was a Confederate soldier, but had he lived I'm sure he would have regretted having fought for the wrong side." To which Mrs. Rutherford replied, far more probably, he would have regretted having a son so disloyal to the principles for which he was willing to give his life. The Confederate flag is not a racist flag. The Confederate flag is not a flag of slavery.

[John Weaver] Here's the third thing I want to teach you tonight. I want you to listen carefully. The Confederate flag is a Christian flag. and it represents freedom from tyranny. The Confederate battle flag as we know it really did not come into existence or I should say into full-blown presence until after First Manassas July the 21st 1861. Most of you know or at least you should know that the South and North call their battles by different names so it's either First Manassas or First Bull Run depending on what section of the country you're from. But during that battle, the Confederate battle flag was the stars and bars, and the stars and bars was very easily confused with the stars and stripes, not only at a distance, but especially under battle conditions.

[John Weaver] And you've got to remember all of the smoke that those black powder rifles and cannon made at that particular time. It was during this battle that General Beauregard was observing the battle and he sees a large body of troops moving toward the Union right flank. And Beauregard tried and tried to make out the flag and to see if it was a northern flag or a southern flag and he just simply could not make it out. So he called some of his young lieutenants up and he said, tell me, is that our flag or is that their flag? They could not make it out either. And so he stood there very cautiously, trying to determine whose flag it was, what group was there.

[John Weaver] And all of a sudden, a little puff of wind came, and it unfurled, and he could see that it was stars and bars, and he cried, the day is ours! Attack! Attack! And with that, of course, they won the day, and the Yankees literally threw down their weapons and ran all the way back to Washington, D.C. Later, Beauregard wrote, and here's what he said, at the Battle of Manassas, I found it difficult to distinguish our then Confederate flag from the United States flag, the two being so much alike, especially when General Jubilee Early made the flank movement who decided the fate of the day. So Beauregard said, I couldn't tell if it's ours or theirs. Then he wrote, I resolved to have our flag changed or to adopt for my command a battle flag which would be entirely different from any state or federal flag. Beauregard later said after the war, after the battle it was found that many persons in both armies firmly believed that each side had used as a stratagem the flags of his opponent.

[John Weaver] And it was General Miles who proposed this battle flag with the Saint Andrew's cross on it. Now you've got to remember that Andrew was the first disciple of Jesus Christ. Now why in the world is this battle flag carrying what is known as the Saint Andrew's cross? Well, Andrew, not only being the first disciple of Jesus Christ, was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, and he faithfully preached and taught the Word of God. He taught and preached not only in Asiatic nations, but also in what is in Russia today. Andrew was crucified around 69 A.D. in Patras, Greece. And Andrew persuaded his persecutor, prosecutor, whatever you want to call him, he persuaded him Not to crucify him on a Latin cross, but to crucify him on an X-shaped cross. And the reason he did not want to be crucified on a Latin cross was because that was the way Christ was crucified, and he did not believe himself worthy to be crucified like Christ. Secondly, he convinced his persecutor to not to nail him to that X-shaped cross, but literally to tie his feet and to tie his legs there.

[John Weaver] Because, once again, he did not believe that he was worthy to be crucified in the same manner that Jesus Christ was crucified. And you've got to remember that when this was occurring, Andrew was approximately 90 years of age. And Andrew knew that once he was tied to this cross, Being tied would prolong the agony and the pain. Not ease it, but prolong it. And so Andrew remained alive, tied to that cross, and preached to everyone that came by for three days.

[John Weaver] Finally, after the third day, many of the people believed his preaching. And some were so moved, they went to the persecutor and asked him to have Andrew cut down from the cross. He consented, and they went and cut him down, and when they did, he fell to the earth absolutely dead as a martyr for Jesus Christ. Andrew became the patron saint of Russia and of Scotland.

[John Weaver] Now you say, why is that important? Did you know that according to the census, two-thirds of the Americans living in the 1860s were either Scotch or Scotch-Irish. See, many of them already had St. Andrew's crosses on their flags as such, because they were Scotch people. The cross of St. Andrew's is a symbol of the Christian faith and of the heritage of the Celtic race. The Confederate battle flag is based upon the national flag of Scotland. In fact, another name for the Confederate battle flag is the Southern Cross. And this flag was adopted by General Miles and General Beauregard and men of the South deliberately, consciously, premeditatingly, in order to display their faith in the sovereign God of heaven and earth. They realized that God is the God of providence, that God is the God of history, that God is the God of salvation. Let me read to you a letter that General Miles received from Samuel Barrett of Washington, Georgia. He wrote on May the 23rd, 1861, and forwarded a letter to South Carolina.

[John Weaver] It was Congressman William Porcher Miles. Miles was head of the Congressional Committee tasking with adopting a flag for the Confederacy. Barrett said the flag should be a token of humble acknowledgment of God and be a public testimony to the world that our trust is in the Lord our God. You see, Colonel Walton wanted to have the Latin cross, Colonel Miles said, no, we'll use the St. Andrew's cross, and that's basically what General Beauregard adopted. And this is a Christian flag, it is a Christian symbol, and it was chosen to display faith in the sovereign God. Why should it not? Did you know that the Confederate Constitution acknowledged the sovereignty and the almighty power of God.

[John Weaver] Let me just read you the preamble. The Confederate Constitution said basically after the then living slaves died out, there would be no more slaves imported into the South. But here's the preamble, listen to it. We the people of the Confederate States, each state acting in its sovereign and independent character, in order to form a permanent federal government, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God. to ordain and establish this constitution for the confederate states of America. Even the confederate states motto was Deo Vindicae, which means the Lord is our Vindicator.

[John Weaver] Let me tell you something else. This Southern Cross, this St. Andrew's Cross, is also the Greek letter T, which has historically been used to represent Christ because T, C-H, happens to be the first two letters of the word Christ. Moreover, let me show you this. I realize a lot of people say, well, we're against people sending out cards saying, Mary, Xmas. But that X was at St. Andrew's Cross. Historically, it meant Christ. Moreover, let me tell you this, uneducated and educated people understood the St. Andrew's Cross. They understood the key. They understood the importance of it. Because even on legal documents, a man who was uneducated and could not write made his what? His X. Because it was the first two letters of the name of Christ. And it was made in faith and recognition before God as the sovereign God and the God of providence. And he was giving an oath as he made his X that he would keep his word and do what he had signed.

[John Weaver] So the Confederate battle flag, dear friend, is indeed a Christian flag. Now, let me ask you, what does it mean? to attack the battle flag. It means that you're attacking the sovereignty, majesty, and might of Jesus Christ and his divine role in our history, culture, and life. To attack the battle flag is to attack Christ, because it's a Christian flag. Moreover, let me show you something. This flag stands for the heroic efforts and courageous acts of our Confederate dead. Did you know that General Beauregard got one of the first of the first three original battle flags? And on May the 28th, 1883, Beauregard donated his battle flag to the Louisiana-Washington Artillery. Colonel Walton was there to accept the flag, and Judge Alfred Roman was presenting it, and here's what the judge said. Listen carefully. In the name of General Beauregard, under whose eyes you first went under fire at Manassas, I have the honor to present to you this sacred emblem of Southern valor and patriotism." Did you hear that? This sacred emblem, the flag, of Southern valor and patriotism, said Judge Alfred Roman.

[John Weaver] Its colors are as yet as fresh as when it received its parting look of its fair maker. Its value is enhanced by the fact that the upper portion of its staff is made of a piece of the flagstaff, a Fort Sumter, shot down by the Confederate gunners in April 1861. Gunners, by the way, who were under the command of General Beauregard. Unsullied though it be by the smoke of the battle, it was nonetheless born in war, and the breeze first kissed it in the tinted field.

[John Weaver] It is the genuine model of the glorious flag all around, which all of us fought, and so many of us bled, and so many of us What did the judge say? Here's an emblem of Southern valor and patriotism? He didn't say here's an emblem of racism and our fight for our slaves. No. He said here's the emblem of Southern valor and patriotism. Why attack the Confederate flag? Why attack Confederate monuments? Why attack the Confederate South? Because to attack the Confederate South, its flag and its monuments, is an attack on truth. Are you listening? The South was fighting for independence. The South was fighting for states' rights. The South was fighting for the Tenth Amendment that you and I know. Did you know that the South threw up a petition against Congress and against the United States government exactly like the Declaration of Independence? They only changed the names and made it reflect exactly what the North was doing, how they were acting exactly like George III.

[John Weaver] It may surprise you to know that some Southerners wanted to keep the stars and stripes. You know why they wanted to keep the Stars and Stripes? They said, it's not we who have left the Constitution, it's the North. Let them get another flag. We're the ones that are fighting for truth. You see, to attack the Confederate flag is an attack on political incorrectness. If you want to be politically correct today, if you want to be liberal and pink today, then you attack the Confederate flag. You attack the Confederate monuments. The flag, the Confederate flag, represents all of those who are opposed to unlimited government. The North wants to have unlimited government. Washington, D.C. wants unlimited government. Unhappily, most of our state capitals want unlimited government. The Confederate flag says, oh no, there is a limitation. There is a Constitution.

[John Weaver] We have God-given rights. We are not going to surrender them. And this attack To attack the flag is to attack the truth. Let me tell you something. The Confederate flag stands against everything that you now see in Washington, D.C. 250,000 Confederates gave their lives to prevent what we have today. The intrusion of government into every area of our lives. The Confederate battle flag stands for truth. It stands for freedom from tyranny. It stands for states' rights. It stands for liberty and freedom. But not only that, it stands even more so for liberty against tyranny and freedom against tyranny. Do you realize that the Confederate battle flag is indeed an international symbol, but not an international symbol of racism, white supremacy, hatred, and murder. It's an international symbol, all right.

[John Weaver] Some of you here remember when the Berlin Wall was torn down. We watched it on TV, but I'll bet you've forgotten what was waving on that Berlin Wall, Confederate battle flags. Victory over tyranny. Did you know that the Confederate battle flag has been adopted and used by the people of Poland, Hungary, the Ukraine, Lithuania, and East Germany as they were victorious over the Union of Soviets? Did you realize that even Quebec used the battle flag in trying to secede from Canada just a few years ago? Yes, I can assure you the battle flag is an international symbol, but it's an international symbol for liberty and freedom and independence against tyranny. The Confederate battle flag represents truth against error, freedom against tyranny, light against darkness, and the kingdom of Christ against the kingdom of darkness. You know what we have forgotten is this.

[John Weaver] The war of 1861 and 1865 was not just simply a war that involved politics and economics. It was indeed a cultural war and a religious war. The North was predominantly unitarian and humanist to the core. while the South was predominantly Christian. And it was a war to wipe out Southern heritage and Southern culture and Southern Christianity. And as Greg said earlier, public schools were only forced upon the South after the South lost the war of Northern aggression.

[John Weaver] Now, why must the flag be attacked? Let's ask that question again. Why must the flag be attacked? Why must all Confederate monuments be attacked? Why must the Confederate dead be libeled and slandered? Let me tell you why. Because if we keep our symbols and we see them constantly, we might just begin to inquire as to their origin and their meaning. And in doing so, began to question the myths and the propaganda that had been promulgated down through these years. And beginning to question those myths and propagandas, we began to see the truth. And all of a sudden, we began to stand for the very things that our forefathers stood for, believed in, and died for. Let me tell you, that flag is a threat.

[John Weaver] to the socialists, to the communists, to those who hate God and hate Christ and hate liberty and hate freedom. It's a threat, and they want it taken out of sight. Let me tell you something, dear friend. We better say, Lord, let that flag wave. When that flag goes down, don't think that's going to be the end of it. It'll just be the beginning, because they'll want to take everything else until our heritage, our culture, everything is totally destroyed. Please, if you don't remember anything else tonight, remember this.

[John Weaver] In order to keep a people enslaved, and in order to keep your slaves content, you must destroy their past. The people who have no past have no future. One of these days, the South is going to awaken again, and we're going to see that we have sacrificed our children too long on the altar of humanistic and northern appeasement. We've got to come back and say, we have a heritage, we have a culture, we have a life.

[John Weaver] I remember when I was in college, I had a class, voice and diction. My teacher, unhappily, was a Yankee. But he told me, he said, Mr. Weaver, you still have that southern drawl. And I said, sir, Do you know why I have that southern drawl? He said, why? I said, because I was born in the South, I'm living in the South, and bless God, I plan on keeping my southern drawl. I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not ashamed of that battle flag. I'm not ashamed of our history and our heritage.

[John Weaver] And I want to challenge you. If you don't believe what I'm saying, you go down to the library. and you get the official volumes on the war of rebellion, and you get the official records like I did, and you read them for yourself, and you will find what I'm saying is absolutely true. I want you to turn to one last verse tonight. I want you to turn to Jeremiah chapter 6. Here we are. Jeremiah chapter 6. I want you to see verse 16. Jeremiah chapter 6, verse 16.

[John Weaver] Look at what the Word of God says. Jeremiah 6, verse 16. Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they the wicked said, We will not walk therein. But look what he said, Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the old ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, Where is the good way? And walk there.

[John Weaver] And let me tell you something, if I had a choice today, if I could choose to have the society that we have today, or the society that existed in the South before the war of northern aggression, I can assure you I would take the society that existed in the South before the war of northern aggression. If I had a choice, As to whether I would take the morality of the day or the morality of the South in the 1860s, I would take the morality of the South in the 1860s. If I had a choice as to whether I could take the character, or I should say the lack of character today, or the character that was around in the 1860s in the South, I would take the character in the 1860s in the South.

[John Weaver] A man's word was still his bond back then. I know there were some criminals, but generally speaking, a man's word was his bond. Let me tell you something, folks. It's time we get back to our history. It's time we get back to our heritage. It's time we get back to our culture. It's time we get back to truth. It's time we get back to Christ. And we need to do exactly what Jeremiah says. We need to stand in the ways and ask for the old paths, wherein is the good way, and walk therein.

[John Weaver] And long may that Christian confederate battle flag wave. It's a symbol of Christ and Christianity and patriotism and valor and courage and independence and freedom.

[John Weaver] ¶.

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The Truth Concerning The Confederate Battle Flag

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	WTlf8x5MZGw
Subject	Christian Civilization
Course	Rebuilding Christian Civilization
Genre	Sermon
Date	2016-07-18
Dictation Name
Book	Book 062: Rebuilding Christian Civilization — Chapter 6
Source Timed Segments	75

Formatted Transcript

Opening

The following presentation by Pastor John Weaver points out only a few of the facts our modern history books ignore concerning the war between the states. It is intended to spark interest in the true heritage of the South and expose the efforts of the politically correct to slander the noble and heroic stand of Southerners, both black and white, against the tyranny of unconstitutional usurpation of power by the federal government.

Introduction to Confederate Flags

Weaver introduces the various Confederate flags, noting that the battle flag is the most criticized, while other flags like the Bonnie Blue, Stars and Bars, Stainless Banner, and third national flag are largely ignored.

Is the Confederate flag a Christian symbol? Is the Confederate flag a Christian flag? Interestingly, when one mentions the Confederate flag, usually what comes up in someone's mind is the battle flag, as we see right here. I want you to know tonight that there were numerous Confederate flags. This is the battle flag. Let me just point out the fact: There were five major flags. There were many, many more. But the first flag that I want to point out was the Bonnie Blue Flag, which was a solid blue flag with a single star right in the middle. Now, the Bonnie Blue Flag was the unofficial flag of the Confederate States of America. It was never officially adopted, but it was an extremely popular flag, and there's a song written about it from that period on the Bonnie Blue Flag. Then secondly, there is what is known as the first national flag, which is sometimes called the Stars and Bars. Now there's a problem, and I'm going to deal with it just a little bit later, but the Stars and Bars look a lot like the Stars and Stripes.

And there was a conflict because of that. But there was the Stars and Bars of the first national flag. Then secondly, or thirdly, I should say, there was the second national flag, which is referred to as the Stainless Banner. It just had this symbol in the upper left-hand corner, and then it was pure white. It was silk. The only problem with the Stainless Banner was, when the wind was not blowing and it was folded, it sometimes looked like a flag of truce or a flag of surrender. And then thirdly, we have the third national flag, or fourthly I should say, it's the third national flag. And that was the same Stainless Banner, but with a solid red bar all the way down it. And that's the one that is usually flying today, the third national flag.

It was officially adopted, but very few of them were issued. And then, of course, we have the Confederate battle flag as we know it. Interestingly enough, the first four flags are very rarely spoken against, because most people don't even know about their existence. And they're totally absolutely ignorant of them, and so consequently it is the battle flag that catches most of the flak. So let me begin tonight with some negatives. I want to tell you what the Confederate battle flag does not represent. I want to tell you what it does not symbolize. And I want you to hear me very carefully because I'm going to give you the historical proof for what I'm going to say. First of all, the Confederate battle flag is not a racist flag. I can hear it now though, "But Brother Weaver, don't you know that the KKK uses the Confederate flag? And don't you know the white supremacist groups use the Confederate flag? And don't you know the hate groups use the Confederate flag?" Yes. But I also know that they use the Stars and Stripes.

The Flag is Not Racist

Weaver argues the Confederate battle flag is not racist, pointing out that hate groups also use the U.S. and Christian flags, and cites black Americans who support the flag.

And I also know they even use the Christian flag as well. Let me ask you a question. Why are not the Stars and the Stripes and the Christian flag considered racist flags as well? I mean, if someone is going to be guilty by association, or if something is going to be guilty by association, I can show you pictures of the Ku Klux Klan marching in Washington, D.C., and there is not one Confederate flag amongst them. They're all carrying the Stars and Stripes, the U.S. flag. If we're going to condemn a flag because the KKK and the white supremacist groups and the hate groups use it, let's condemn all the flags. Be consistent. Condemn the Stars and Stripes, condemn the Christian flag. Let me ask you another question just to show you the certainty of this position. Do you realize that the Darlington 400 for years used a picture of the Confederate flag on its billboard and advertised itself as the Rebel Raceway? Does that mean, therefore, that all those Winston Cup drivers are racists?

Does that mean that anyone who attends the Darlington 400 is a racist? What about the Scottish soldiers? I'll explain this a little bit later. Even today, Scottish soldiers who are in the British Army wear the cross of St. Andrew. Does that mean that all Scottish soldiers are racist as well? Let me show you the enmity and the hatred and the venom that is being spoken against this flag.

And I'm going to tell you why before I close tonight. But I got a website. And the name of the website was basically "The Confederate Flag Must Go." And it was put there by Jack Crawford, who evidently is a black man, based upon his other writings. And here is what he said. I'm quoting him verbatim. I took it off his website. He says this, quote, "The Confederate flag is a well-recognized international symbol of racism, slavery, hatred, murder, and white supremacy.

It should be outlawed, not just banned. Anyone flying it should be corrected in a manner that is usually reserved for overseers, slave masters, and leaders of lynch mobs responsible for the murder of children. Am I clear?" So what does Mr. Jack Crawford say? He says anyone who flies this flag ought to be killed. That's basically what he's saying. What would you do to a murderer who formed a lynch mob and hung a child?

Well, very clearly, you would see that he got the death penalty. Well, that's what he's saying. Now, let me just tell you very quickly, Mr. Crawford's statement is unhistorical, it is unconstitutional, and it is untrue. Do you realize that most attackers of the flag are either motivated by historical ignorance or pure, unadulterated malice toward the South, its symbol, its heritage, and its people? In 1994, a Harris poll found that two-thirds of black Americans have no problem with the Confederate flag. No problem at all. Why in the world make the flag an issue? In fact, there are numerous black Americans that speak out for the Confederate flag.

Let me give you one of them. R.J. Wilkins of Miami, Florida, had this to say. They were flying the Confederate flag at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida, and he wrote this: "I'm a black man who is not offended by the flying of the Confederate flag beside the Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida. The Confederate flag is as much a part of my history as of any white person's.

It may not represent the best of my race or be held by some as a contribution to this country's greatness, but it does to me. My great-grandparents were a part of the plantations. They worked the cotton fields, cleaned the big houses, and in many ways supported the development of American society. We should let the Confederate flag fly as a reminder of our American history, both black and white."

But let me tell you something. You want to hear a black man speak out and speak the truth? Let me give you a quote that W. Earl Douglas gave. He was a black journalist in Charleston, South Carolina. He's now dead. But here is what he said concerning the Confederate flag. Now listen carefully. Quote, "If hate had been the prevailing emotion between the races, then it is a safe bet that the Confederacy would have never been born.

Let me just stop there. Did you hear what he said? If hate had been the prevailing emotions between the blacks and the whites in the South, he is saying it's a safe bet that the Confederacy would have never, ever been born. I continue. Fortunately, he says, there was love, understanding, and compassion. Now listen to what this black man says. "And the two greatest lies ever perpetrated by history are, number one, that the South instigated the war, and number two, that it was fought by the North for the purpose of freeing the slaves.

The Negro was merely used as the excuse for that war, while the real reason for it is reflected in every area of our lives, where the tentacles of government form the bars of a new slavery. No, don't furl that Confederate battle flag. Let it wave all across the South to remind Americans that there exists here a yearning for liberty, freedom, and independence that will not be denied. Let it fly as a testimonial to real men and real women who would rather work and fight than shed tears and beg for governmental charity." Amen. He understood, folks. He had more sense and more knowledge than most people today. You see, the Confederate battle flag is not a racist symbol and it never has been. One of my favorite stories is about a black representative, John F. Harris, who was a legislator in Washington County, Mississippi. And he had the opportunity to vote for Senate Bill Number 25, which was a bill to erect a Confederate monument on the Capitol Square in Jackson, Mississippi. Now, the bill did pass. And Mr. Harris, who was sick and got out of his bed to give his speech before the Senate, did so. And of course, on February the 23rd, 1890, the Daily Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi printed his speech in full.

Let me read a portion of it to you. He says, "Mr. Speaker, I have arisen here in my place to offer a few words on the bill. I have come from a sick bed. Perhaps it was not prudent for me to come. But sir, I could not sit quietly in my room without contributing a few remarks of my own. I was sorry to hear the speech of the young gentleman from Marshall County. I am sorry that any son of a soldier should go on record as opposed to the erection of a monument in honor of the brave dead. And sir, I'm convinced that had he seen what I saw at Seven Pines in the seven days fighting around Richmond, the battlefield covered with the mangled forms of those who fought for their country and for their country's honor, he would not have made that speech.

When the news came that the South had been invaded, those men went forth to fight for what they believed, and they made no requests for monuments. But they died, and their virtues should be remembered. Sir, I went with them. I too wore the gray, the same color my master wore. We stayed four long years, and if that war had gone on till now, I would have been there yet. I want to honor those brave men who died for their convictions. When my mother died, I was a boy. Who, sir, then acted a part of a mother to the orphaned slave boy but my old missus?

Were she living now, or could speak to me from those high realms where are gathered the sainted dead? She would tell me to vote for this bill, and sir, I shall vote for it. I want it known to all the world that my vote is given in favor of the bill to erect a monument in honor of the Confederate dead." Here was a man, a black man, who wore the Confederate gray, and he understood the war was not a racist war. Now, let me tell you, the Confederate flag is not a racist flag, but now wait, if you want racism, if you want hatred, if you want white supremacy, I will tell you where to find it, under the Stars and Stripes, not under the Confederate flag.

Racism Under the Stars and Stripes

Weaver contrasts the Confederate flag with the U.S. flag, quoting Abraham Lincoln's racist statements and arguing that true racism is found under the Stars and Stripes.

Do you realize the Emancipation Proclamation was signed on January 1st, 1863? On August the 14th, 1862, less than five months before the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, Abraham Lincoln invited a number of leading blacks to the White House to give them his words of wisdom and to demonstrate to them why he was attempting to colonize them back in Africa. By the way, Lincoln's Negro policy was to send them all back to Africa. That was his policy. William Seward, William Stanton, all of them same thing. And so he invited these Negroes to come to the White House to hear his words of wisdom and I'm quoting verbatim what Lincoln said. Listen carefully. He says, "Why should people of your race be colonized and where? Why should they leave this country? This is perhaps the first question for proper consideration. You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference that exists between almost any other two races.

Whether it is right or wrong, I need not discuss. But this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think. Your race suffers very greatly, many of them by living among us, while ours suffers from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side. If this is admitted, it affords a reason, at least, why we should be separated. You are freemen here, I suppose. Perhaps you have been long free all of your lives. Your race is suffering, in my judgment, the greatest wrong inflicted on any people. But even when you cease to be slaves, you are yet far removed from being placed on an equality with the white race. The aspiration of men is to enjoy equality with the best when free. But on this broad continent, not a single man of your race is made the equal of a single man of our race." Abraham Lincoln. Let me translate that. Blacks aren't equal to whites. Never will be.

That's what he got through saying. Listen to what Lincoln said in a speech in Charleston, Illinois, 1858. Lincoln said, "I am not now nor have ever been in favor of bringing about in any way the social or the political equality of a white and black race. I am not now nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor of intermarriages with white people. There is a physical difference between the white and black races, which will forever forbid the two races from living together on social or political equality. There must be a position of superior and inferior, and I am in favor of assigning the superior position to the white man." Abraham Lincoln. You see, the Confederate flag has never stood as a racist symbol. If you want racism, you go to the Stars and Stripes. In the South, although there was separation, the blacks respected the whites and the whites respected the blacks, and I'll tell you this, there was no trouble in the South back then, nor in the 1960s, until the North came down and started stirring up trouble. So the Confederate flag is not a racist flag. Secondly tonight, the Confederate flag is not a flag of slavery. It does not represent slavery. Are you listening to me tonight? There is not one slave ever brought into this country under the Confederate flag. Every slave that was brought into this country was brought in by northern ships under the Stars and Stripes. There was not even a slave brought into this country on a southern vessel. The slaves were brought into this country on northern vessels under the Stars and Stripes. Did you know out of the 224 years in this country that slavery was legal? And by the way, there were slaves in this country in 1620.

The Flag is Not a Flag of Slavery

Weaver claims the Confederate flag never represented slavery, noting that slaves were brought to America under the U.S. flag, and that the war was not about slavery.

The 224 years that slavery was legal in this country, only four of those years did the Confederate battle flag fly. What flag flew over the country more than any other flag during those 224 years? It was the Stars and Stripes. It wasn't the Confederate battle flag. It was the Stars and Stripes. Why hate and attack the Confederate flag? I mean, if you want to hate a flag of slavery, then you ought to hate the Stars and Stripes.

That was the one that brought the slaves over. And if you want to hate another flag of slavery, why not hate the British flag? Did you know that England was responsible for taking five million blacks from Africa and selling them to every country under the sun? If you want to hate a flag, why not hate the Dutch flag, or the Portuguese flag, or the Spanish flag? They sold slaves. And if you want to hate a flag even today, how about hating the Muslim flags? Because even today, the Muslims are still involved in slavery.

I mean, let's be honest. Now, if you want to believe that the war of 1861 to 1865 was over slavery, I can show you two things that ought to forever correct your thinking in that area. The war was not over slavery. It was not an issue. Let me prove to you just by two simple statements, I'll give you more, but let me prove to you that the war was not fought over slavery and therefore this flag could never ever have represented slavery.

The War Was Not Over Slavery

Weaver presents evidence that the Civil War was not about slavery, including Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment and congressional resolutions, and argues it was an economic conflict.

You see, Abraham Lincoln proposed a 13th Amendment to the Constitution. He proposed that 13th Amendment in March of 1861. Here was Abraham Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment. Quote, "No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give Congress the power to abolish or interfere within any state with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said state." Did you hear that? Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment said Congress shall not have the power to interfere with any institutions within any state, including those held to labor or service by the laws of that state. In other words, what Abraham Lincoln was saying to the South: If you will accept this proposed 13th Amendment, you may forever keep slaves. Folks, Beauregard never fired on Fort Sumter until April the 9th. This was in March of 1861. If a war had been about slavery and if the South wanted just to keep slaves and that was it, why fire a gun? Why fire a shot? Just simply accept this proposed 13th Amendment and it would all be over. Let me read to you. This resolution was passed unanimously by Congress on July the 23rd, 1861. You may read it for yourself in the congressional record. Here's what this resolution says.

"The war is waged by the government of the United States, not in the spirit of conquest or subjection, nor for the purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or institutions of the states, but to defend and protect the Union." Congress said, the war's not about slavery. Lincoln said, the war's not about slavery. I will even give you a 13th Amendment that will allow you to make slavery permanent. You see, what was happening was this. There's a lot of issues, and I can't cover them all tonight, but one of the issues was an economic issue. Do you realize the South, before the war, was extremely wealthy? And the South, before the war, funded probably 75 to 80 percent of all the taxes. But the South—but the North wanted a 40 percent tariff. The South said, no, the most we will ever agree to is a 10 percent tariff.

And what Lincoln and the radical Republicans were doing was this. They were saying, we will give you the 13th Amendment. We will let you keep your slaves if that's what you want. You just let us keep our tariffs. In other words, the North was willing to sell the blacks out for money, for higher taxes. They weren't interested in the slaves. They could care less. You see, Hapgood's book, Abraham Lincoln, The Man of the People, on page 273, quotes Abraham Lincoln as saying, "If I could save the Union without freeing any of the slaves, I would do it." Abraham Lincoln later said that slaves are property.

And if freed, they should be paid for. Later on Lincoln said, "I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so and I have no inclination to do so." Now here Lincoln is acknowledging that he has no lawful right to interfere with slavery. Slavery, by the way, was constitutional. All 13 colonies agreed on it. And by the way, in 1776, all 13 colonies held slaves. Not just the South, all of them. Lincoln said, "I have no lawful right to interfere, nor," he says, "do I have an inclination to do so." In a letter to Alexander Stephens, who happened to be later the vice president of the Confederacy, Lincoln wrote Alexander Hamilton Stephens and says this: "Do the people of the South really entertain fear that a Republican administration would directly or indirectly interfere with their slaves? Or with them about their slaves?

If they do, I wish to assure you that once as a friend, and still I hope not an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears. The South would be in no more danger in this respect than it was in the days of Washington." So once again, Lincoln is saying, it's not over slavery. You say, "But Brother Weaver, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. And the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves." No it didn't. The Emancipation Proclamation did not free one slave. Do you know what Abraham Lincoln tried to do with the Emancipation Proclamation?

The Emancipation Proclamation Did Not Free Slaves

Weaver argues the Emancipation Proclamation was a war measure that freed no slaves, and notes that slavery continued in the North and under Union generals.

In fact, he says so himself. And so do other men in his cabinet. They say that the Emancipation Proclamation was a war measure. Lincoln, number one, wanted to keep England specifically, and the rest of Europe particularly, from joining in with or recognizing the Confederate States of America. That was his first goal in that Emancipation Proclamation. His second goal was a war measure, another war measure, in the sense he was hoping that the blacks in the South would rise up in rebellion against their white masters and their white people. Let me tell you something. Just to show you there was no trouble in the South. There was not one rebellion during that war of black folks. Do you realize a thousand torches in a thousand black hands would have emptied the Confederate armies? Because the men would have gone home to protect their families. And Lincoln knew that. You see, what Lincoln did was this. Now listen to me. Lincoln tried to free the slaves in the South where he had absolutely no authority, and he refused to release the slaves in the North where he did have authority. Did you know that in the Northern armies, even when they were fighting the South, there were slaveholders in the Northern armies? Did you know that General Robert E. Lee, when he inherited some slaves, freed them? General Ulysses S. Grant, who was the main general of the North and afterwards became president, even after the war was over, he kept his slaves.

And he did so with this excuse: "Good help is hard to find." You see, the truth of the matter is this. The Emancipation Proclamation was not only unconstitutional, and everybody recognized it, it cost the Republicans a lot of elections. There were five northern states that refused after that to elect Republicans to Congress. And moreover, there were a lot of Union soldiers that deserted because of it and refused to fight. Slavery was not the issue. Slavery has never been the issue until recently, until political revisionists and the politically correct people wanted to make it the issue. There have been numerous warnings down through history concerning our flag and concerning our heritage and our culture. One of those warnings came from General Patrick Cleburne. And I want to read to you what General Patrick Cleburne said in January of 1864.

And he was warning the South in regards to subjugation. And you're talking about a prophet? Listen carefully. General Cleburne said this: "If the South lost, it means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy. That our youth will be trained by northern school teachers, will learn from northern school books their version of the war, will be impressed by all of the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors and our maimed veterans as fit subjects for derision."

The Flag is a Christian Symbol

Weaver explains the St. Andrew's Cross on the battle flag as a Christian symbol, adopted to display faith in God, and ties it to Scottish heritage and the Greek letter Chi.

Here's the third thing I want to teach you tonight. I want you to listen carefully. The Confederate flag is a Christian flag, and it represents freedom from tyranny. The Confederate battle flag as we know it really did not come into existence, or I should say into full-blown presence, until after First Manassas, July the 21st, 1861. Most of you know, or at least you should know, that the South and North call their battles by different names, so it's either First Manassas or First Bull Run depending on what section of the country you're from. But during that battle, the Confederate battle flag was the Stars and Bars, and the Stars and Bars was very easily confused with the Stars and Stripes, not only at a distance, but especially under battle conditions. And you've got to remember all of the smoke that those black powder rifles and cannon made at that particular time. It was during this battle that General Beauregard was observing the battle and he sees a large body of troops moving toward the Union right flank. And Beauregard tried and tried to make out the flag and to see if it was a northern flag or a southern flag and he just simply could not make it out. So he called some of his young lieutenants up and he said, "Tell me, is that our flag or is that their flag?" They could not make it out either. And so he stood there very cautiously, trying to determine whose flag it was, what group was there.

And all of a sudden, a little puff of wind came, and it unfurled, and he could see that it was Stars and Bars, and he cried, "The day is ours! Attack! Attack!" And with that, of course, they won the day, and the Yankees literally threw down their weapons and ran all the way back to Washington, D.C. Later, Beauregard wrote, and here's what he said: "At the Battle of Manassas, I found it difficult to distinguish our then Confederate flag from the United States flag, the two being so much alike, especially when General Jubal Early made the flank movement who decided the fate of the day." So Beauregard said, "I couldn't tell if it's ours or theirs." Then he wrote, "I resolved to have our flag changed or to adopt for my command a battle flag which would be entirely different from any state or federal flag." Beauregard later said after the war, "After the battle it was found that many persons in both armies firmly believed that each side had used as a stratagem the flags of his opponent."

And it was General Miles who proposed this battle flag with the St. Andrew's cross on it. Now you've got to remember that Andrew was the first disciple of Jesus Christ. Now why in the world is this battle flag carrying what is known as the St. Andrew's cross? Well, Andrew, not only being the first disciple of Jesus Christ, was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, and he faithfully preached and taught the Word of God. He taught and preached not only in Asiatic nations, but also in what is in Russia today. Andrew was crucified around 69 A.D. in Patras, Greece. And Andrew persuaded his persecutor—prosecutor, whatever you want to call him—he persuaded him not to crucify him on a Latin cross, but to crucify him on an X-shaped cross. And the reason he did not want to be crucified on a Latin cross was because that was the way Christ was crucified, and he did not believe himself worthy to be crucified like Christ. Secondly, he convinced his persecutor to not to nail him to that X-shaped cross, but literally to tie his feet and to tie his legs there.

Because, once again, he did not believe that he was worthy to be crucified in the same manner that Jesus Christ was crucified. And you've got to remember that when this was occurring, Andrew was approximately 90 years of age. And Andrew knew that once he was tied to this cross, being tied would prolong the agony and the pain. Not ease it, but prolong it. And so Andrew remained alive, tied to that cross, and preached to everyone that came by for three days. Finally, after the third day, many of the people believed his preaching. And some were so moved, they went to the persecutor and asked him to have Andrew cut down from the cross. He consented, and they went and cut him down, and when they did, he fell to the earth absolutely dead as a martyr for Jesus Christ. Andrew became the patron saint of Russia and of Scotland.

Now you say, why is that important? Did you know that according to the census, two-thirds of the Americans living in the 1860s were either Scotch or Scotch-Irish? See, many of them already had St. Andrew's crosses on their flags as such, because they were Scotch people. The cross of St. Andrew is a symbol of the Christian faith and of the heritage of the Celtic race. The Confederate battle flag is based upon the national flag of Scotland. In fact, another name for the Confederate battle flag is the Southern Cross. And this flag was adopted by General Miles and General Beauregard and men of the South deliberately, consciously, premeditatingly, in order to display their faith in the sovereign God of heaven and earth. They realized that God is the God of providence, that God is the God of history, that God is the God of salvation. Let me read to you a letter that General Miles received from Samuel Barrett of Washington, Georgia. He wrote on May the 23rd, 1861, and forwarded a letter to South Carolina.

It was Congressman William Porcher Miles. Miles was head of the Congressional Committee tasked with adopting a flag for the Confederacy. Barrett said the flag should be a token of humble acknowledgment of God and be a public testimony to the world that our trust is in the Lord our God. You see, Colonel Walton wanted to have the Latin cross, Colonel Miles said, no, we'll use the St. Andrew's cross, and that's basically what General Beauregard adopted. And this is a Christian flag, it is a Christian symbol, and it was chosen to display faith in the sovereign God. Why should it not? Did you know that the Confederate Constitution acknowledged the sovereignty and the almighty power of God?

Let me just read you the preamble. The Confederate Constitution said basically after the then living slaves died out, there would be no more slaves imported into the South. But here's the preamble, listen to it: "We the people of the Confederate States, each state acting in its sovereign and independent character, in order to form a permanent federal government, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this constitution for the Confederate States of America." Even the Confederate States motto was Deo Vindice, which means "the Lord is our Vindicator." Let me tell you something else. This Southern Cross, this St. Andrew's Cross, is also the Greek letter Chi, which has historically been used to represent Christ because Chi, C-H, happens to be the first two letters of the word Christ. Moreover, let me show you this. I realize a lot of people say, well, we're against people sending out cards saying, "Merry Xmas." But that X was a St. Andrew's Cross. Historically, it meant Christ. Moreover, let me tell you this, uneducated and educated people understood the St. Andrew's Cross. They understood the Chi. They understood the importance of it. Because even on legal documents, a man who was uneducated and could not write made his what? His X. Because it was the first two letters of the name of Christ. And it was made in faith and recognition before God as the sovereign God and the God of providence. And he was giving an oath as he made his X that he would keep his word and do what he had signed.

So the Confederate battle flag, dear friend, is indeed a Christian flag. Now, let me ask you, what does it mean to attack the battle flag? It means that you're attacking the sovereignty, majesty, and might of Jesus Christ and His divine role in our history, culture, and life. To attack the battle flag is to attack Christ, because it's a Christian flag. Moreover, let me show you something. This flag stands for the heroic efforts and courageous acts of our Confederate dead. Did you know that General Beauregard got one of the first of the first three original battle flags? And on May the 28th, 1883, Beauregard donated his battle flag to the Louisiana-Washington Artillery. Colonel Walton was there to accept the flag, and Judge Alfred Roman was presenting it, and here's what the judge said. Listen carefully. "In the name of General Beauregard, under whose eyes you first went under fire at Manassas, I have the honor to present to you this sacred emblem of Southern valor and patriotism." Did you hear that? "This sacred emblem," the flag, "of Southern valor and patriotism," said Judge Alfred Roman.

The Flag Represents Freedom and Truth

Weaver asserts the flag stands for liberty, states' rights, and opposition to tyranny, and that attacks on it are attacks on truth and Christianity.

"Its colors are as yet as fresh as when it received its parting look of its fair maker. Its value is enhanced by the fact that the upper portion of its staff is made of a piece of the flagstaff at Fort Sumter, shot down by the Confederate gunners in April 1861." Gunners, by the way, who were under the command of General Beauregard. "Unsullied though it be by the smoke of the battle, it was nonetheless born in war, and the breeze first kissed it in the tinted field." "It is the genuine model of the glorious flag all around, which all of us fought, and so many of us bled, and so many of us—" What did the judge say? "Here's an emblem of Southern valor and patriotism"? He didn't say "here's an emblem of racism and our fight for our slaves." No. He said "here's the emblem of Southern valor and patriotism." Why attack the Confederate flag? Why attack Confederate monuments? Why attack the Confederate South? Because to attack the Confederate South, its flag and its monuments, is an attack on truth. Are you listening? The South was fighting for independence. The South was fighting for states' rights. The South was fighting for the Tenth Amendment that you and I know. Did you know that the South threw up a petition against Congress and against the United States government exactly like the Declaration of Independence? They only changed the names and made it reflect exactly what the North was doing, how they were acting exactly like George III.

It may surprise you to know that some Southerners wanted to keep the Stars and Stripes. You know why they wanted to keep the Stars and Stripes? They said, "It's not we who have left the Constitution, it's the North. Let them get another flag. We're the ones that are fighting for truth." You see, to attack the Confederate flag is an attack on political incorrectness. If you want to be politically correct today, if you want to be liberal and pink today, then you attack the Confederate flag. You attack the Confederate monuments. The flag, the Confederate flag, represents all of those who are opposed to unlimited government. The North wants to have unlimited government. Washington, D.C. wants unlimited government. Unhappily, most of our state capitals want unlimited government. The Confederate flag says, "Oh no, there is a limitation. There is a Constitution.

We have God-given rights. We are not going to surrender them." And this attack—to attack the flag is to attack the truth. Let me tell you something. The Confederate flag stands against everything that you now see in Washington, D.C. 250,000 Confederates gave their lives to prevent what we have today. The intrusion of government into every area of our lives. The Confederate battle flag stands for truth. It stands for freedom from tyranny. It stands for states' rights. It stands for liberty and freedom. But not only that, it stands even more so for liberty against tyranny and freedom against tyranny. Do you realize that the Confederate battle flag is indeed an international symbol, but not an international symbol of racism, white supremacy, hatred, and murder. It's an international symbol, all right.

Some of you here remember when the Berlin Wall was torn down. We watched it on TV, but I'll bet you've forgotten what was waving on that Berlin Wall: Confederate battle flags. Victory over tyranny. Did you know that the Confederate battle flag has been adopted and used by the people of Poland, Hungary, the Ukraine, Lithuania, and East Germany as they were victorious over the Union of Soviets? Did you realize that even Quebec used the battle flag in trying to secede from Canada just a few years ago? Yes, I can assure you the battle flag is an international symbol, but it's an international symbol for liberty and freedom and independence against tyranny. The Confederate battle flag represents truth against error, freedom against tyranny, light against darkness, and the kingdom of Christ against the kingdom of darkness. You know what we have forgotten is this.

Why the Flag Must Be Attacked

Weaver claims the flag is attacked because it threatens socialists and those who hate God, and that destroying symbols leads to loss of heritage and enslavement.

The war of 1861 and 1865 was not just simply a war that involved politics and economics. It was indeed a cultural war and a religious war. The North was predominantly Unitarian and humanist to the core, while the South was predominantly Christian. And it was a war to wipe out Southern heritage and Southern culture and Southern Christianity. And as Greg said earlier, public schools were only forced upon the South after the South lost the war of Northern aggression.

Now, why must the flag be attacked? Let's ask that question again. Why must the flag be attacked? Why must all Confederate monuments be attacked? Why must the Confederate dead be libeled and slandered? Let me tell you why. Because if we keep our symbols and we see them constantly, we might just begin to inquire as to their origin and their meaning. And in doing so, begin to question the myths and the propaganda that have been promulgated down through these years. And beginning to question those myths and propagandas, we begin to see the truth. And all of a sudden, we begin to stand for the very things that our forefathers stood for, believed in, and died for. Let me tell you, that flag is a threat

to the socialists, to the communists, to those who hate God and hate Christ and hate liberty and hate freedom. It's a threat, and they want it taken out of sight. Let me tell you something, dear friend. We better say, "Lord, let that flag wave." When that flag goes down, don't think that's going to be the end of it. It'll just be the beginning, because they'll want to take everything else until our heritage, our culture, everything is totally destroyed. Please, if you don't remember anything else tonight, remember this. In order to keep a people enslaved, and in order to keep your slaves content, you must destroy their past. The people who have no past have no future. One of these days, the South is going to awaken again, and we're going to see that we have sacrificed our children too long on the altar of humanistic and northern appeasement. We've got to come back and say, we have a heritage, we have a culture, we have a life.

Call to Return to Heritage

Weaver urges a return to Southern heritage and the old paths, citing Jeremiah 6:16, and expresses pride in Southern culture and the Confederate flag.

I remember when I was in college, I had a class, voice and diction. My teacher, unhappily, was a Yankee. But he told me, he said, "Mr. Weaver, you still have that southern drawl." And I said, "Sir, do you know why I have that southern drawl?" He said, "Why?" I said, "Because I was born in the South, I'm living in the South, and bless God, I plan on keeping my southern drawl. I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not ashamed of that battle flag. I'm not ashamed of our history and our heritage."

And I want to challenge you. If you don't believe what I'm saying, you go down to the library and you get the official volumes on the war of rebellion, and you get the official records like I did, and you read them for yourself, and you will find what I'm saying is absolutely true. I want you to turn to one last verse tonight. I want you to turn to Jeremiah chapter 6. Here we are. Jeremiah chapter 6. I want you to see verse 16. Jeremiah chapter 6, verse 16.

Look at what the Word of God says. Jeremiah 6, verse 16:

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 6:16

"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they the wicked said, We will not walk therein."

But look what he said:

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 6:16

"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the old ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, Where is the good way? And walk there."

And let me tell you something, if I had a choice today, if I could choose to have the society that we have today, or the society that existed in the South before the war of northern aggression, I can assure you I would take the society that existed in the South before the war of northern aggression. If I had a choice as to whether I would take the morality of the day or the morality of the South in the 1860s, I would take the morality of the South in the 1860s. If I had a choice as to whether I could take the character, or I should say the lack of character today, or the character that was around in the 1860s in the South, I would take the character in the 1860s in the South.

A man's word was still his bond back then. I know there were some criminals, but generally speaking, a man's word was his bond. Let me tell you something, folks. It's time we get back to our history. It's time we get back to our heritage. It's time we get back to our culture. It's time we get back to truth. It's time we get back to Christ. And we need to do exactly what Jeremiah says. We need to stand in the ways and ask for the old paths, wherein is the good way, and walk therein.

And long may that Christian Confederate battle flag wave. It's a symbol of Christ and Christianity and patriotism and valor and courage and independence and freedom.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Confederate Flag as Christian Symbol

Summary: The Confederate battle flag is a Christian flag, with the St. Andrew's Cross representing faith in God and Christ.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'The Confederate flag is a Christian flag, and it represents freedom from tyranny.' He explains the St. Andrew's Cross and its adoption to display faith.

War Not About Slavery

Summary: The Civil War was not fought over slavery but over economic issues and states' rights.

Evidence: Weaver cites Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment and congressional resolution, saying: 'The war was not over slavery. It was not an issue.'

Racism Under U.S. Flag

Summary: True racism and white supremacy are associated with the U.S. flag and Northern leaders like Lincoln.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Lincoln's racist statements and says: 'If you want racism, you go to the Stars and Stripes.'

Attack on Flag as Attack on Truth

Summary: Attacks on the Confederate flag are attacks on truth, Christianity, and Southern heritage.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'To attack the Confederate flag is an attack on truth... to attack the battle flag is to attack Christ.'

Southern Heritage and Liberty

Summary: The flag represents Southern valor, patriotism, and the fight for liberty against tyranny.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Judge Roman calling the flag 'this sacred emblem of Southern valor and patriotism.'

Historical Revisionism

Summary: History has been rewritten by the North to portray the South as wrong and the war as about slavery.

Evidence: Weaver quotes General Cleburne's warning: 'the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy.'

Key Arguments

Flag Not Racist Due to Black Support

Summary: The flag is not racist because many black Americans support it and even fought under it.

Evidence: Weaver cites a Harris poll and quotes black individuals like R.J. Wilkins and John F. Harris, a black Confederate veteran.

Lincoln's Racism Proves U.S. Flag is Racist

Summary: Abraham Lincoln's own words show he believed in white supremacy, making the U.S. flag the true racist symbol.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Lincoln: 'I am not now nor ever have been in favor of bringing about... the social or the political equality of a white and black race.'

Slaves Brought Under U.S. Flag

Summary: No slaves were brought to America under the Confederate flag; all were brought under the U.S. flag by Northern ships.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'There is not one slave ever brought into this country under the Confederate flag.'

Lincoln's Proposed 13th Amendment

Summary: Lincoln proposed an amendment that would have permanently protected slavery, proving the war was not about slavery.

Evidence: Weaver reads Lincoln's proposed amendment: 'No amendment shall be made... which will authorize or give Congress the power to abolish or interfere... with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service.'

Emancipation Proclamation as War Measure

Summary: The Emancipation Proclamation freed no slaves and was a strategic war measure to prevent European intervention.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'The Emancipation Proclamation did not free one slave... it was a war measure.'

St. Andrew's Cross as Christian Symbol

Summary: The battle flag's design is based on the St. Andrew's Cross, a Christian symbol representing faith in Christ.

Evidence: Weaver explains: 'The Confederate battle flag is based upon the national flag of Scotland... adopted... to display their faith in the sovereign God.'

Flag as International Symbol of Freedom

Summary: The Confederate flag has been used internationally as a symbol of freedom against tyranny, such as at the Berlin Wall.

Evidence: Weaver notes: 'when the Berlin Wall was torn down... Confederate battle flags' were waving.

Attack on Flag is Attack on Heritage

Summary: Removing Confederate symbols is part of a plan to destroy Southern heritage and enslave people by erasing their past.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'In order to keep a people enslaved... you must destroy their past.'

Scripture References

Jeremiah 6:16

Context: Weaver quotes this verse to urge a return to the 'old paths' of Southern heritage and Christianity.

Historical References

Confederate Flags (Bonnie Blue, Stars and Bars, Stainless Banner, Third National)

Context: Weaver describes the various flags of the Confederacy to show that the battle flag is the most targeted.

Abraham Lincoln's Proposed 13th Amendment (1861)

Context: Weaver cites Lincoln's proposed amendment to protect slavery as proof the war was not about slavery.

Congressional Resolution (July 23, 1861)

Context: Weaver quotes a resolution stating the war was to preserve the Union, not to interfere with slavery.

Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863)

Context: Weaver argues the proclamation was a war measure that freed no slaves.

General Patrick Cleburne's Warning (January 1864)

Context: Weaver quotes Cleburne's prediction that Northern victors would write history portraying Southerners as traitors.

First Battle of Manassas (July 21, 1861)

Context: Weaver recounts the confusion over flags at Manassas, leading to the adoption of the battle flag.

St. Andrew's Crucifixion (c. 69 A.D.)

Context: Weaver tells the story of Andrew's martyrdom on an X-shaped cross to explain the flag's Christian symbolism.

Berlin Wall Fall

Context: Weaver mentions Confederate flags waved at the Berlin Wall as a symbol of victory over tyranny.

John F. Harris Speech (1890)

Context: Weaver quotes a black Confederate veteran's speech in support of a Confederate monument.

Lincoln's Speech to Black Leaders (August 14, 1862)

Context: Weaver quotes Lincoln advocating colonization of blacks to Africa, showing his racist views.

Important Quotes

The Confederate flag is a well-recognized international symbol of racism, slavery, hatred, murder, and white supremacy.

Significance: Weaver quotes an opponent to illustrate the extreme attacks on the flag, which he then refutes.

I'm a black man who is not offended by the flying of the Confederate flag beside the Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida. The Confederate flag is as much a part of my history as of any white person's.

Significance: Weaver uses this quote from R.J. Wilkins to argue that black Americans support the flag.

If hate had been the prevailing emotion between the races, then it is a safe bet that the Confederacy would have never been born.

Significance: Weaver quotes black journalist W. Earl Douglas to claim the Confederacy was not based on racial hatred.

I am not now nor have ever been in favor of bringing about in any way the social or the political equality of a white and black race.

Significance: Weaver quotes Lincoln to argue that racism is associated with the U.S., not the Confederacy.

No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give Congress the power to abolish or interfere within any state with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said state.

Significance: Weaver presents Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment as proof the war was not about slavery.

If the South lost, it means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy. That our youth will be trained by northern school teachers, will learn from northern school books their version of the war.

Significance: Weaver quotes General Cleburne to support his claim of historical revisionism.

In the name of General Beauregard, under whose eyes you first went under fire at Manassas, I have the honor to present to you this sacred emblem of Southern valor and patriotism.

Significance: Weaver quotes Judge Roman to emphasize the flag as a symbol of valor, not racism.

Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls.

Significance: Weaver uses this Bible verse to call for a return to Southern heritage and values.

Discussion Questions

How does Weaver's distinction between the Confederate battle flag and other Confederate flags affect the debate over its symbolism?

Context: Weaver notes that most critics target only the battle flag, not other Confederate flags.

Is it valid to argue that a symbol is not racist because some members of the affected group support it?

Context: Weaver cites black Americans who support the flag to argue it is not racist.

How should we evaluate historical figures' racist statements when assessing the symbols of their era?

Context: Weaver quotes Lincoln's racist views to shift the charge of racism to the U.S. flag.

What does Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment reveal about the causes of the Civil War?

Context: Weaver argues the amendment proves the war was not about slavery.

Can a flag's design carry inherent religious meaning, or is meaning assigned by its users?

Context: Weaver claims the St. Andrew's Cross makes the battle flag a Christian symbol.

How does the use of the Confederate flag in international contexts (e.g., Berlin Wall) complicate its meaning?

Context: Weaver cites international use as a symbol of freedom against tyranny.

What is the relationship between preserving historical symbols and maintaining cultural identity?

Context: Weaver argues that destroying symbols leads to loss of heritage and enslavement.

How should Christians balance the call to 'old paths' (Jeremiah 6:16) with the need for repentance from past sins?

Context: Weaver uses Jeremiah 6:16 to advocate returning to Southern heritage.

Applications

Study History from Original Sources

Summary: Weaver challenges listeners to read official records like the 'War of the Rebellion' volumes to verify his claims.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'you go down to the library and you get the official volumes on the war of rebellion... and you read them for yourself.'

Embrace Southern Heritage

Summary: Weaver encourages pride in Southern culture, accent, and history, and not to be ashamed of the Confederate flag.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'I'm not ashamed of that battle flag. I'm not ashamed of our history and our heritage.'

Return to 'Old Paths'

Summary: Weaver applies Jeremiah 6:16 to call for a return to the morality and character of the antebellum South.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'It's time we get back to our history... It's time we get back to Christ... we need to do exactly what Jeremiah says.'

Defend the Flag as a Christian Symbol

Summary: Weaver implies that Christians should defend the Confederate flag as a symbol of faith and liberty.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'long may that Christian Confederate battle flag wave. It's a symbol of Christ and Christianity.'

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T03:24:01Z

Clean Transcript

The Truth Concerning The Confederate Battle Flag

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

The following presentation by Pastor John Weaver points out only a few of the facts our modern history books ignore concerning the war between the states. It is intended to spark interest in the true heritage of the South and expose the efforts of the politically correct to slander the noble and heroic stand of Southerners, both black and white, against the tyranny of unconstitutional usurpation of power by the federal government.
#1 | 0:05 to 0:26 | cleaned
Is the Confederate flag a Christian symbol? Is the Confederate flag a Christian flag? Interestingly, when one mentions the Confederate flag, usually what comes up in someone's mind is the battle flag, as we see right here. I want you to know tonight that there were numerous Confederate flags. This is the battle flag. Let me just point out the fact: There were five major flags. There were many, many more. But the first flag that I want to point out was the Bonnie Blue Flag, which was a solid blue flag with a single star right in the middle. Now, the Bonnie Blue Flag was the unofficial flag of the Confederate States of America. It was never officially adopted, but it was an extremely popular flag, and there's a song written about it from that period on the Bonnie Blue Flag. Then secondly, there is what is known as the first national flag, which is sometimes called the Stars and Bars. Now there's a problem, and I'm going to deal with it just a little bit later, but the Stars and Bars look a lot like the Stars and Stripes.
#2 | 0:37 to 1:46 | cleaned
And there was a conflict because of that. But there was the Stars and Bars of the first national flag. Then secondly, or thirdly, I should say, there was the second national flag, which is referred to as the Stainless Banner. It just had this symbol in the upper left-hand corner, and then it was pure white. It was silk. The only problem with the Stainless Banner was, when the wind was not blowing and it was folded, it sometimes looked like a flag of truce or a flag of surrender. And then thirdly, we have the third national flag, or fourthly I should say, it's the third national flag. And that was the same Stainless Banner, but with a solid red bar all the way down it. And that's the one that is usually flying today, the third national flag.
#3 | 1:47 to 2:31 | cleaned
It was officially adopted, but very few of them were issued. And then, of course, we have the Confederate battle flag as we know it. Interestingly enough, the first four flags are very rarely spoken against, because most people don't even know about their existence. And they're totally absolutely ignorant of them, and so consequently it is the battle flag that catches most of the flak. So let me begin tonight with some negatives. I want to tell you what the Confederate battle flag does not represent. I want to tell you what it does not symbolize. And I want you to hear me very carefully because I'm going to give you the historical proof for what I'm going to say. First of all, the Confederate battle flag is not a racist flag. I can hear it now though, "But Brother Weaver, don't you know that the KKK uses the Confederate flag? And don't you know the white supremacist groups use the Confederate flag? And don't you know the hate groups use the Confederate flag?" Yes. But I also know that they use the Stars and Stripes.
#4 | 2:31 to 3:37 | cleaned
And I also know they even use the Christian flag as well. Let me ask you a question. Why are not the Stars and the Stripes and the Christian flag considered racist flags as well? I mean, if someone is going to be guilty by association, or if something is going to be guilty by association, I can show you pictures of the Ku Klux Klan marching in Washington, D.C., and there is not one Confederate flag amongst them. They're all carrying the Stars and Stripes, the U.S. flag. If we're going to condemn a flag because the KKK and the white supremacist groups and the hate groups use it, let's condemn all the flags. Be consistent. Condemn the Stars and Stripes, condemn the Christian flag. Let me ask you another question just to show you the certainty of this position. Do you realize that the Darlington 400 for years used a picture of the Confederate flag on its billboard and advertised itself as the Rebel Raceway? Does that mean, therefore, that all those Winston Cup drivers are racists?
#5 | 3:37 to 4:39 | cleaned
Does that mean that anyone who attends the Darlington 400 is a racist? What about the Scottish soldiers? I'll explain this a little bit later. Even today, Scottish soldiers who are in the British Army wear the cross of St. Andrew. Does that mean that all Scottish soldiers are racist as well? Let me show you the enmity and the hatred and the venom that is being spoken against this flag.
#6 | 4:40 to 5:07 | cleaned
And I'm going to tell you why before I close tonight. But I got a website. And the name of the website was basically "The Confederate Flag Must Go." And it was put there by Jack Crawford, who evidently is a black man, based upon his other writings. And here is what he said. I'm quoting him verbatim. I took it off his website. He says this, quote, "The Confederate flag is a well-recognized international symbol of racism, slavery, hatred, murder, and white supremacy.
#7 | 5:07 to 5:41 | cleaned
It should be outlawed, not just banned. Anyone flying it should be corrected in a manner that is usually reserved for overseers, slave masters, and leaders of lynch mobs responsible for the murder of children. Am I clear?" So what does Mr. Jack Crawford say? He says anyone who flies this flag ought to be killed. That's basically what he's saying. What would you do to a murderer who formed a lynch mob and hung a child?
#8 | 5:42 to 6:12 | cleaned
Well, very clearly, you would see that he got the death penalty. Well, that's what he's saying.
#9 | 6:12 to 6:17 | cleaned
Now, let me just tell you very quickly, Mr. Crawford's statement is unhistorical, it is unconstitutional, and it is untrue. Do you realize that most attackers of the flag are either motivated by historical ignorance or pure, unadulterated malice toward the South, its symbol, its heritage, and its people? In 1994, a Harris poll found that two-thirds of black Americans have no problem with the Confederate flag. No problem at all. Why in the world make the flag an issue? In fact, there are numerous black Americans that speak out for the Confederate flag.
#10 | 6:17 to 7:01 | cleaned
Let me give you one of them. R.J. Wilkins of Miami, Florida, had this to say. They were flying the Confederate flag at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida, and he wrote this: "I'm a black man who is not offended by the flying of the Confederate flag beside the Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida. The Confederate flag is as much a part of my history as of any white person's.
#11 | 7:02 to 7:23 | cleaned
It may not represent the best of my race or be held by some as a contribution to this country's greatness, but it does to me. My great-grandparents were a part of the plantations. They worked the cotton fields, cleaned the big houses, and in many ways supported the development of American society. We should let the Confederate flag fly as a reminder of our American history, both black and white."
#12 | 7:24 to 7:48 | cleaned
But let me tell you something. You want to hear a black man speak out and speak the truth? Let me give you a quote that W. Earl Douglas gave. He was a black journalist in Charleston, South Carolina. He's now dead. But here is what he said concerning the Confederate flag. Now listen carefully. Quote, "If hate had been the prevailing emotion between the races, then it is a safe bet that the Confederacy would have never been born.
#13 | 7:49 to 8:18 | cleaned
Let me just stop there. Did you hear what he said? If hate had been the prevailing emotions between the blacks and the whites in the South, he is saying it's a safe bet that the Confederacy would have never, ever been born. I continue. Fortunately, he says, there was love, understanding, and compassion. Now listen to what this black man says. "And the two greatest lies ever perpetrated by history are, number one, that the South instigated the war, and number two, that it was fought by the North for the purpose of freeing the slaves.
#14 | 8:19 to 8:56 | cleaned
The Negro was merely used as the excuse for that war, while the real reason for it is reflected in every area of our lives, where the tentacles of government form the bars of a new slavery. No, don't furl that Confederate battle flag. Let it wave all across the South to remind Americans that there exists here a yearning for liberty, freedom, and independence that will not be denied.
#15 | 8:56 to 9:20 | cleaned
Let it fly as a testimonial to real men and real women who would rather work and fight than shed tears and beg for governmental charity." Amen. He understood, folks. He had more sense and more knowledge than most people today. You see, the Confederate battle flag is not a racist symbol and it never has been. One of my favorite stories is about a black representative, John F. Harris, who was a legislator in Washington County, Mississippi. And he had the opportunity to vote for Senate Bill Number 25, which was a bill to erect a Confederate monument on the Capitol Square in Jackson, Mississippi. Now, the bill did pass. And Mr. Harris, who was sick and got out of his bed to give his speech before the Senate, did so. And of course, on February the 23rd, 1890, the Daily Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi printed his speech in full.
#16 | 9:21 to 10:25 | cleaned
Let me read a portion of it to you. He says, "Mr. Speaker, I have arisen here in my place to offer a few words on the bill. I have come from a sick bed. Perhaps it was not prudent for me to come. But sir, I could not sit quietly in my room without contributing a few remarks of my own. I was sorry to hear the speech of the young gentleman from Marshall County. I am sorry that any son of a soldier should go on record as opposed to the erection of a monument in honor of the brave dead. And sir, I'm convinced that had he seen what I saw at Seven Pines in the seven days fighting around Richmond, the battlefield covered with the mangled forms of those who fought for their country and for their country's honor, he would not have made that speech.
#17 | 10:25 to 11:12 | cleaned
When the news came that the South had been invaded, those men went forth to fight for what they believed, and they made no requests for monuments. But they died, and their virtues should be remembered. Sir, I went with them. I too wore the gray, the same color my master wore. We stayed four long years, and if that war had gone on till now, I would have been there yet. I want to honor those brave men who died for their convictions. When my mother died, I was a boy. Who, sir, then acted a part of a mother to the orphaned slave boy but my old missus?
#18 | 11:13 to 11:48 | cleaned
Were she living now, or could speak to me from those high realms where are gathered the sainted dead? She would tell me to vote for this bill, and sir, I shall vote for it. I want it known to all the world that my vote is given in favor of the bill to erect a monument in honor of the Confederate dead." Here was a man, a black man, who wore the Confederate gray, and he understood the war was not a racist war. Now, let me tell you, the Confederate flag is not a racist flag, but now wait, if you want racism, if you want hatred, if you want white supremacy, I will tell you where to find it, under the Stars and Stripes, not under the Confederate flag.
#19 | 11:49 to 12:33 | cleaned
Do you realize the Emancipation Proclamation was signed on January 1st, 1863? On August the 14th, 1862, less than five months before the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, Abraham Lincoln invited a number of leading blacks to the White House to give them his words of wisdom and to demonstrate to them why he was attempting to colonize them back in Africa. By the way, Lincoln's Negro policy was to send them all back to Africa. That was his policy.
#20 | 12:34 to 13:09 | cleaned
William Seward, William Stanton, all of them same thing. And so he invited these Negroes to come to the White House to hear his words of wisdom and I'm quoting verbatim what Lincoln said. Listen carefully. He says, "Why should people of your race be colonized and where? Why should they leave this country? This is perhaps the first question for proper consideration. You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference that exists between almost any other two races.
#21 | 13:09 to 13:40 | cleaned
Whether it is right or wrong, I need not discuss. But this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think. Your race suffers very greatly, many of them by living among us, while ours suffers from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side. If this is admitted, it affords a reason, at least, why we should be separated. You are freemen here, I suppose.
#22 | 13:41 to 14:04 | cleaned
Perhaps you have been long free all of your lives. Your race is suffering, in my judgment, the greatest wrong inflicted on any people. But even when you cease to be slaves, you are yet far removed from being placed on an equality with the white race. The aspiration of men is to enjoy equality with the best when free. But on this broad continent, not a single man of your race is made the equal of a single man of our race." Abraham Lincoln. Let me translate that. Blacks aren't equal to whites. Never will be.
#23 | 14:05 to 14:41 | cleaned
That's what he got through saying. Listen to what Lincoln said in a speech in Charleston, Illinois, 1858. Lincoln said, "I am not now nor have ever been in favor of bringing about in any way the social or the political equality of a white and black race. I am not now nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor of intermarriages with white people. There is a physical difference between the white and black races, which will forever forbid the two races from living together on social or political equality. There must be a position of superior and inferior, and I am in favor of assigning the superior position to the white man." Abraham Lincoln.
#24 | 14:41 to 15:23 | cleaned
You see, the Confederate flag has never stood as a racist symbol. If you want racism, you go to the Stars and Stripes. In the South, although there was separation, the blacks respected the whites and the whites respected the blacks, and I'll tell you this, there was no trouble in the South back then, nor in the 1960s, until the North came down and started stirring up trouble. So the Confederate flag is not a racist flag. Secondly tonight, the Confederate flag is not a flag of slavery. It does not represent slavery. Are you listening to me tonight? There is not one slave ever brought into this country under the Confederate flag. Every slave that was brought into this country was brought in by northern ships under the Stars and Stripes. There was not even a slave brought into this country on a southern vessel. The slaves were brought into this country on northern vessels under the Stars and Stripes. Did you know out of the 224 years in this country that slavery was legal? And by the way, there were slaves in this country in 1620.
#25 | 15:23 to 16:37 | cleaned
The 224 years that slavery was legal in this country, only four of those years did the Confederate battle flag fly. What flag flew over the country more than any other flag during those 224 years? It was the Stars and Stripes. It wasn't the Confederate battle flag. It was the Stars and Stripes. Why hate and attack the Confederate flag? I mean, if you want to hate a flag of slavery, then you ought to hate the Stars and Stripes.
#26 | 16:39 to 17:10 | cleaned
That was the one that brought the slaves over. And if you want to hate another flag of slavery, why not hate the British flag? Did you know that England was responsible for taking five million blacks from Africa and selling them to every country under the sun? If you want to hate a flag, why not hate the Dutch flag, or the Portuguese flag, or the Spanish flag? They sold slaves. And if you want to hate a flag even today, how about hating the Muslim flags? Because even today, the Muslims are still involved in slavery.
#27 | 17:10 to 17:45 | cleaned
I mean, let's be honest. Now, if you want to believe that the war of 1861 to 1865 was over slavery, I can show you two things that ought to forever correct your thinking in that area. The war was not over slavery. It was not an issue. Let me prove to you just by two simple statements, I'll give you more, but let me prove to you that the war was not fought over slavery and therefore this flag could never ever have represented slavery.
#28 | 17:45 to 18:18 | cleaned
You see, Abraham Lincoln proposed a 13th Amendment to the Constitution. He proposed that 13th Amendment in March of 1861. Here was Abraham Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment. Quote, "No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give Congress the power to abolish or interfere within any state with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said state." Did you hear that? Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment said Congress shall not have the power to interfere with any institutions within any state, including those held to labor or service by the laws of that state. In other words, what Abraham Lincoln was saying to the South: If you will accept this proposed 13th Amendment, you may forever keep slaves.
#29 | 18:18 to 19:21 | cleaned
Folks, Beauregard never fired on Fort Sumter until April the 9th. This was in March of 1861. If a war had been about slavery and if the South wanted just to keep slaves and that was it, why fire a gun? Why fire a shot? Just simply accept this proposed 13th Amendment and it would all be over. Let me read to you. This resolution was passed unanimously by Congress on July the 23rd, 1861. You may read it for yourself in the congressional record. Here's what this resolution says.
#30 | 19:21 to 19:57 | cleaned
"The war is waged by the government of the United States, not in the spirit of conquest or subjection, nor for the purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or institutions of the states, but to defend and protect the Union." Congress said, the war's not about slavery. Lincoln said, the war's not about slavery. I will even give you a 13th Amendment that will allow you to make slavery permanent.
#31 | 19:58 to 20:22 | cleaned
You see, what was happening was this. There's a lot of issues, and I can't cover them all tonight, but one of the issues was an economic issue. Do you realize the South, before the war, was extremely wealthy? And the South, before the war, funded probably 75 to 80 percent of all the taxes. But the South—but the North wanted a 40 percent tariff. The South said, no, the most we will ever agree to is a 10 percent tariff.
#32 | 20:23 to 20:55 | cleaned
And what Lincoln and the radical Republicans were doing was this. They were saying, we will give you the 13th Amendment. We will let you keep your slaves if that's what you want. You just let us keep our tariffs. In other words, the North was willing to sell the blacks out for money, for higher taxes. They weren't interested in the slaves. They could care less. You see, Hapgood's book, Abraham Lincoln, The Man of the People, on page 273, quotes Abraham Lincoln as saying, "If I could save the Union without freeing any of the slaves, I would do it." Abraham Lincoln later said that slaves are property.
#33 | 20:56 to 21:36 | cleaned
And if freed, they should be paid for. Later on Lincoln said, "I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so and I have no inclination to do so." Now here Lincoln is acknowledging that he has no lawful right to interfere with slavery. Slavery, by the way, was constitutional.
#34 | 21:37 to 22:02 | cleaned
All 13 colonies agreed on it. And by the way, in 1776, all 13 colonies held slaves. Not just the South, all of them. Lincoln said, "I have no lawful right to interfere, nor," he says, "do I have an inclination to do so." In a letter to Alexander Stephens, who happened to be later the vice president of the Confederacy, Lincoln wrote Alexander Hamilton Stephens and says this: "Do the people of the South really entertain fear that a Republican administration would directly or indirectly interfere with their slaves? Or with them about their slaves?
#35 | 22:03 to 22:35 | cleaned
If they do, I wish to assure you that once as a friend, and still I hope not an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears. The South would be in no more danger in this respect than it was in the days of Washington." So once again, Lincoln is saying, it's not over slavery. You say, "But Brother Weaver, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. And the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves." No it didn't. The Emancipation Proclamation did not free one slave. Do you know what Abraham Lincoln tried to do with the Emancipation Proclamation?
#36 | 22:35 to 23:14 | cleaned
In fact, he says so himself. And so do other men in his cabinet. They say that the Emancipation Proclamation was a war measure. Lincoln, number one, wanted to keep England specifically, and the rest of Europe particularly, from joining in with or recognizing the Confederate States of America. That was his first goal in that Emancipation Proclamation. His second goal was a war measure, another war measure, in the sense he was hoping that the blacks in the South would rise up in rebellion against their white masters and their white people.
#37 | 23:15 to 23:52 | cleaned
Let me tell you something. Just to show you there was no trouble in the South. There was not one rebellion during that war of black folks. Do you realize a thousand torches in a thousand black hands would have emptied the Confederate armies? Because the men would have gone home to protect their families. And Lincoln knew that. You see, what Lincoln did was this. Now listen to me. Lincoln tried to free the slaves in the South where he had absolutely no authority, and he refused to release the slaves in the North where he did have authority. Did you know that in the Northern armies, even when they were fighting the South, there were slaveholders in the Northern armies? Did you know that General Robert E. Lee, when he inherited some slaves, freed them? General Ulysses S. Grant, who was the main general of the North and afterwards became president, even after the war was over, he kept his slaves.
#38 | 23:53 to 24:54 | cleaned
And he did so with this excuse: "Good help is hard to find." You see, the truth of the matter is this. The Emancipation Proclamation was not only unconstitutional, and everybody recognized it, it cost the Republicans a lot of elections. There were five northern states that refused after that to elect Republicans to Congress. And moreover, there were a lot of Union soldiers that deserted because of it and refused to fight.
#39 | 24:56 to 25:27 | cleaned
Slavery was not the issue. Slavery has never been the issue until recently, until political revisionists and the politically correct people wanted to make it the issue. There have been numerous warnings down through history concerning our flag and concerning our heritage and our culture. One of those warnings came from General Patrick Cleburne. And I want to read to you what General Patrick Cleburne said in January of 1864.
#40 | 25:28 to 25:58 | cleaned
And he was warning the South in regards to subjugation. And you're talking about a prophet? Listen carefully. General Cleburne said this: "If the South lost, it means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy. That our youth will be trained by northern school teachers, will learn from northern school books their version of the war, will be impressed by all of the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors and our maimed veterans as fit subjects for derision."
#41 | 25:58 to 26:32 | cleaned
Folks, let me tell you, that is exactly what has happened in this country. You pick up any textbook that you want to pick up and it'll just simply say, the war was over slavery, the North was right, the South was wrong. And most folks believe that junk. They've been taught it. The war was not over slavery, not over slavery at all. One of my favorite stories is about a reconstructed Southerner who ran into Mildred Lewis Rutherford. Mildred Lewis Rutherford was one of the finest Southern historians that you could ever come across. I believe she died in 1928. But this one reconstructed Southerner said to Mrs. Rutherford, he said, "My father was a Confederate soldier, but had he lived I'm sure he would have regretted having fought for the wrong side." To which Mrs. Rutherford replied, "Far more probably, he would have regretted having a son so disloyal to the principles for which he was willing to give his life." The Confederate flag is not a racist flag. The Confederate flag is not a flag of slavery.
#42 | 26:32 to 27:42 | cleaned
Here's the third thing I want to teach you tonight. I want you to listen carefully. The Confederate flag is a Christian flag, and it represents freedom from tyranny. The Confederate battle flag as we know it really did not come into existence, or I should say into full-blown presence, until after First Manassas, July the 21st, 1861. Most of you know, or at least you should know, that the South and North call their battles by different names, so it's either First Manassas or First Bull Run depending on what section of the country you're from. But during that battle, the Confederate battle flag was the Stars and Bars, and the Stars and Bars was very easily confused with the Stars and Stripes, not only at a distance, but especially under battle conditions.
#43 | 27:42 to 28:36 | cleaned
And you've got to remember all of the smoke that those black powder rifles and cannon made at that particular time. It was during this battle that General Beauregard was observing the battle and he sees a large body of troops moving toward the Union right flank. And Beauregard tried and tried to make out the flag and to see if it was a northern flag or a southern flag and he just simply could not make it out. So he called some of his young lieutenants up and he said, "Tell me, is that our flag or is that their flag?" They could not make it out either. And so he stood there very cautiously, trying to determine whose flag it was, what group was there.
#44 | 28:36 to 29:17 | cleaned
And all of a sudden, a little puff of wind came, and it unfurled, and he could see that it was Stars and Bars, and he cried, "The day is ours! Attack! Attack!" And with that, of course, they won the day, and the Yankees literally threw down their weapons and ran all the way back to Washington, D.C. Later, Beauregard wrote, and here's what he said: "At the Battle of Manassas, I found it difficult to distinguish our then Confederate flag from the United States flag, the two being so much alike, especially when General Jubal Early made the flank movement who decided the fate of the day." So Beauregard said, "I couldn't tell if it's ours or theirs." Then he wrote, "I resolved to have our flag changed or to adopt for my command a battle flag which would be entirely different from any state or federal flag." Beauregard later said after the war, "After the battle it was found that many persons in both armies firmly believed that each side had used as a stratagem the flags of his opponent."
#45 | 29:18 to 30:21 | cleaned
And it was General Miles who proposed this battle flag with the St. Andrew's cross on it. Now you've got to remember that Andrew was the first disciple of Jesus Christ. Now why in the world is this battle flag carrying what is known as the St. Andrew's cross? Well, Andrew, not only being the first disciple of Jesus Christ, was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, and he faithfully preached and taught the Word of God. He taught and preached not only in Asiatic nations, but also in what is in Russia today. Andrew was crucified around 69 A.D. in Patras, Greece. And Andrew persuaded his persecutor—prosecutor, whatever you want to call him—he persuaded him not to crucify him on a Latin cross, but to crucify him on an X-shaped cross. And the reason he did not want to be crucified on a Latin cross was because that was the way Christ was crucified, and he did not believe himself worthy to be crucified like Christ. Secondly, he convinced his persecutor to not to nail him to that X-shaped cross, but literally to tie his feet and to tie his legs there.
#46 | 30:21 to 31:39 | cleaned
Because, once again, he did not believe that he was worthy to be crucified in the same manner that Jesus Christ was crucified. And you've got to remember that when this was occurring, Andrew was approximately 90 years of age. And Andrew knew that once he was tied to this cross, being tied would prolong the agony and the pain. Not ease it, but prolong it. And so Andrew remained alive, tied to that cross, and preached to everyone that came by for three days.
#47 | 31:40 to 32:16 | cleaned
Finally, after the third day, many of the people believed his preaching. And some were so moved, they went to the persecutor and asked him to have Andrew cut down from the cross. He consented, and they went and cut him down, and when they did, he fell to the earth absolutely dead as a martyr for Jesus Christ. Andrew became the patron saint of Russia and of Scotland.
#48 | 32:17 to 32:45 | cleaned
Now you say, why is that important? Did you know that according to the census, two-thirds of the Americans living in the 1860s were either Scotch or Scotch-Irish? See, many of them already had St. Andrew's crosses on their flags as such, because they were Scotch people. The cross of St. Andrew is a symbol of the Christian faith and of the heritage of the Celtic race. The Confederate battle flag is based upon the national flag of Scotland. In fact, another name for the Confederate battle flag is the Southern Cross. And this flag was adopted by General Miles and General Beauregard and men of the South deliberately, consciously, premeditatingly, in order to display their faith in the sovereign God of heaven and earth. They realized that God is the God of providence, that God is the God of history, that God is the God of salvation. Let me read to you a letter that General Miles received from Samuel Barrett of Washington, Georgia. He wrote on May the 23rd, 1861, and forwarded a letter to South Carolina.
#49 | 32:46 to 34:03 | cleaned
It was Congressman William Porcher Miles. Miles was head of the Congressional Committee tasked with adopting a flag for the Confederacy. Barrett said the flag should be a token of humble acknowledgment of God and be a public testimony to the world that our trust is in the Lord our God. You see, Colonel Walton wanted to have the Latin cross, Colonel Miles said, no, we'll use the St. Andrew's cross, and that's basically what General Beauregard adopted. And this is a Christian flag, it is a Christian symbol, and it was chosen to display faith in the sovereign God. Why should it not? Did you know that the Confederate Constitution acknowledged the sovereignty and the almighty power of God?
#50 | 34:03 to 34:48 | cleaned
Let me just read you the preamble. The Confederate Constitution said basically after the then living slaves died out, there would be no more slaves imported into the South. But here's the preamble, listen to it: "We the people of the Confederate States, each state acting in its sovereign and independent character, in order to form a permanent federal government, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this constitution for the Confederate States of America." Even the Confederate States motto was Deo Vindice, which means "the Lord is our Vindicator."
#51 | 34:48 to 35:33 | cleaned
Let me tell you something else. This Southern Cross, this St. Andrew's Cross, is also the Greek letter Chi, which has historically been used to represent Christ because Chi, C-H, happens to be the first two letters of the word Christ. Moreover, let me show you this. I realize a lot of people say, well, we're against people sending out cards saying, "Merry Xmas." But that X was a St. Andrew's Cross. Historically, it meant Christ. Moreover, let me tell you this, uneducated and educated people understood the St. Andrew's Cross. They understood the Chi. They understood the importance of it. Because even on legal documents, a man who was uneducated and could not write made his what? His X. Because it was the first two letters of the name of Christ. And it was made in faith and recognition before God as the sovereign God and the God of providence. And he was giving an oath as he made his X that he would keep his word and do what he had signed.
#52 | 35:34 to 36:48 | cleaned
So the Confederate battle flag, dear friend, is indeed a Christian flag. Now, let me ask you, what does it mean to attack the battle flag? It means that you're attacking the sovereignty, majesty, and might of Jesus Christ and His divine role in our history, culture, and life. To attack the battle flag is to attack Christ, because it's a Christian flag. Moreover, let me show you something. This flag stands for the heroic efforts and courageous acts of our Confederate dead. Did you know that General Beauregard got one of the first of the first three original battle flags? And on May the 28th, 1883, Beauregard donated his battle flag to the Louisiana-Washington Artillery. Colonel Walton was there to accept the flag, and Judge Alfred Roman was presenting it, and here's what the judge said. Listen carefully. "In the name of General Beauregard, under whose eyes you first went under fire at Manassas, I have the honor to present to you this sacred emblem of Southern valor and patriotism." Did you hear that? "This sacred emblem," the flag, "of Southern valor and patriotism," said Judge Alfred Roman.
#53 | 36:49 to 38:09 | cleaned
"Its colors are as yet as fresh as when it received its parting look of its fair maker. Its value is enhanced by the fact that the upper portion of its staff is made of a piece of the flagstaff at Fort Sumter, shot down by the Confederate gunners in April 1861." Gunners, by the way, who were under the command of General Beauregard. "Unsullied though it be by the smoke of the battle, it was nonetheless born in war, and the breeze first kissed it in the tinted field."
#54 | 38:09 to 38:34 | cleaned
"It is the genuine model of the glorious flag all around, which all of us fought, and so many of us bled, and so many of us—" What did the judge say? "Here's an emblem of Southern valor and patriotism"? He didn't say "here's an emblem of racism and our fight for our slaves." No. He said "here's the emblem of Southern valor and patriotism." Why attack the Confederate flag? Why attack Confederate monuments? Why attack the Confederate South? Because to attack the Confederate South, its flag and its monuments, is an attack on truth. Are you listening? The South was fighting for independence. The South was fighting for states' rights. The South was fighting for the Tenth Amendment that you and I know. Did you know that the South threw up a petition against Congress and against the United States government exactly like the Declaration of Independence? They only changed the names and made it reflect exactly what the North was doing, how they were acting exactly like George III.
#55 | 38:34 to 39:53 | cleaned
It may surprise you to know that some Southerners wanted to keep the Stars and Stripes. You know why they wanted to keep the Stars and Stripes? They said, "It's not we who have left the Constitution, it's the North. Let them get another flag. We're the ones that are fighting for truth." You see, to attack the Confederate flag is an attack on political incorrectness. If you want to be politically correct today, if you want to be liberal and pink today, then you attack the Confederate flag. You attack the Confederate monuments. The flag, the Confederate flag, represents all of those who are opposed to unlimited government. The North wants to have unlimited government. Washington, D.C. wants unlimited government. Unhappily, most of our state capitals want unlimited government. The Confederate flag says, "Oh no, there is a limitation. There is a Constitution.
#56 | 39:54 to 40:46 | cleaned
We have God-given rights. We are not going to surrender them." And this attack—to attack the flag is to attack the truth. Let me tell you something. The Confederate flag stands against everything that you now see in Washington, D.C. 250,000 Confederates gave their lives to prevent what we have today. The intrusion of government into every area of our lives. The Confederate battle flag stands for truth. It stands for freedom from tyranny. It stands for states' rights. It stands for liberty and freedom. But not only that, it stands even more so for liberty against tyranny and freedom against tyranny. Do you realize that the Confederate battle flag is indeed an international symbol, but not an international symbol of racism, white supremacy, hatred, and murder. It's an international symbol, all right.
#57 | 40:46 to 41:45 | cleaned
Some of you here remember when the Berlin Wall was torn down. We watched it on TV, but I'll bet you've forgotten what was waving on that Berlin Wall: Confederate battle flags. Victory over tyranny. Did you know that the Confederate battle flag has been adopted and used by the people of Poland, Hungary, the Ukraine, Lithuania, and East Germany as they were victorious over the Union of Soviets? Did you realize that even Quebec used the battle flag in trying to secede from Canada just a few years ago? Yes, I can assure you the battle flag is an international symbol, but it's an international symbol for liberty and freedom and independence against tyranny. The Confederate battle flag represents truth against error, freedom against tyranny, light against darkness, and the kingdom of Christ against the kingdom of darkness. You know what we have forgotten is this.
#58 | 41:45 to 42:37 | cleaned
The war of 1861 and 1865 was not just simply a war that involved politics and economics. It was indeed a cultural war and a religious war. The North was predominantly Unitarian and humanist to the core, while the South was predominantly Christian. And it was a war to wipe out Southern heritage and Southern culture and Southern Christianity. And as Greg said earlier, public schools were only forced upon the South after the South lost the war of Northern aggression.
#59 | 42:38 to 43:18 | cleaned
Now, why must the flag be attacked? Let's ask that question again. Why must the flag be attacked? Why must all Confederate monuments be attacked? Why must the Confederate dead be libeled and slandered? Let me tell you why. Because if we keep our symbols and we see them constantly, we might just begin to inquire as to their origin and their meaning. And in doing so, begin to question the myths and the propaganda that have been promulgated down through these years. And beginning to question those myths and propagandas, we begin to see the truth. And all of a sudden, we begin to stand for the very things that our forefathers stood for, believed in, and died for. Let me tell you, that flag is a threat
#60 | 43:18 to 44:12 | cleaned
to the socialists, to the communists, to those who hate God and hate Christ and hate liberty and hate freedom. It's a threat, and they want it taken out of sight. Let me tell you something, dear friend. We better say, "Lord, let that flag wave." When that flag goes down, don't think that's going to be the end of it. It'll just be the beginning, because they'll want to take everything else until our heritage, our culture, everything is totally destroyed. Please, if you don't remember anything else tonight, remember this.
#61 | 44:12 to 44:45 | cleaned
In order to keep a people enslaved, and in order to keep your slaves content, you must destroy their past. The people who have no past have no future. One of these days, the South is going to awaken again, and we're going to see that we have sacrificed our children too long on the altar of humanistic and northern appeasement. We've got to come back and say, we have a heritage, we have a culture, we have a life.
#62 | 44:46 to 45:22 | cleaned
I remember when I was in college, I had a class, voice and diction. My teacher, unhappily, was a Yankee. But he told me, he said, "Mr. Weaver, you still have that southern drawl." And I said, "Sir, do you know why I have that southern drawl?" He said, "Why?" I said, "Because I was born in the South, I'm living in the South, and bless God, I plan on keeping my southern drawl. I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not ashamed of that battle flag. I'm not ashamed of our history and our heritage."
#63 | 45:23 to 45:54 | cleaned
And I want to challenge you. If you don't believe what I'm saying, you go down to the library and you get the official volumes on the war of rebellion, and you get the official records like I did, and you read them for yourself, and you will find what I'm saying is absolutely true. I want you to turn to one last verse tonight. I want you to turn to Jeremiah chapter 6. Here we are. Jeremiah chapter 6. I want you to see verse 16. Jeremiah chapter 6, verse 16.
#64 | 45:54 to 46:25 | cleaned
Look at what the Word of God says. Jeremiah 6, verse 16: "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they the wicked said, We will not walk therein." But look what he said: "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the old ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, Where is the good way? And walk there."
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And let me tell you something, if I had a choice today, if I could choose to have the society that we have today, or the society that existed in the South before the war of northern aggression, I can assure you I would take the society that existed in the South before the war of northern aggression. If I had a choice as to whether I would take the morality of the day or the morality of the South in the 1860s, I would take the morality of the South in the 1860s. If I had a choice as to whether I could take the character, or I should say the lack of character today, or the character that was around in the 1860s in the South, I would take the character in the 1860s in the South.
#66 | 46:58 to 47:39 | cleaned
A man's word was still his bond back then. I know there were some criminals, but generally speaking, a man's word was his bond. Let me tell you something, folks. It's time we get back to our history. It's time we get back to our heritage. It's time we get back to our culture. It's time we get back to truth. It's time we get back to Christ. And we need to do exactly what Jeremiah says. We need to stand in the ways and ask for the old paths, wherein is the good way, and walk therein.
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And long may that Christian Confederate battle flag wave. It's a symbol of Christ and Christianity and patriotism and valor and courage and independence and freedom.
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¶.
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¶. ¶.
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¶. ¶.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T14:40:15Z

The Truth Concerning The Confederate Battle Flag

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver argues that the Confederate battle flag is not a racist or pro-slavery symbol, but a Christian flag representing freedom from tyranny, states' rights, and Southern heritage. He claims the Civil War was not fought over slavery, citing Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment and other historical documents, and asserts that attacks on the flag are attacks on Christianity and truth.

Opening

Introduction to Confederate Flags

The Flag is Not Racist

Weaver argues the Confederate battle flag is not racist, pointing out that hate groups also use the U.S. and Christian flags, and cites black Americans who support the flag.

Racism Under the Stars and Stripes

Weaver contrasts the Confederate flag with the U.S. flag, quoting Abraham Lincoln's racist statements and arguing that true racism is found under the Stars and Stripes.

The Flag is Not a Flag of Slavery

Weaver claims the Confederate flag never represented slavery, noting that slaves were brought to America under the U.S. flag, and that the war was not about slavery.

The War Was Not Over Slavery

Weaver presents evidence that the Civil War was not about slavery, including Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment and congressional resolutions, and argues it was an economic conflict.

The Emancipation Proclamation Did Not Free Slaves

Weaver argues the Emancipation Proclamation was a war measure that freed no slaves, and notes that slavery continued in the North and under Union generals.

The Flag is a Christian Symbol

Weaver explains the St. Andrew's Cross on the battle flag as a Christian symbol, adopted to display faith in God, and ties it to Scottish heritage and the Greek letter Chi.

The Flag Represents Freedom and Truth

Weaver asserts the flag stands for liberty, states' rights, and opposition to tyranny, and that attacks on it are attacks on truth and Christianity.

Why the Flag Must Be Attacked

Weaver claims the flag is attacked because it threatens socialists and those who hate God, and that destroying symbols leads to loss of heritage and enslavement.

Call to Return to Heritage

Weaver urges a return to Southern heritage and the old paths, citing Jeremiah 6:16, and expresses pride in Southern culture and the Confederate flag.

Look at what the Word of God says. Jeremiah 6, verse 16:

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 6:16

"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they the wicked said, We will not walk therein."

But look what he said:

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 6:16

"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the old ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, Where is the good way? And walk there."

And long may that Christian Confederate battle flag wave. It's a symbol of Christ and Christianity and patriotism and valor and courage and independence and freedom.

The Truth Concerning The Confederate Battle Flag

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	WTlf8x5MZGw
Subject	Christian Civilization
Course	Rebuilding Christian Civilization
Genre	Sermon
Date	2016-07-18
Dictation Name
Book	Book 062: Rebuilding Christian Civilization — Chapter 6
Source Timed Segments	75

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction to Confederate Flags: Weaver introduces the various Confederate flags, noting that the battle flag is the most criticized, while other flags like the Bonnie Blue, Stars and Bars, Stainless Banner, and third national flag are largely ignored.
The Flag is Not Racist: Weaver argues the Confederate battle flag is not racist, pointing out that hate groups also use the U.S. and Christian flags, and cites black Americans who support the flag.
Racism Under the Stars and Stripes: Weaver contrasts the Confederate flag with the U.S. flag, quoting Abraham Lincoln's racist statements and arguing that true racism is found under the Stars and Stripes.
The Flag is Not a Flag of Slavery: Weaver claims the Confederate flag never represented slavery, noting that slaves were brought to America under the U.S. flag, and that the war was not about slavery.
The War Was Not Over Slavery: Weaver presents evidence that the Civil War was not about slavery, including Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment and congressional resolutions, and argues it was an economic conflict.
The Emancipation Proclamation Did Not Free Slaves: Weaver argues the Emancipation Proclamation was a war measure that freed no slaves, and notes that slavery continued in the North and under Union generals.
The Flag is a Christian Symbol: Weaver explains the St. Andrew's Cross on the battle flag as a Christian symbol, adopted to display faith in God, and ties it to Scottish heritage and the Greek letter Chi.
The Flag Represents Freedom and Truth: Weaver asserts the flag stands for liberty, states' rights, and opposition to tyranny, and that attacks on it are attacks on truth and Christianity.
Why the Flag Must Be Attacked: Weaver claims the flag is attacked because it threatens socialists and those who hate God, and that destroying symbols leads to loss of heritage and enslavement.
Call to Return to Heritage: Weaver urges a return to Southern heritage and the old paths, citing Jeremiah 6:16, and expresses pride in Southern culture and the Confederate flag.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Flag Not Racist Due to Black Support

The flag is not racist because many black Americans support it and even fought under it.

Weaver cites a Harris poll and quotes black individuals like R.J. Wilkins and John F. Harris, a black Confederate veteran.

Lincoln's Racism Proves U.S. Flag is Racist

Abraham Lincoln's own words show he believed in white supremacy, making the U.S. flag the true racist symbol.

Weaver quotes Lincoln: 'I am not now nor ever have been in favor of bringing about... the social or the political equality of a white and black race.'

Slaves Brought Under U.S. Flag

No slaves were brought to America under the Confederate flag; all were brought under the U.S. flag by Northern ships.

Weaver states: 'There is not one slave ever brought into this country under the Confederate flag.'

Lincoln's Proposed 13th Amendment

Lincoln proposed an amendment that would have permanently protected slavery, proving the war was not about slavery.

Weaver reads Lincoln's proposed amendment: 'No amendment shall be made... which will authorize or give Congress the power to abolish or interfere... with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service.'

Emancipation Proclamation as War Measure

The Emancipation Proclamation freed no slaves and was a strategic war measure to prevent European intervention.

Weaver says: 'The Emancipation Proclamation did not free one slave... it was a war measure.'

St. Andrew's Cross as Christian Symbol

The battle flag's design is based on the St. Andrew's Cross, a Christian symbol representing faith in Christ.

Weaver explains: 'The Confederate battle flag is based upon the national flag of Scotland... adopted... to display their faith in the sovereign God.'

Flag as International Symbol of Freedom

The Confederate flag has been used internationally as a symbol of freedom against tyranny, such as at the Berlin Wall.

Weaver notes: 'when the Berlin Wall was torn down... Confederate battle flags' were waving.

Attack on Flag is Attack on Heritage

Removing Confederate symbols is part of a plan to destroy Southern heritage and enslave people by erasing their past.

Weaver says: 'In order to keep a people enslaved... you must destroy their past.'

Scripture References

Jeremiah 6:16: Weaver quotes this verse to urge a return to the 'old paths' of Southern heritage and Christianity.

Historical References

Confederate Flags (Bonnie Blue, Stars and Bars, Stainless Banner, Third National): Weaver describes the various flags of the Confederacy to show that the battle flag is the most targeted.
Abraham Lincoln's Proposed 13th Amendment (1861): Weaver cites Lincoln's proposed amendment to protect slavery as proof the war was not about slavery.
Congressional Resolution (July 23, 1861): Weaver quotes a resolution stating the war was to preserve the Union, not to interfere with slavery.
Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863): Weaver argues the proclamation was a war measure that freed no slaves.
General Patrick Cleburne's Warning (January 1864): Weaver quotes Cleburne's prediction that Northern victors would write history portraying Southerners as traitors.
First Battle of Manassas (July 21, 1861): Weaver recounts the confusion over flags at Manassas, leading to the adoption of the battle flag.
St. Andrew's Crucifixion (c. 69 A.D.): Weaver tells the story of Andrew's martyrdom on an X-shaped cross to explain the flag's Christian symbolism.
Berlin Wall Fall: Weaver mentions Confederate flags waved at the Berlin Wall as a symbol of victory over tyranny.
John F. Harris Speech (1890): Weaver quotes a black Confederate veteran's speech in support of a Confederate monument.
Lincoln's Speech to Black Leaders (August 14, 1862): Weaver quotes Lincoln advocating colonization of blacks to Africa, showing his racist views.

Important Quotes

The Confederate flag is a well-recognized international symbol of racism, slavery, hatred, murder, and white supremacy.

Weaver quotes an opponent to illustrate the extreme attacks on the flag, which he then refutes.

I'm a black man who is not offended by the flying of the Confederate flag beside the Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida. The Confederate flag is as much a part of my history as of any white person's.

Weaver uses this quote from R.J. Wilkins to argue that black Americans support the flag.

If hate had been the prevailing emotion between the races, then it is a safe bet that the Confederacy would have never been born.

Weaver quotes black journalist W. Earl Douglas to claim the Confederacy was not based on racial hatred.

I am not now nor have ever been in favor of bringing about in any way the social or the political equality of a white and black race.

Weaver quotes Lincoln to argue that racism is associated with the U.S., not the Confederacy.

No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give Congress the power to abolish or interfere within any state with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said state.

Weaver presents Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment as proof the war was not about slavery.

If the South lost, it means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy. That our youth will be trained by northern school teachers, will learn from northern school books their version of the war.

Weaver quotes General Cleburne to support his claim of historical revisionism.

In the name of General Beauregard, under whose eyes you first went under fire at Manassas, I have the honor to present to you this sacred emblem of Southern valor and patriotism.

Weaver quotes Judge Roman to emphasize the flag as a symbol of valor, not racism.

Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls.

Weaver uses this Bible verse to call for a return to Southern heritage and values.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does Weaver's distinction between the Confederate battle flag and other Confederate flags affect the debate over its symbolism?

[Context]

Weaver notes that most critics target only the battle flag, not other Confederate flags.

[Question]

Is it valid to argue that a symbol is not racist because some members of the affected group support it?

[Context]

Weaver cites black Americans who support the flag to argue it is not racist.

[Question]

How should we evaluate historical figures' racist statements when assessing the symbols of their era?

[Context]

Weaver quotes Lincoln's racist views to shift the charge of racism to the U.S. flag.

[Question]

What does Lincoln's proposed 13th Amendment reveal about the causes of the Civil War?

[Context]

Weaver argues the amendment proves the war was not about slavery.

[Question]

Can a flag's design carry inherent religious meaning, or is meaning assigned by its users?

[Context]

Weaver claims the St. Andrew's Cross makes the battle flag a Christian symbol.

[Question]

How does the use of the Confederate flag in international contexts (e.g., Berlin Wall) complicate its meaning?

[Context]

Weaver cites international use as a symbol of freedom against tyranny.

[Question]

What is the relationship between preserving historical symbols and maintaining cultural identity?

[Context]

Weaver argues that destroying symbols leads to loss of heritage and enslavement.

[Question]

How should Christians balance the call to 'old paths' (Jeremiah 6:16) with the need for repentance from past sins?

[Context]

Weaver uses Jeremiah 6:16 to advocate returning to Southern heritage.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T03:24:01Z