Ideological "heritage" of neo-Confederates

Confederate "heritage": more boring than nekkid pagan dancing?

This is a column from the Charleston City Paper, as in South Carolina's Charleston, Embracing Pagan heritage by Will Moredock 12/19/07. Moredock takes off on a celebration by apparently New Agey self-described "pagans" that upset the local Baptists to make a point about the neo-Confederate brand of "heritage", i.e., praising the slaveowning Confederate States of America (1861-1865):

No, what we have around here is a strange breed of white ancestor worshippers — and devout Christians all — who denounce the North for destroying the antebellum glory that was Dixie.

I find this disturbing for a couple of reasons. I have always suspected that all this Confederate nostalgia had a strong strain of racism at its core and that suspicion is only reinforced by the absurd denial by most Confederophiles that southern secession was committed in defense of slavery. I suspect that these deniers — like Holocaust deniers, evolution deniers, and global warming deniers — are more than just misinformed or contrarian by nature. Such bold dismissal of fact and scholarship certainly accompanies some larger, darker agenda.

I also find it disturbing that these white southerners have chosen to identify with their Confederate past. If they wanted truly heroic ancestors to venerate, how about those patriots who defeated the British Empire and created a free nation on this continent? Or the "Greatest Generation," which survived the Depression and won World War II?

In a thousand years, free men and women everywhere will remember the battles America fought in the name of freedom, and they will be grateful. And they will remember that this great and free republic was almost destroyed by a slave-holding oligarchy, which started a war that killed nearly half a million Americans. And yet that's the heritage so many white southerners have chosen to identify with.

"Heritage" is a purely artificial and arbitrary construct. It is one group advancing some sacred balderdash to gain an upper hand over some other group who is not part of that "heritage." It also means ignoring important parts of history — like Pagan heritage — and rewriting other parts of history — like the cause of southern secession.

As a lifelong southerner, I have been called a traitor and worse for not respecting my Confederate heritage. Well, two can play that game. I hereby challenge every Neo-Confederate to stand up for his Pagan heritage. And to show their enthusiasm, they are all invited to come out next September and take part in the annual Pagan Pride Day. It's a lot more fun than Confederate Memorial Day.

Tags: authoritarianism, neo-confederate, neo-confederates, will moredock