What the South was Really fighting for in the Civil War

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ATM Sunday Message for September 19, 2010

Confederate Christians and fellow Compatriots:

Below is my message for Sunday, September 19th.  Please feel free to forward or reply.  Your comments are always welcome.

May our Lord bless you in His service and in service to our most worthy Southern Cause.

Bro. Len Patterson, Th.D
Chaplain, Army of Trans-Mississippi
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Are We Ready?

It is a natural impulse for men to be moved with compassion for their country and forefathers. There is nothing evil, there is nothing sinful or wrong in the thoughts that fill our hearts. It is only natural to feel resentment and anger toward a tyrannical government and the willfully ignorant whipping the memory of our brave Confederate ancestors and trying to destroy our proud Southern heritage. And, it is only natural that we feel the surge of righteous ambition against those who oppose the truth. However, we may also feel a dull sense of futility, as though we are beating the air or trying to joust with windmills.

Many of us are committed to the mission of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, but this very commitment may be the reason for our feeling of futility. You see, we must first commit ourselves to God. God is the Lord of all, and He is completely able to assume His own responsibilities and accomplish His aims. Where we fail, He is able to succeed. God does not need us. We need God!

This nation was founded by Christian men to be a nation "under God," and God is perfectly capable of taking care of those who would usurp His authority. And, He will. Too often we organize, promote, work, and spend God out of our business, and then ask for His blessings.

If we are to achieve victory over those who oppose us and our just Cause we must follow our God. The challenge we hear so often today is "Do more! Give more! Be more!" But God says, "Be still and know that I am God." In other words, quit the panic; quit beating the air; quit jousting with windmills, and just let God be God. In Psalms 144:1, the Scripture says, "Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight."

Are we ready, as a Confederation, to come to the point where we realize that all we can produce, at our best, is ashes? Are we ready to come to the place where we can accept ourselves for what we are: Helpless without Him? Are we ready to commit ourselves to God and follow His guidance and direction? Are we ready to stand firmly on the field of battle knowing that our God is leading us to victory?

Are we ready to put God at the head of our lives, our homes, our businesses, and at the head of the Sons of Confederate Veterans? If so, then we are ready.

Brother Len Patterson, Th.D

Chaplain, Army of Trans-Mississippi

ATM Sunday Message for September 12, 2010

Confederate Christians and fellow Compatriots:


Below is my message for Sunday, September 12th. Please feel free to forward or reply. Your comments are always welcome.

May God bless each of you and may God bless our Southern Cause.



Bro. Len Patterson, Th.D
Chaplain, Army of Trans-Mississippi
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Believest Thou This?



What we do and how we act is often determined by what we believe. If a man is told that great wealth lies hidden beneath his front porch and he believes it, he will tear up his porch looking for it. However, if he is unwilling to damage his porch to reach the treasure under it, it's because he really doesn't believe the treasure is there. What we truly believe, and disbelieve, will usually determine our decisions and courses of action. Consider the following account in the eleventh chapter of the Gospel according to John.

By the time the messengers from Mary and Martha reached Jesus on the east side of the Jordan River, and Jesus made His way to their home in Bethany, Lazarus was dead. His decaying body had been anointed, wrapped, and sealed in a tomb behind a heavy stone for four days. To Mary, Martha and the many mourners there to offer comfort, Jesus had arrived too late.

As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was approaching, she ran from the house to meet Him. "Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died," she cried as they met. Jesus responded by telling her, "Your brother will rise again." With eyes red and swollen from days of mourning and tears on her checks, she looked up at Jesus and sobbed, "I know he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Then gazing down into Martha's tear stained face, Jesus spoke the most astounding words ever uttered in all human history. "Martha, I am the resurrection."

"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." A Buddhist priest once scoffed at these words of Jesus by saying, "Anyone could say that." The Christian missionary whom he was addressing replied, "Yes, anyone could say it, but could they get anyone to believe it." Jesus went to the tomb, ordered the stone removed, and shouted, "Lazarus, come forth!" Then, the Scripture tells us, "He that was dead came forth." Jesus said it, then He proved it, and everyone there believed it.

Very soon, Jesus would also be placed in a tomb. He would be arrested, falsely accused, spit on, humiliated, severely beaten, and nailed to a rough wooden cross to die as God's sacrificial lamb. He suffered an agonizing death to atone for the sins of man, and offer eternal salvation to someone as unworthy as me....and you. Then the greatest of all events occurred. Early the following Sunday morning, a day we call Easter, He arose from the dead leaving the tomb empty. Thank you Lord for the empty tomb. He's alive!

Speaking to Martha, Jesus said, "Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." Then He asked a question. A question that comes storming through the centuries. A question that must be answered by every man and woman who has ever lived or will live. A question that must be answered by you and me. "Believest thou this?" John 11:26

And Jesus said, "Because I live, ye shall live also." John 14: 19


Bro. Len Patterson, Th.D
Chaplain, Army of Trans-Mississippi

An Interview with Todd Owens, a Civil War Medical Reeanactor

Sep 05, 2010 @ 08:32 am by r. pittman

Recently, I was fortunate that Todd Owens granted me an interview. Todd is Councilman for the Army of Trans Mississippi for the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Every Halloween weekend, you can find him and others at the Battle of Mansfield State Park, http://www.mansfieldbattlefield.org/state.asp, where they will “reenact” field hospital procedures in the true spirit of Halloween and a haunted battlefield. In this interview, Todd shares a bit of information he has learned regarding Civil War medicine.



1. What misconceptions do people have about Civil War medicine and physicians? The main misconception is that the doctors were butchers, operating without any type of medicine to help relieve the pain.

2. What was the job of a nurse in the Civil War? The main job of a nurse was the same as it is today, the care and comfort of the wounded soldiers.

3. Tell me about your persona and the work of a Civil War Doctor. I do the persona of the War Between the States undertaker/dentist. The late 1850 was when the use of embalming came into it’s heyday. The first well known case of the use of an embalmer was when the son of Union President Abraham Lincoln died in the White House. President Lincoln would go to the tomb of his son, the workers would remove the lid of the vault and it is said that the President would sit there for hours just staring at the face of his dead son.

4. How did the Confederate medical system differ from that of the Yankees? There was not that much difference in the medical system between the North and the South. The only main difference was that the South had a Dentist Corps. The North did not see the advantage to having dentist in the ranks.

5. What are some comments regarding your presentation you’ve heard from people that are interesting? The most often made comment is that they did not realize that there were undertakers during the war. I have even, while doing living history events, made several of the students on the school days sick to their stomachs when doing my demonstrations. That is when you know that you are doing something so good that the people think it is real.

ATM Sunday Message for September 05, 2010

Confederate Christians and fellow Compatriots:



Below is my message for Sunday, September 5th. Please feel free to forward or reply. As always, your comments are always appreciated.

May God continue to bless you in all you do in His service and in service to our most worthy Southern Cause.


Bro. Len Patterson, Th.D.

Chaplain, Army of Trans-Mississippi

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Markers

There are those who seem to always follow the path of, "Out with the old and in with the new." An evangelist preaching in a church I was pastoring some years ago, stated, "If it's new, it can't be true." That statement may not apply to everything, and of course there are times when updating is important, but it does apply. Out with the old, and in with the new is not always a good idea, and in many circumstances, leads to destruction.

The Scripture says, "Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set." (Prov: 22: 28) Obviously, the landmarks referred to in these writings (and gatherings) of Solomon about three thousand years ago, are not the same today. For example: The Bible, and especially the New Testament, written by our Christian Fathers under the inspiration of God, does not need to be changed, amended, updated, and certainly not removed. But it has been. The Bible has been removed from our schools, courts and public assemblies, and the result has lead to chaos, destruction, and even death. Prayer has also been removed along with the Cross, Nativity scenes and anything else that represents the "Faith of our fathers." What can we, as a people, expect when we remove these ancient landmarks which our fathers have set.

Not only has the faith of our fathers been removed, but so has their morality and sense of decency. We can say America is a "Nation under God, and sing "God bless America." However, God is not going to be moved or impressed by our slogans, pledges, and songs. How can America expect God's blessing when it is more socially acceptable to be a practicing homosexual or lesbian than it is to be a practicing Christian. Did God bless Sodom? The ancient landmark of morality and decency set by our fathers has been removed. Far removed. I doubt our fathers would have thought such a condition existing in this country even possible.

As members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, we also have ancient landmarks set by our fathers that must not be removed. Our Confederate forefathers set and example of courage and determination in the face of a destructive and unwarranted invasion, which we are to preserve, uphold and emulate. It is their name, their flag, their monuments, and their honor which is under attack today. This is the legacy, this is the responsibility, this is the honor they passed on to us, and it's up to us to insure that these ancient landmarks are preserved and never removed.

Nineveh repented under the preaching of Jonah, and God spared the city. Can the same thing happen in America? Can America be blessed? That, I can't say. However, the Sons of Confederate Veterans can be. But we must do as General S.D. Lee said, and that is to emulate the virtues of the Confederate soldier. That means we must be a Godly Confederation. We must be a "Army under God."

May God grant to the Sons of Confederate Veterans the strength, unity of purpose, spiritual guidance, and faith, to protect and preserve the ancient landmarks set by our fathers. Amen.

Bro. Len Patterson, Th.D
Chaplain Army of Trans-Mississippi

No, Slavery Did Not Cause the Civil War !!!

By RICHARD T. HINES
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST

Published: August 29, 2010


ALEXANDRIA, VA The problem with Charles Bryan's Op/Ed column, "Yes, Slavery Caused the Civil War," is that nearly every point he raises to make his argument against the short-lived Southern republic could also be made directly against the United States, its Constitution, and the Founding Fathers. For example, the statement that "the Confederacy was a nation based on laws and constitutional authority protecting slavery and the right of its citizens to own other human beings." The implication is that the United States and its Constitution were not. But this is false.

It may be useful to point out a few uncomfortable realities:


•The United States Constitution clearly provided in the second section of Article IV for the return of fugitive slaves to their masters.

•The United States Constitution in the second section of Article I clearly provided that three-fifths of all other persons (meaning slaves) were to be counted for the purposes of representation in the U.S. House.

•The United States Constitution, in fact, extended the slave trade a full decade until 1808. This was a rejection of the proposal by George Mason, a slaveholder, and other Virginians, for an immediate end to this inhumane practice. The extension benefited New England -- the center of American slave trading.

The U.S. Constitution was designed chiefly to protect liberty and property, including slaves. The Framers knew that property rights were indispensable to liberty and that for the time being bonded labor was a unique species of property. Such statesmen as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Patrick Henry, George Mason, John Marshall, and a host of others, were slaveholders who also opposed slavery. Yet they had to deal with the day-to-day reality of an inherited institution, while striving to make it as humane as possible and looking forward to its final abolition by peaceful and orderly means. This is not a contradiction, but rather a paradox.

In 1831, Virginia attempted to enact a bill for gradual emancipation of the slaves -- it lost by one vote in the General Assembly. Virginia, all counted, made a total of 23 attempts to legislate the freeing of the slaves and the abolition of the slave trade prior to 1861.

The United States Congress, in a resolution unanimously approved by both houses on July 23, 1861, declared: "The war is waged by the Government of the United States, not in the spirit of conquest or subjugation, nor for the purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or institutions of the states, but to defend and protect the Union." There is not a word about abolishing slavery.

President Abraham Lincoln said in his first Inaugural Address: "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."

In 1861, Lincoln supported passage of the Corwin Amendment to the Constitution, which would have formally and explicitly enshrined slavery in the U.S. Constitution by prohibiting the government from ever interfering with Southern slavery. This amendment passed the Senate and the House just days before Lincoln was inaugurated (but the advent of war prevented its ratification by the states). In his first Inaugural Address he said he believed slavery was constitutional and then, alluding to the Corwin Amendment, said: "I have no objection to it [slavery protection] being made express irrevocable" in the Constitution. This was by far the strongest defense of slavery ever made by an American politician.


Not one single slave in any non-seceding Union slave state (Maryland, Delaware, Missouri, Kentucky, and the District of Columbia) was freed by Lincoln's famous 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. It had no effect on any Southern state, as it obviously could not be enforced there. Lincoln himself said (in a widely distributed communication, Aug. 22, 1862, to New York newspaper editor Horace Greeley): "If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves I would do it."

Arguments that slavery caused the war and that the South was the culprit are already bearing fruit in the City of Richmond. The city's commission on the sesquicentennial, The Future of Richmond's Past, is already showing a distorted emphasis on slavery versus the heroism, suffering, and sacrifice of the soldiers whose leaders' statues grace Monument Avenue. This approach seems more calculated to drive visitors away than to attract them to the capital city of the Confederacy.

Virginia's secession convention stood firmly pro-Union until the April 12, 1861, firing on Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call of troops from Virginia to help bring the seceding states back into the Union. Slavery played no role in Virginia's decision and Virginia left the Union only upon Lincoln's call up to invade the lower South.

Slavery began in Virginia in 1619, not 1861. It is an injustice to pile the sins of 250 years of the "peculiar institution" on the brave men who went forth against the invaders between 1861 and 1865. As we commemorate their heroism and sacrifice, we do not forget the peculiar institution, but at the same time we must not let political correctness corrupt our judgment and our historical understanding. As noted historian James McPherson wrote in What They Fought For, 1861-1865, the vast majority of Southern soldiers believed they were fighting to defend their state, their homes, and their families -- not slavery.

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Richard T. Hines serves as commander of the Jefferson Davis Camp #305 Sons of Confederate Veterans, Virginia Division. Contact him at rth@rthconsulting.com.

ATM Sunday Message for August 29, 2010

Confederate Christians and fellow Compatriots:


Below is my message for Sunday, August 29th. Please feel free to reply or forward, As always, you comments are always welcome.


May our Lord continue to bless you all for all you are doing.

Bro. Len Patterson, Th.D
Chaplain, Army of Trans-Mississippi
Sons of Confederate Veterans



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Numbers

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to the membership of one our local camps. During my presentation, I asked them to consider some numbers. If each member of our Confederation would recruit just one new member in the coming year, next year we would have about 60,000 members. Then, if each of these would recruit one new member in the following year, our membership would increase to 120,000.

If each member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans were to continue recruiting one new member a year, within just ten years, ten percent of the population of the United States would be members of the SCV; which means about twenty percent of the men in this country would be honoring our noble Confederate forefathers. Yes, in ten years we would have about thirty million members.

Think about the effect we could exert on our failing society. Anyone wanting to be president or seeking any political office would need our support. They would beg to speak at our reunions. If we threatened to boycott General Motors if they didn't put a Confederate Battle Flay on the back of every Silverado Pick up, they would do it or go bankrupt. We could demand that the Lincoln Memorial be leveled and replaced with a monument to someone more worthy of the honor. Someone like Jefferson Davis.

Well, as my daddy used to say, "Dream on sweet prince." I know that thirty million members in ten years in not a very reasonable expectation, but then, if you'll allow me to say so, neither is thirty thousand members after almost a hundred and fifteen years. The Sons of Confederate Veterans need to grow and increase. In doing so, we will gain strength and influence, and be more successful in carrying out the mission to which we are so justly dedicated. We're talking about numbers.

So, how do we accomplish this growth and increase? Consider the early church. Within less than three hundred years what began with a few people in an obscure part of the world, became the most powerful force in the Roman Empire. They did it without elegant buildings, Madison Avenue sales tactics, dog-and-pony shows, ads in newspapers, or any of the things many churches do today to attract new members. So, what did they do?

The Scripture says in Acts 11: 23, "That with purpose of heart they would cleave to the Lord." They put their faith and trust in the Lord and sought His guidance and strength. We also must realize that we cannot succeed without God's blessing and leadership. But, they did something else. Something we must also do if we are to grow and increase.

They obeyed the Lord's command to, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." (Mk. 16: 15. See also Matt. 28: 18-20 for the Great Commission) Everyone they knew; everyone they met; they felt should hear the Gospel and have the opportunity to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and accept Him as their Lord. We call it "witnessing."

We must do the same. We must feel that every son of the South should know about the Sons of Confederate Veterans and what we do and stand for, and have the opportunity to join our just Cause. We call it "recruiting."

Whether it's the Cause of Christ or our Southern Cause, one person talking to one person is what worked two thousand years ago, and that's what works today. That is how we get numbers.

May God bless each of you in your service to Christ and in serving the worthy Cause of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Bro. Len Patterson, Th.D

Chaplain, Army of Trans-Mississippi

Sons of Confederate Veterans