"ANOTHER" Emblem of SUFFERING and SHAME!

You are not redeemed by corruptible things....
(I  Peter 1:18-19)

My eyes still tear up, as the images of those nine martyrs flash across the television or my computer today! Yes, I'm calling them martyrs for they have given their lives for a cause bigger than even they could know.

Mother Emmanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina  adds another chapter to their glorious yet painful black church history.  Much like our Savior, Jesus Christ, this church has been despised, rejected by mankind and is well familiar with pain (Isaiah 53:3a). 

Ex slave and early founder of African Methodism, Richard Allen was also in prayer when white leaders of the church relegated black parishioners to segregated quarters to worship God early in our history. The struggle continued as  Mother Emmanuel was burned to the ground when another icon of Black History, Denmark Vesey engineered a slave revolt to free captives from their oppressive conditions. 

 And the confederate flag waves on!  Not at half-mast in respect to this tragedy as the other two, but proudly as if still on the battlefield fighting for the sin of slavery and an ideology that  robs the very people who built this nation of human rights!

I've heard the debate for most of my life...the confederate flag is not about hate but heritage...They've tried to make it innocuous, even funny with popular shows like The Dukes of Hazzard and other forms of red neck humor.  But to Blacks, it's no laughing matter!

A symbol of heritage...absolutely! But whose and at what cost!  For 21 year old Dylann Roof, it gave a subliminal message to wage war and take back his state and country! When I see it I think of  KKK rallies, website and literature promoting white supremacy and hate rhetoric?  I instantly get a knot in my stomach and  images of lynched black people. IT IS OFFENSIVE AND A REMINDER OF OUR  SINFUL UGLY PAST...TAKE IT DOWN!

Another weak defense is that it is the condition of the heart that reflects racism and hate, not the flag!  Well, I'll concede to that but have you noticed that there's already a significant symbol of sinful hearts...it's a Rugged Cross and the Confederate flag is often displayed prominently next to or wrapped around it!  Twisted around it, perhaps would be a better word for it is only twisted minds that could ever fathom a symbol of Christ's love for all men as an endorsement for racial hate!

Peter reminds us in his epistle, that no corruptible thing could ever redeem us, not silver, gold or  anything handed down to us by our ancestors but it is only the blood of Jesus. (paraphrase of I Peter 1:18-19).  If you need to display a flag worthy of a heritage, why not the Christian flag.  I'd love to see it flying from every capitol dome in our nation!

UNTIL NEXT TIME...

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