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seeing as how most confederate men would've called me boy and all other sorts of names that can't be printed and then shot me because i refused to pick his cotton... I'll pass on honoring any of their memories. Yes i know that the war wasn't just about slavery, but still... honoring the memory of anyone who only saw people like me as property and animals is a little hard to do.

... are you building a case for honoring the memory of dead nazis now?

6String,
I understand your point, as it is very valid. Still, these are people's ancestors, and they fought on this soil. Heck, North Carolina had the least amount of slaves and gave the most lives. I don't think Bill Oden is advocating that "rednecks" carrying confederate flags with "Vote David Duke" banners, should take to the streets. But we cannot ignore history--good or bad.
IMHO

TLC, exactly. My gg-grandfather, his two brothers and countless numbers of their cousins fought (whether as volunteers or inscripted). My gg-grandfather was nothing more than a sharecropper when he worked in farming. They were definitely NOT slave owners. Their feelings on the subject is unknown. In some ways, I feel they may have had feelings similar to their neighbors. Then again, that too could be wrong.

One brother and one cousin of my direct ancestor were killed in the War of Northern Aggression. Yet, I hold not remorse towards the Union OR the Confederacy. Rather, I seek to take the lessons from that period and learn from them. As for honoring the Condederate soldiers, I feel that is a noble jesture. Those men fought, not necessarily because the wanted to, rather, because they had to do so!

Shalom

6string,

That's how government treats you NOW. If you don't labor for them for free (taxation), they'll send armed men to abduct you and confiscate your wealth. If you don't get their permission and pay them tribute before exercising your various rights (licensing and fees), they'll do the same. And don't you dare do anything they personally find to be distasteful behavior (smoke a little bud, for instance), or they'll do the same thing.

The only differences between the slave owners and the government is that the government might address you as "sir" instead of "boy" and refer to you as a "citizen" rather than a "servant."

I have no problem with remembering and honoring of the military dead of either side in a conflict. The soldier follows orders and fights when and where he told to do so, owing more allegiance to his comrades rather than the cause for which he is fighting. (This respect and honor does not extend to those who deliberately target civilians or perpetrate atrocities.) Therefore, I don’t have any problem honoring the confederate dead of the civil war.

I do have a problem with people like the letter writer who really wants to honor the noble cause of fighting against the “federal invaders” in the “war of northern aggression.” This is the worst kind of revisionist history. Face it, the war was to preserve the union of the United States, based on hostilities started by the rebel forces. The writer indicates the war was about radical Republicans, increased federal powers, and punitive tariffs. He also states this was an illegal war. Hogwash. This is far beyond the mainstream of accepted history. This view is usually limited to those who want to wave confederate flags, dress up like confederate soldiers, and occasionally teach this rubbish at willing community colleges (which, of course, is their right). The war was about slavery. Slavery was not going to be allowed to extend further and the powerful southern slave owners felt Lincoln’s goal was eventually to abolish slavery upon which their power, wealth and economy was based.

You might argue many of the soldiers fighting weren’t slave owners and you would be right. Why did they fight? They were sold some of the same reasons above, along with liberal doses of southern fried patriotism, nationalism, and freeing the south from the evil Yankees who persecute it. You can see parallels of that today in Iraq. Our soldiers were asked to fight for noble causes that proved to be untrue, rather than for the selfish causes of the rich and powerful. We should honor their bravery and sense of duty, regardless of the cause for which they fight.

[Speaking of Iraq] "Our soldiers were asked to fight for noble causes that proved to be untrue" True. The question remains why rich and powerful leaders were deaf to common sense and unfaithful to conservative principles.

The debate should be what are we gonna do about it.

The irony is there was no debate as things clearly were progressing into our present status of middle east hell.