{"id":5732,"date":"2016-01-19T11:42:14","date_gmt":"2016-01-19T15:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=5732"},"modified":"2017-03-29T14:19:28","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T18:19:28","slug":"michigander-defends-the-confederate-flag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/01\/michigander-defends-the-confederate-flag.html","title":{"rendered":"Michigander Defends the Confederate Flag"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><div style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2016\/01\/ConfederateFlag.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5733 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2016\/01\/ConfederateFlag.jpg\" alt=\"ConfederateFlag\" width=\"640\" height=\"457\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">***<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">(8-29-06)<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">***<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">[Stephen Hand\u2019s words will be in\u00a0<span style=\"color: #3333ff;\">blue<\/span>; Martin\u2019s in\u00a0<span style=\"color: #009900;\">green<\/span>; Jim Scott\u2019s in<span style=\"color: #cc33cc;\">\u00a0purple<\/span>; I\u2019m from Michigan; Stephen is from Boston, Martin from Tennessee. I don\u2019t know where Jim Scott lives.]*****<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">Southern man<br>\nbetter keep your head<br>\nDon\u2019t forget<br>\nwhat your good book said<br>\nSouthern change<br>\ngonna come at last<br>\nNow your crosses<br>\nare burning fast<br>\nSouthern man<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">I saw cotton<br>\nand I saw black<br>\nTall white mansions<br>\nand little shacks.<br>\nSouthern man<br>\nwhen will you<br>\npay them back?<br>\nI heard screamin\u2019<br>\nand bullwhips cracking<br>\nHow long? How long?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(Neil Young [originally from Canada],\u00a0<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Southern Man<\/span>)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">* * * * *<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The American flag is a symbol of many great and noble things, but which also flew over 89 years of institutionalized slavery, near-annihilation of the Indians, Jim Crow and segregation for 100 years, nuclear obliteration and fire-bombing hundreds of thousands of civilians [in Germany and Japan] in the 1940s, and the legal wholesale slaughter of 50 million preborn children, from 1973 to the present.* * *<\/p>\n<p>Confederate \u201cBattle flag\u201d: 1861-1865: four years of flying over a culture which sanctioned and fought for the continuance of slavery and also committed the horrible sins of opposing federalism, fighting for its homelands, and asserting the right of states to secede from a larger political union: precisely as the original 13 colonies had revolted against Mother England. Is it the equivalent of a Nazi swastika?<\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Stephen Hand had written\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/tcrnews2.com\/controversies1.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">on his website<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3333ff;\"><span style=\"color: black;\">[A]<\/span>\u00a0young blogger . . . recently put up a \u201cnon-racist\u201d states rights \u201conly\u201d symbol of the confederacy at his website; see the exact graphic here which he took down after it was sadly noted; Curiously, I don\u2019t recall ever seeing a cross or crucifix at his page one.\u00a0<span style=\"color: black;\">[This person]<\/span>, despite all future disclaimers and verbose illogical somersaults, seems oblivious or indifferent to the fact that one can no more divorce that symbol from the horrible history of racism and slavery anymore than one could put up a Swastika claiming it is \u201conly\u201d an ancient symbol used even by Christians here and there. Tragic. . . . I hope the good lad will change his mind about carrying such odious symbols at his site and consider putting up a crucifix instead.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I replied on my blog:<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t buy this argument. I agree with Walter Williams (a black conservative, which fact will be relevant shortly) when he says that the American flag itself flew over the nation for 89 years, when slavery was perfectly legal and enshrined in the Constitution (and with Washington and Jefferson both slaveholders; whereas Gen. Lee and Jefferson Davis and Gen. Stonewall Jackson and Gen. Longstreet all opposed slavery, as I recall). Not to mention that this flag also flew over a nation which attempted a wicked, ruthless, brutal near-genocide of the Indians.<\/p>\n<p>So if we condemn the Confederate flag, how can we not also condemn the American flag on a far more consistent basis? I agree that the Confederate flag may have partially symbolized or \u201cstood for\u201d slavery (also states\u2019 rights, opposition to excessive federalism, etc.) \u2014 I oppose the Southern argument sometimes heard, that slavery was strictly a secondary issue in that war \u2014\u00a0, but it did so for a mere four years.<\/p>\n<p>I would also add that the same American flag now flies over a system of the institutionalized holocaust of child-killing, for 33 years now. So why do you not call for the banning of the American flag, on the same basis? The South is the most enlightened part of the country now, by far: being quite pro-life. It is the North which favors butchery and slaughter of the smallest and most defenseless among us. So why do we keep living in the past?<\/p>\n<p>Why keep harping on slavery (which went by the wayside 141 years ago), when 4000 a day are being slaughtered today? You know this, of course; it is just a matter of seeing the inconsistency here.<\/p>\n<p>And (I should note for my Southern friends), I write as a Michigander who is passionately opposed to slavery and would, no doubt, have been a radical abolitionist in those days, just as I am a radical pro-lifer now (five arrests, participation in 25 rescues, etc.).<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3333ff;\">How about the sensitivities of our Afro-American brothers and Sisters as they ponder Shawn\u2019s Confederate Flag, Dave? Should they get all misty-eyed when they see rope on a tree too?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>They have to approach the issue with reason, just as Walter Williams (himself an African-American) did. I understand that some things are extremely emotional. But this is also an issue that needs to be rationally discussed.<\/p>\n<p>If the Confederate flag has to go on these grounds, then my argument was that there is far more reason for the American flag to go with it. But it makes no sense to be against one and not the other. So either be in favor of both, or against both, if the argument is the one you used.<\/p>\n<p>And if you wish to argue in this fashion, what about the sensitivities of Southerners, who do not think that the only reason many thousands of their ancestors were willing to fight and die was simply because of slavery? The vast majority of the fighting men did not own slaves.<\/p>\n<p>Yet they are not allowed to cherish any part of that effort in their past history, even having the old Confederate flag? That\u2019s just the same old substitute of simplistic, stereotypical approach for substance and solid reasoning: every instance of a Confederate flag <em>must<\/em>\u00a0prove incipient racism, just as (for some folks) every mention of a Jewish person, if at all critical, or criticism of Israel, \u201cproves\u201d incipient anti-Semitism.<\/p>\n<p>It just ain\u2019t so.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3333ff;\">Ok, fine. I will put up a Confederate Flag on my house tonight.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3333ff;\">As for all the implicit referential meanings associated with it ( lynchings, no \u201cniggers\u201d vote, slavery, Jim Crow, back of the bus, Amos and Andy, Bull Connor) I will urge people to use, er, reason.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3333ff;\">Thanks for the advice. Strange Fruit\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p>So you are maintaining that the Confederacy (or for that matter the South for the last 140 years) had no redeeming qualities to it whatsoever? That the whole effort in 1861-1865 on their part was sheer evil, akin to Nazism? Is that your position, Stephen? I\u2019m sure my Southern readers would be delighted to hear you say that.<\/p>\n<p>This is an example of purely emotional, illogical reasoning (hence you utterly ignore my American flag argument). You are no more immune to it than the next guy.<\/p>\n<p>I will point out when something has no reasonable basis, no matter how politically incorrect the opinion may be. It\u2019s always been fashionable (in certain circles) to bash the South as a bunch of redneck, gun-toting, toothless, barefoot, Moonshine-making, racist, Bible-thumping know-nothings, while ignoring every good thing that came from that region, and all the evil that has far more characterized the northern regions of the country. You contribute to that prejudice by concentrating only on bad things associated with the South.<\/p>\n<p>C\u2019mon! You need to apply more Boston\/Harvard intellect and less Irish feistiness and hyper-emotionalism (I say as a part-Irishman myself and very proud of it).<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #009900;\">\u201cDixie Flag\u201d comments\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #009900;\">Ok, Dave, I\u2019ll try and see if I can make an intellectual point .<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #009900;\">You seem to be under the mistaken impression that the \u201cWar between the States\u201d ended 100 years ago. As a Tennesee native I can tell you it was still being fought just 40 years ago when I was growing up. There were lots of Confederate flags around then (including one high school that only quit flying it a few years ago) and whites and blacks knew that the flag was not there to highlight the rights of the States as opposed to the Federal government. These flags were a clear sign: \u201cNO BLACKS ALLOWED\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #009900;\">Just as the whites wearing the flags were letting the blacks know where they could go if you were stupid enough to were one cause it was \u201ccool\u201d you would get a not so gentle physical reminder from the other side of the tracks if you wandered there alone at night that they knew what you meant.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #009900;\">Yes, there were good aspects to Dixie. And good aspects to the Nazi government: don\u2019t forget who gave us the Volkswagon and an excellent anatomy textbook for plastic surgeons( two guesses on how they did it). In the end though the confederate flag = the swastika. We just got to wave it longer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s interesting, coming from a Southerner, and point well-taken. You have issued a reasonable challenge. I have at least three Southern friends, however, who would, I\u2019m pretty sure, take great offense at this characterization you have made.<\/p>\n<p>But couldn\u2019t one still argue that those uses of the flag were for nefarious purposes, but not all such use must be that? And how do you overcome my US flag comparison \/ dilemma? Do you concede that the US flag can have just as compelling a case made against it as a symbol for some pretty evil things?<\/p>\n<p>If in fact, the use of the Confederate flag is almost always in this understood racist \/ territorial fashion, then I think that would be a good point, and I might have to reconsider my position. How would one prove such a thing?<\/p>\n<p>For example, many Southern states had the Stars and Bars as part of their state flags, until pressured to remove them (even in your state till quite recently, as I recall). Are you saying that in all cases this was a racist motive?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3333ff;\">In the face of injustice reason unspoken often tells emotion, as when Our Lord turned over the tables of the buyers and the sellers in the Temple to show defilement of heart by greed. Surely to the Temple Guard he looked merely overwrought. But it was not so.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3333ff;\">His act was pure eloquence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3333ff;\">The Confederate flag, in addition to Ben\u2019s reason, must be rejected for the offense and fright it will cause our Afro-American sisters and brothers. To give offense and fear is sinful and any appeal to a curious, apologetical opinion confused with with \u201creason\u201d is really merely finding a reason to offend against charity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3333ff;\">If you wrote Fr. Hardon on this, God rest his soul, or Rome, David, I am sure you would be advised against your eccentric view of \u201creason\u201d in the face of such an affront.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3333ff;\">And then \u201cthe heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of,\u201d which some apologists, being neck deep in mere argument daily forget. Reason is most reason when it supports charity and does not offend. (Eph 4:12)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3333ff;\">Some Neo-Nazis find other meanings in the Nazi flag than a Holocaust they will do not even admit happened . That does not justify their desire to fly the Nazi flag over Catholic homes, brother.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m willing to change my position on this flag business if convinced. But will you reply to my American flag argument (thirrd time now I\u2019ve asked you)? I\u2019d really like to know. Are you prepared to renounce it as a symbol, since it has been the symbol of a country that has legally butchered more than 50 million preborn human beings, dropped atomic bombs on civilians (and remember, the same flag flew over slavery for 89 years too)?<\/p>\n<p>If the flag is<em> that<\/em>\u00a0entirely identified with a nation and that nation\u2019s actions (per your Confederate flag argument), then it seems to me that you couldn\u2019t possibly fly the American flag, on the same grounds.<\/p>\n<div>On the other hand, you could maintain that any flag stands for good and bad things both, just like the nation it represents, made up of (last time I checked) 100% sinners like you and I.<\/div>\n<p>Martin\u2019s argument actually was a solid argument. I would like to see that elaborated upon by him and other Southerners. Since I did not grow up there, this is the sort of thing I wouldn\u2019t know one way or the other (how the symbol was habitually used in day-to-day life).<\/p>\n<p>Are there respectable, certified non-racists who still fly it, etc.? Or does everyone just cave in because it is \u201cPC\u201d now to be against these flags, and \u201cwe dare not offend our Northern overlords who know what is best for us, and we will be tarred as racists if we dare do it\u201d etc.?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3333ff;\">And then \u201cthe heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of,\u201d which some apologists, being neck deep in mere argument daily forget.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Stephen: obviously you still don\u2019t know me very well, if you think I am all reason and no heart. Both of my conversions (to evangelicalism and to Catholicism) were based in large part on \u201cnon-logical\u201d or \u201cnon-rational\u201d (as opposed to irrational) factors.<\/p>\n<p>The first (1977) was based on an intuitive, instinctive knowledge that Christian moral teaching was correct, and a profound conversion experience and encounter with the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n<p>The second (1990) began with \u2013 again \u2013 an instinctive understanding that contraception was wrong and that Catholic moral theology was profoundly right all down the line. It didn\u2019t come from rational argument, but from the heart.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t even start accusing me of being insensitive to black people (if that is where this is going). I\u2019ve studied race relations issues for almost 40 years now: longer than any other subject I\u2019ve ever been interested in. I\u2019m highly concerned about not offending anyone, and about social justice, especially with regard to minorities.<\/p>\n<p>But since Walter Williams was the guy I first heard this argument from, it seems to me that there is some chance that not all black people have the same opinion about the Confederate flag. I can\u2019t say I know for sure (which is why I am asking for further feedback). But I think there is more discussion here than you make out with your breezy dismissals.<\/p>\n<p>If the South is so horrible even to this day, then why aren\u2019t more\u00a0African-Americans leaving and coming north, as in the post-WWI period? I\u2019ve heard that they are actually starting to go back south now, and that they prefer the open racism of Southern society (where it exists) to the subtle, sneaky northern variety of racism.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #cc33cc;\">Confederate flag is NOT EVEN the Confederate flag. That is the flag that flew over the insurrectionist rebel government known as the Confederate States of America. It\u2019s the Battle Flag that was flown by the Confederate Army.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #cc33cc;\">I don\u2019t think Martin Luther King ever said anything against the Battle Flag. He was more concerned with denouncing the burning of crosses and the murder of black Americans then some artificial modern PC contrivance of the Al Sharpton\u2019s and Jesse Jackson\u2019s of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #cc33cc;\">Hey, but if you want to waste your time complaining about it go ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3333ff;\">Yes, the American Flag, that object of near idolatrous devotion, means little to me (Catholics are universal), reminds me more of American genocide and trying to convert Catholics called pagans by the President back then in the Phillipines and elsewhere more than freedom for the elite few at the expense of the many of the world. So yes, you can have it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3333ff;\">But the Confederate Flag is even more odious to your Church for its many referential meanings, like the Nazi Flag analogized above. Telling people to get reason in this instance is unreasonable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3333ff;\">As for the Confederate flag and racism, you evidently haven\u2019t thought this through deeply, or you have a blind spot, friend, even if you think you have not. Consult your spiritual father or bishop on this one. Very shallow here, thee, Dave.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #009900;\">I hope my last post did not slur southerners. I meant to imply that those who fly the Dixie battle flag are racists, not all southerners. I\u2019d be willing to modify this opinion too if shown wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #009900;\">More to the point: A flag is a symbol of a country good and bad. Looking at the stars and stripes you should keep in mind that nowhere else do you have the right to so easily point to Americas faults. Yes, abortion is a scourge on the country as is the serious double black eye our dear president has given us by allowing torture in prisons. But please remember these things are not the norm for this country they are the exceptions. This would be my point about flags. I could sympathize with someone who shivers when they see the flag but I also live with my wife, the Japanese-American immigrant, who gets teary-eyed each July 4th and can tell you at length why she still sees this as a great country.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #009900;\">Let\u2019s contrast that with Nazi Germany and the Swastika. The 20 million killed, the war, the hate: these are not incidental to that government but was integral to it. The Swastika deserves its feared reputation because that\u2019s what they built and no one (ok, maybe except American Indians) can use it and claim they are just looking at the \u201cgood side\u201d of that government.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #009900;\">So what about the Dixie battle flag? Ok, what does it represent? First, it is a symbol for an army, a government dedicated to the principle that slavery is just. (Please don\u2019t trot out ideas that this was a State\/Federal argument. Do you think either side would have gone to a bitter war over an interstate highways or a cotton tax?). Second, after the war it became enshrined as a symbol of that war. No co-incidence that the same war was repeated 100 years later, circa 1960, as the Union army almost literally had to go back into the South to finally end what had become an institutionalized slavery. No co-incidence that the Southerners on the fighting end were still flying the same flag.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #009900;\">Stephen: As for your argument (and in part mine) that the flag offends blacks thus should not be flown. What about the cross? My Jewish, catholic hating sister-in-law would gladly ban that \u201chated symbol\u201d from the world. Being feared an hated is not irrelevant but is not enough at the end of the day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #009900;\">Dave: As I am fresh back from a trip to Tennessee I am struck by the fact that, when I was young, you could stop at a truckstop and find Dixie decorated hats, license plates, cups whatever. Maybe there are still some around but they are not in full view, nor did I see the inevitable Dixie battle flags on the backs of pickups and such. Slowly the south is changing and blacks are responding. And, yes, I\u2019ve had black neighbors tell me they do find it refreshing to have people be straightforward with their prejudices instead of backhanded\u2026.don\u2019t know would I prefer a knife in the back or in the face?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Stay in touch! Like Biblical Evidence for Catholicism on Facebook:<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"fb-page\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DaveArmstrong1958\/\" data-width=\"500\" data-small-header=\"false\" data-adapt-container-width=\"true\" data-hide-cover=\"false\" data-show-facepile=\"true\" data-show-posts=\"false\">\n<div class=\"fb-xfbml-parse-ignore\">\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DaveArmstrong1958\/\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DaveArmstrong1958\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Biblical Evidence for Catholicism<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>*** (8-29-06) *** [Stephen Hand\u2019s words will be in\u00a0blue; Martin\u2019s in\u00a0green; Jim Scott\u2019s in\u00a0purple; I\u2019m from Michigan; Stephen is from Boston, Martin from Tennessee. I don\u2019t know where Jim Scott lives.]***** Southern man better keep your head Don\u2019t forget what your good book said Southern change gonna come at last Now your crosses are burning [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":5733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[289],"tags":[1973,750,1962,1965,1966,1969,1971,1967,1576,1970,751,1972,1968,1963,1964],"class_list":["post-5732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-ethical-moral-issues","tag-american-history","tag-civil-rights","tag-civil-war","tag-confederacy","tag-confederate-cause","tag-confederate-flag","tag-discrimination","tag-jim-crow","tag-prejudice","tag-racism","tag-slavery","tag-southern-cause","tag-stars-and-bars","tag-war-between-the-states","tag-war-of-northern-aggression"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Michigander Defends the Confederate Flag<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The American flag flew over 89 years of slavery, near-annihilation of Indians, Jim Crow, nuclear massacre &amp; fire-bombing in WWII, &amp; 50 million abortions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/01\/michigander-defends-the-confederate-flag.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michigander Defends the Confederate Flag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The American flag flew over 89 years of slavery, near-annihilation of Indians, Jim Crow, nuclear massacre &amp; fire-bombing in WWII, &amp; 50 million abortions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/01\/michigander-defends-the-confederate-flag.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-19T15:42:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-29T18:19:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2016\/01\/ConfederateFlag.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"457\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave Armstrong\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave Armstrong\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"16 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/01\/michigander-defends-the-confederate-flag.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/01\/michigander-defends-the-confederate-flag.html\",\"name\":\"Michigander Defends the Confederate Flag\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-19T15:42:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-29T18:19:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e\"},\"description\":\"The American flag flew over 89 years of slavery, near-annihilation of Indians, Jim Crow, nuclear massacre & fire-bombing in WWII, & 50 million abortions.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/01\/michigander-defends-the-confederate-flag.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/01\/michigander-defends-the-confederate-flag.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/01\/michigander-defends-the-confederate-flag.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Michigander Defends the Confederate Flag\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/\",\"name\":\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism\",\"description\":\"Catholic biblical apologetics\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e\",\"name\":\"Dave Armstrong\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dave Armstrong\"},\"description\":\"Dave Armstrong is a Catholic author and apologist, who has been actively proclaiming and defending Christianity since 1981, and Catholicism in particular since 1991 (full-time since December 2001). 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Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. 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