Wednesday, April 25, 2001

I'm writing in response to the letter from the individual wondering why there is no outcry over the Confederate support.

Like the individual writing the letter, I too am a Christian. I might add that many men who fought for the Confederacy were Christian as well, including several of my ancestors. To say they were fighting to the death to keep the ability to rape women and plunder is totally outrageous! To say the majority were fighting to enslave an entire race is quite debatable itself.

My ancestors did not fight for slavery; they fought to maintain their state rights and felt Uncle Sam was getting a little too big for his britches.

Is slavery wrong? Of course it is! It was wrong then and it will remain forever wrong, no if, ands or buts about it. The majority of the fighting men in the Confederacy had very small farms and not near enough the capacity to keep or quarter slaves.

When reading letters from these young men who fought in that war it is clear as to what they were fighting for. The main objective was for state rights. If we must always look down upon the Old South for its slave-holding days, then we must also look down upon our northern neighbors who fought against the South since they too had small numbers of slaves there as well.

We can't stop there, however, because we would have to look down on certain sections of Africa for capturing and selling their own native people. Then we would have to look down upon some of our European friends for allowing the same thing to happen in their countries.

Many men fought and died for the Confederacy who had no desire for slavery nor any desire to rape women and plunder property. To call them rapists and murderers is just an ugly lie and slanderous to them and their descendants.

As a Christian I'm slow to come to quick conclusions about people until all the facts have been gathered. I hope the individual writing the "outcry" letter would do the same.

Greg Sims

Fayetteville

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