THE

TRUTH
ABOUT THE
CONFEDERATE
BATTLE FLAG

Pastor John Weaver is a native of Georgia, and a

graduate from Bob Jones University where he earned a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology and attended grad
uate school. He has been in Christian ministry for over
30 years.
Pastor Weaver has traveled across America
preaching and lecturing in churches, colleges and con
ferences. John Weaver is an expositor of God's whole
word. His preaching style is in the tradition of those
early American pastors whose pUlpits were the cradle
of America's Christian Liberty.

For more Information Write:

TRUTH

AND SOUTI-lERN HISTORY

P. O. Box 6847,

West Columbia, SC 29171

(Permission Granted to Copy)

"The Truth about the

Confederate Battle Flag"
By Pastor John Weaver
Open your Bibles to the Book of Numbers
Chapter 1. Numbers Chapter 1 and we will read some
verses there and then in Chapter 2 as well. Numbers
Chapter 1:52 - "And the Children of Israel shall pitch
their tents every man by his own camp and every man
by his own standali! throughout their hosts." N ole that
phrase "every man by his own standard throughout
their hosts ." Now look in Chapter 2:2. " Every man of
2

the children of Israel shall pitch his own standard or

banner or flag with the ensign, banner or flag, of their
fathers house far off about the Tabernacle of the
Congregation shall they pitch. And on the East Side
toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of
the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies; and
Nahshon, the son of Amminadab shall be Captain of
the Children of Judah." Notice if you would please, in
verse 10. "On the south side shall be the standard of
the camp of Rueben according to their annies and the
captain of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the
son of Shedeur." Note on the south side shall be the
standard of the camp of Reuben . Look in verse 17.
"Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set for
ward with the camp ofLevites in the midst of the camp
as they encamp so shall they set forward every man in
his place by their standards. On the west side shaH be
the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their
armies and the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall be
Elishama the son of Ammihud." Then verse 25 "The
standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side
by their armies. And the captain of the children of Dan
shall be Ahiezer the son of Anunishaddai." And then
verse 31: "And they that were numbered in the camp of
Dan were an hundred thousand and fifty and seven
thousand and six hundred. They shall go hindmost with
their standards." Then verse 34 "And the children of
Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded
3

.'

Moses so they pitched by their standards and so they set

forward evcry one after their fami lies according to the
house of their fathers."
Let me begin by asking a simple question . Why
in the world is there so much fuss over a flag? Is a stan
dard, a banner, an ensign, or a flag worth fighting
about. Everyone knows that a flag is a symbol. It rep
resents something. But what is it a symbol of and what
does it represent? If you will study your Bible you will
find that our English word "flag" does not occur in our
Bibles except to refer to the reeds or more specifically
the paper I plant that dwells by the riverside. But if you
will take the time to go through a concordance you will
find that the word banner, the word standard, thc word
ensign occurs frequently over and over. [want you to
see by way of introduction tonight the importance of a
flag or the importance of a standard. You see when the
children of Israel were encamped in the wilderness they
camped everyone under their own standard and do you
realize that they were centered around that Tabernacle
according to their standards as well. If you will look
back in your Bibles to the Book of Numbers 2:2 note
this statement: "Every man of the children of Israel
shall pitch by his own standard" so evidently a tribe had
its own standard, with the ensign of their fathers house.
So there were not only tribal standards, there were also
family standards, so usually then, each family can-ied
4

two banners one for their tribe and one for their fathers
house. And of course all of these families in Israel, all
of these tribes then were centered around that taberna
cle and when they marched, they marched according to
the order that God gave. Now there were four leading
tribes: the Tribe of Judah, Rueben, Ephraim and Dan.
Now according to tradition, the standard of the Tribe of
Judah had a Lion on it. Hence we know Christ as the
"Lion of the Tribe of Judah." That of the Tribe of
Rueben had the likeness of a man's head. That of the
Tribe of Ephraim had the figure of an ox and that of the
Tribe of Dan had the symbol of an eagle. If you will
study the Book of Ezekiel , you will find the four livIng
creatures there that Ezekiel saw had the faces of these
four standards that are mentioned here in the Book of
Numbers Chapter 2.
Now I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm
20:5. The word of God says this: "We will rejoice in
thy salvation and in the name of our God we will set up
our banners. The Lord fulfill all thy petitions." So ban
ners or flags then have a religious significance. Here is
the importance of a banner: we set it up in the name of
our God. It represents our theology. It represents our
Christianity. Look in your Bibles to Psalm 60:4. Note
how plain the Bible is here . Psalm 60:4: The word of
God says "thou hast given a banner to them that fear
thee that it may be displayed because of thy truth ." So

God then gives us a banner that we might display that

banner. Why? Because of the truth. Not because of
error, not because of anything else, but because of the
truth. Now go back in your Bibles to the Book of
Exodus 17: 15. You are going to be surprised when you
find one of the names of God mentioned here in the
Bible. Exodus 17: 15 "The Children of Israel had
fought against the Amalikites and had won." God had
given them tbe victory. Exodus 17: 14. Note what God
tells Moses. "And the Lord said unto Moses write this
for a memorial in a book and rehearse it in the ears of
Joshua for I will utterly put out the remembrance of
Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar
and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi. For he said
because the Lord had sworn that the Lord would have
War with Amalek from generation to generation." Now
note Moses built an altar and called the name of it
Jehovah-nissi. lehovah-nissi means " the Lord our ban
ner." In other words God is the banner of his people.
The name of God is associated with the warfare of his
people. So a flag then is not just given to us for the
truth, but God himself is said to be our flag, our banner.
Look in your Bibles at the Book of Isaiah 59 :] 9. Here
is a very powerflll verse. Look in Isaiah 59: 19. Note if
you would this verse: "So shall they fear the llClme of
the Lord from the West and his glory from the rising of
the Sun when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the
spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard or banner

against him ." Did you hear what I just read ? Wh en the
enemy shall come in like a flood then the spirit, that is
the third person of the Trinity, then the Holy Spirit shall
lift up a standard against him . Now let me ask yo u a
question . If the Holy Spirit is lifting up a banner, if he
is lifting up a standard against the enemies of God and
the enemies of God's people, what standard or what
banner is he lifting up ? Look in yo ur Bibles to Isaiah
11: 10 and you will find out. Note if you would please,
the word of God says conceming Christ, "and in that
day there shall be root of Jesse which shall stand for an
ensign or a flag of the people and to it s hall the Gentiles
seek and his rest shall be glorious." So when the ene
mies of the Lord come in like a flood, the Spirit of God
lifts up a standard against them and that standard is
Jesus Christ! So God the Father is said in the scripture
to be our banner. God the Son is said in the scripture
to be our banner. I don't know about you, but r believe
God places a great deal of importance upon banners
and flags and ens ign in the word of God.
No one can deny the importance based upon the
word of God. But what about the Confederate Flag? Is
the Confederate Flag a Christian symbol? Interestingly
when one mentions the Confederate Flag usually what
comes up in someone's mind is the battle flag as we see
right here. I want you to know tonight that there were
numerous Confederate Flags This is the battle ilag.
7

Let me just point out the fact there were five major
flags. There were many, many more, but the first flag
that I wanted to point out was the Bonnie Blue flag
which was a solid blue flag with a single star right in
the middle. Now the Bonnie Blue flag was the unoffi
cial flag of the Confederate States of America. It was
never officially adopted, but it was an extremely popu
lar flag and there is a song written about it from that
period on the Bonnie Blue flag. Then secondly there is
what is known as the first "National Fl ag", which is
sometimes called the Stars and Bars. Now there is a
problem, and I am going to deal with it a little bit later.
But the Stars and Bars looked a lot like the Stars and
Stripes and there was a conflict because of that. Then
thirdly there \vas the second "National Flag", which is
referred to as the stainless banner. It just had this sym
bol in the upper left-hand corner and then it was pure
white; it was silk. The only problem with the stainless
banner was when the wind was not blowing and it was
folded, it sometimes looked like a flag of truce or a nag
of surrender. And then Fourthly we have the third
"National Flag" and that was the same stain less banner
but with a solid red bar all the way down it and that is
the one that is usually flying today. I t was officially
adopted, but very few of them 'were issued. And then
of course, we have the Confederate Battle Flag as we
know it. Interestingly enough , the first four flags are
very rarely spoken against because most people don 't

even know about their existence and they are totally,

absolutely ignorant of them and so consequently it is
the battle flag that catches most of the flak.
So let me begin tonight with some negatives.
want to tell you what the Confederate Battle Flag does
not represent! I want to tell you what it does not sym
bolize and I want you to hear me very carefully because
J am going to give you the historical proof for what I
am going to say. First of all, the Confederate Battle
Flag is not a racist flag. I can hear it now though, "but
Brother Weaver don't you know that the Ku Klux Klan
uses the Confederate Flag and don't you know the
white supremacists groups use the Confederate Flag
and don't you know the hate groups use the
Confederate Flag?" Yes, I know this. But r also know
that they use the Stars and Stripes and I also know they
even use the Christian flag as well. Let me ask you a
question. Why are not the Stars and the Stripes and
Christian flag considered racist flags as well? I mean
if someone is going to be guilty by association or if
something is going to be guilty by association, I can
show you pictures of the KKK marching in
Washington, D .C. and there was not one Confederate
Flag amongst them. They are all carrying the Stars and
Stripes , the U.S. flag' If we are going to condemn the
flag because the KKK and the white supremacists
groups and the hate groups use it, let's condemn all the

flags. Be consistent! Condemn the Stars and Stripes.

Condemn the Christian flag. Let me ask you another
question, just to show you the absurdity of this posi
tion. Do you realize that the Darlington 400 for years
used a picture of the Confederate Flag on its billboard
and advertised itself as the Rebel Raceway? Does that
mean therefore that all those Winston Cup drivers are
racist? Does that mean that anyone who attends the
Darlington 400 is a racist? What about the Scottish
Soldiers? I'll explain this a little bit later. Even today
Scottish Soldiers who were in the British Army wear
the cross of Saint Andrews. Docs that mean that all
Scottish Soldiers are racist as well?
Let me show you the enmity and the hatred and
the venom that is being spoken against this flag and I
am going to tell you why before r close tonight. I found
a web site and the name of the web site was basically
"The Confederate Flag must gol" And it was put there
by Jack Crawford, who evidently is a black man based
upon his other writings, and here is what he said. I am
quoting him verbatim, I took it off his web site. He
says this, "The Confederate flag is a well recognized
international symbol of racism , slavery, hatred, murder
and white supremacy. It should be outlawed, not just
banned. Anyone flying it should be corrected in a man
ner that is usually reserved for overseers, slave masters,
and leaders of lynch mobs responsible for the murder
10

of children. Am I clear?" So what does Mr. Jack

Crawford say? He says anyone who flies this flag
ought to be condemned to death . That is basically what
he is saying . What would you do to a murderer who
fanned a lynch mob and hung a child! Well, very clear
ly you would see that he got the death penalty. Well
that is what he is saying. Now let me just tell you very
quickly, Mr. Crawford 's statement is unhistorical. It is
unconstitutional and it is untrue. Do you realize that
most attackers of the flag are either motivated by his
torical ignorance or pure unadulterated malice toward
the South, its' symbols, its' heritage and its' people. In
1994 a Harris Poll found that two-thirds of black
Americans had no problem with the Confederate Flag.
No problem at all! Why in the world make the flag an
issue? In fact, there are numerous black Americans
that speak out for the Confederate flag. Let me give
you one of them. R. J. Wilkins of Miami, Florida had
this to say. They were flying the Confederate flag at the
capitol in Tallahassee, Florida and he wrote this: "I am
a black man who is not offended by the flying of the
Confederate Flag beside the Capilol in Tallahassee,
Florida . The Confederate Flag is as much a part of my
history as of any white persons. It may not represent
the best of my race, or be held by some as a contribu
tion to this country 's greatness, but it does to me. My
great grandparents were a part of the plantations. They
worked the cotton fields, cleaned the big houses and in
II

many ways supported the development of American

society. We should let the Confederate Flag fly as a
reminder of our American history both black and
white." But let me tell you someth ing. You want to
hear a black man speak out and speak the truth? Let me
give you a quote that W. Earl Douglas gave. He was a
black journalist in Charleston, South Carolina and he is
now dead, but here is what he said concerning the
Confederate flag. "If hate had been the prevailing emo
tion between the races, then it is a safe bet that the
Confederacy would have never been born." Did you
hear what he said? Ifhate had been the prevailing emo
tions between the blacks and the whites in the South, he
is saying it's a safe bet that the Confederacy would have
never ever been born . I continue, "Fo rtunately" , he
says, "there was love, understanding , and compassion."
Now listen to what this black man says. "And the two
greatest lies ever perpetrated by history are number one,
that the South instigated the war, and number two, that it
was fought by the North for the purpose of freeing the
slaves' The Negro was merely used as the excuse for
that War while the real reason for it is reflected in every
area of our lives where the tentacles of government
form the bars of a new slavery. No! Don't furl that
Confederate Battle Flag. Let it wave all across the
South to remind Americans that there exist here a
yearning for liberty, freedom and independence that
will not be denied . Let it fly as a testimonial to real
12

men and real women who would rather work and fight
and shed tears than to beg the government for charity."
He understood, folks. He had more sense and more
knowledge than most people today.
You see the Confederate battle flag is not a racist
symbol and it never has been. One of my favorite sto
ries is about a black representative, John F. Harris , who
was a legislator in Washington County, Mississippi .
And he had the opportunity to vote for Senate Bill #25,
which was a bill to erect a Confederate Monument on
the Capitol Square in Jackson, Mississippi . Now the
bill did pass and Mr. Harris, who was sick and got out
of his bed to give his speech before the Senate, did so
and of course, on February 23, J 890, the Daily Clarion
Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi printed his speech in
full. Let me read a portion of it to you . He says, "Mr.
Speaker, I have arisen here in my place to offer a few
words on the bill. I have come from a sick bed.
Perhaps it was not prudent for me to come, but Sir, I
could not rest quietly in my room without contributing
a few remarks of my own. I was sorry to hear the
speech of the young gentlemen from Marshall County.
I am sorry that any son of a soldier should go on record
as opposed to the erection of a monument in honor of
their brave dead. And Sir, I am convinced that had he
seen what I saw at Seven Pines and in the seven days
fighting around Richmond, the battle field covered

13

with the mangled forms of those who fought for their

country and for their countTies honor, he would not
have made that speech . When the news came that the
South had been invaded, those men went forth to fight
for what they believed. And they made no requests for
monuments. But they died and their virtues should be
remembered. Sir, I went with them. I too wore the
Grey. The same color my master wore . We stayed four
long years and if that war had gone on until now, I
would have been there yet. I want to honor those brave
men who died for theil" convictions. When my mother
died I was a boy. Who Sir, then acted the part of a
mother to the orphaned slave boy but myoId misses.
Was she living now or could speak to me from those
high realms where gathered the sainted dead, she would
tell me to vote for tills bill and Sir, I shall vote for it. I
want it known to all the world that my vote is given in
favor of a bill to erect a monument in honor of the
Confederate dead." Here was a man, a black man , who
wore the Confederate gray and he understood the War
was not a racist War. Now, let me tell you, the
Confederate Flag is not a racist flag.
But, now wait, if you want racism , if you want
hatred, if you want white supremacy, 1 will tell you
where to find it - under the Stars and Stripes, the U.S.
Flag. Not under the Confederate flag. Do you reali ze
the Emancipation Proclamation was signed on January
14

I, 1863. On August 14, 1862, less than five months

before the Emancipation Proclamation was signed,
Abraham Lincoln invited a number of leading blacks to
the White House to give them his words of wisdom and
to demonstrate to them why he was attempting to colo
nize them back in Africa. By the way, Lincoln's Negro
policy was to send them all back to Africa. That was
his policy. William Seward, William Stanton, all of
them the same thing. And so he invited these Negroes
to come to the White House to hear his words of wis
dom and I am quoting verbatim what Li.ncoln said, lis
ten carefully, he says, "Why should people of your race
be colonized and where? Why should they leave thi s
country? This is perhaps the first question for proper
consideration. You and we are different races. We have
between us a broader difference than exists between
almost any other two races. Whether it is light or
wrong I need not discuss. But this physical difference
is a great disadvantage to us both as I think . Your race
suffers very greatly, many of them by living among us,
while ours sutTers from your presence. In a word, we
suffer on each side. If this is admilled it affords a rea
son at least why we should be separated. You are free
men here I suppose. Perhaps you have been long free,
all of your lives. Your race is suffering, in my judg
ment, the greatest wrong inflicted on any people, but
even when you cease to be slaves, you are yet far
removed from being placed on an equality with a white
15

race. The aspiration of men is to enjoy equality with

the best when free, but on this broad continent, not a
single man of your race is made the equal of a single
man of our race ." - Abraham Lincoln. Let me translate
that: Blacks aren't equal to Whites, never will be. That
is what he just got through saying. Listen to what Lincoln
said in a speech in Charleston, Illinois, 1858. Lincoln
said, "I am not now nor have ever been in favor of
bringing about any way the social or the political equal
ity of a White and Black races. I am not now, nor ever
have been in favor of making voters or jurors of
Negroes , nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor of
intermarriages with white people. There is a physical
difference between the white and black races, which
will forever forbid the two races from living together on
social or political equality. There must be a position of
superior and inferior and r am in favo r of assigning the
superior position to the white man ." - Abraham
Lincoln. You see the Confederate flag has never stood
as a racist symbol. If you want racism , you go to the
Stars and Stripes. In the South, although there was sep
aration, the blacks respected the whites and the whites
respected the blacks. And I will tell you this, there was
no trouble in the South back then nor in the 1960's until
the North came down and started stirring up trouble.
So the Confederate flag is not a racist flag. Secondly
tonight , the Confederate flag is not a flag of slavery. It
does not represent slavery. Are you I istening to me
16

tonight? There was not one slave ever brought into this
country under the Confederate flag . Every slave that
was brought into this country was brought in by
Northern ships under the Stars and Stripes . There was
not even a slave brought into this country on a Southern
vessel! The slaves were brought into this country on
Northern vessels under the Stars and Stripes.
Did you know that out of the 224 years that slav
ery was legal in this country, only four of those years
did the Confederate battle flag fly! And by the way,
there were slaves in this country in 1620. What flag
flew over the country more than any other flag during
those 224 years? It was the Stars and Stripes. It wasn't
the Confederate battle flag . It was the Stars and
Stripes! Why hate and attack the Confederate flag . I
mean, if you want to hate a flag of slavery then you
ought to hate the Stars and Stripes I And if you want to
hate another flag of slavery, why not hate the British
flag? Did you know that England was responsible for
taking five milhon blacks from Africa and selling them
to every country under the sun. If you want to hate a
flag, why not hate the Dutch flag or the Portuguese
flag, or the Spanish flag? They sold slaves. And if you
want to hate a flag today, how about hating the Muslim
flags because even today the Muslims are still involved
in slavery I I mean let's be honest. Now if you want to
believe that the War of 1861 to 1865 was over slavery,
17

I can show you two things that ought to forever correct

your thinking in that area: The War was not over slav
ery. Slavery has on.ly been made an issue by the liber
al revisionists. It was not an issue. Let me prove to you
just by two simple statements. I will give you more, but
let me prove to you that the War was nol fought over
slavery, and therefore, this flag could never ever have
represented slavery. You see Abraham Lincoln pro
posed a thirteenth amendment to the constitution. He
proposed that thirteenth amendment in March of 186l.
It is the only proposed constitutional amendment that
was signed by a sitting President. It bears Abraham
Lincoln's signature. Here was Abraham Lincoln's pro
posed thirteenth amendment: "No amendment shall be
made to the Constitution which will authorize or give
Congress the power to abolish or interfere within any
state with the domestic institutions thereof, including
that a person's held to labor or service by laws of said
State." Did you hear that? Lincoln's proposed thir
teenth amendment said Congress shall not have the
power to interfere with any institutions within any state
including those held to labor or service by the laws of
that State. In other words, what Abraham Lincoln was
saying to the South, if you win accept this proposed
thirteenth amendment, you may forever keep slaves.
Folks, Beauregard never fired on Fort Sumter until
April 9. This was in March of 1861' If the War had
been about slavery and if the South wanted just to keep

18

slaves and that was it, why fire a gun? Why fire a shot?
Just simply accept this proposed thirteenth amendment
and it would all be over. This resolution was passed
unanimou sly by Congress on July 23, 1861. You may
read it for yourself in the Congressional Record. Here
is what this resolution says: "The War is waged by the
government of the United States not in the spirit of con
quest or subjugation, nor for the purpose of overthrow
ing or interfering with the rights or institutions of the
states, bul to defend and protect the Union." Congress
said the War is not about slavery. Lincoln said the War
is not about slavery! I will even give you a thirteenth
amendment that will allow you to make slavery perma
nent.
You see what was happening was this: There are
a lot of issues and I can't cover them all tonight, but one
of the issues was an economic issue. Do you realize the
South, before the War, was extremely wealthy. And the
South before the War funded probably 75 to 80% of all
the taxes. But the North wanted a 40% tariff. The
South said no. The most we will ever agree to is a 10%
tariff. And what Lincoln and the radical republicans
were doing was this: They were saying we would give
you the thirteenth amendment. We will let you keep
your slaves if that is what you want. You just let us
keep our tariffs. In other words , the North was willing
to seJllhe blacks out for money, for higher taxes! They
19

weren't interested in the slaves. They could care less.

You see, Hapgood's book, Abraham Lincoln. The Man
of The People, on page 273 quotes Abraham Lincoln as
saying, "if I could save the Union without freeing any
of the slaves [ would do it." Abraham Lincoln later said
that slaves are property and iffreed they should be paid
for. Later on Lincoln said, "I have no purpose directly
or ind irectly to interfere with the institution of slavery
in the states where it exists. [believe I have no lawful
right to do so and I have no inclination to do so." Now,
here Lincoln is acknowledging that he has no lawful
right to interfere with slavery. Slavery, by the way, was
constitutional. All thirteen colonies agreed on it and by
the way, in 1776 all thirteen colonies held slaves, not
just the South, all of them! Lincoln said, " J have no
lawful right to intelfere nor," he says, "do I have an incli
nation to do so." In a letter to Alexander Stevens who
happened to be later the Vice President of the
Confederacy, Lincoln wrote A lexander Stevens and
said this, "Do the people of the South really entertain
fear that a Republican administration would directly or
indirectly interfere with their slaves or with them about
their slaves? If they do, I wish to assure you that once
as a friend, and still I hope not an enemy, that there is no
cause for such fears. The South would be in no more
danger in this respect than it was in the days of
Washington". So once again, Lincoln is saying it's not
over slavery.

20

You say, but Brother Weaver, Abraham Lincoln

signed the Emancipation Proclamation. And the
Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves. No it
didn 't. The Emancipation Proclamation did not free
one slave! Do you know what Abraham Lincoln tried
to do with the Emancipation Proclamation? In fact, he
says so himself and so does other men in his Cabinet.
They say that the Emancipation Proclamation was a
War measure. Lincoln, number one, wanted to keep
England specifically, and the rest of Europe particular
ly from joining in with or recognizing the Confederate
states of America. That was his first goal in that
Emancipation Proclamation . His second goal was
another war measure in the sense, he was hoping that
the blacks in the South would rise up in rebellion
against their white masters and the white people. Let
me tell you something, just to show you there was no
trouble in the South, there was not one rebellion during
that war of black folks. Do you realize a thousand
torches in a thousand black hands would have emptied
the Confederate armies, because the men would have
gone home to protect their families, and Lincoln knew
that. You see what Lincoln did was this. Now listen to
me. Lincoln tried to free the slaves in the South where
he had absolutely no authority and he refused to release
the slaves in the North where he did have authority.
Did you know that in the Northern armies even when
21

they were fighting the South there were over 300,000

slaveholders in the Northern armies. Did you know
that General Robert E. Lee before the war ever began,
when he inherited some slaves, freed them? General
Ulysses S. Grant, who was the main General of the
North and afterwards became President, even after the
war was over, he kept his slaves. And he did so with this
excuse: good help is hard to find. You see the truth of
the matter is this: the Emancipation Proclamation was
not only unconstitutional, and everybody recognized it,
it cost tbe Republicans a lot of elections. There were
five" Northern states that refused after that to elect
RepUblicans to Congress. And moreover, there were a
lot of Union soldiers that deserted because of it and
refused to fight. Slavery was not the issue. Slavery has
never been the issue until recently, until pol itical revi
sionists and the politically correct people wanted to
make it the issue.
There have been numerous warnings down
through history concerning our flag and concerning our
heritage and our culture. One of those warnings came
from General Patrick Cleburne. I want to read to you
what General Patrick Cleburne said in January of 1864.
And he was warning the South in regards to subjuga
tion. You talk about a prophet, listen carefully. General
Cleburne said this: "If the South lost it means that the his
tory of this heroic struggle will be written by the

22

enemy. That our youth will be trained by Northern

school teachers, will learn from Northern school books
their version of the war, will be impressed by all of the
influences of History and Education to regard our gal
lant debt as traders and our maimed veterans as fit sub
jects for derision." Folks let me tell you that is exactly
what has happened in this country. You pick up any
textbook that you want to pick up and it will just sim
ply say, the War was over slavery, the North was right
and the South was wrong. And most folks believe that
junk. They have been taught it. The War was not over
slavery, not over slavery at all. One of my favorite sto
ries is about a reconstructed Southerner who ran into
Mildred Lewis Rutherford. Mildred Lewis Rutherford
was one of the finest Southern Historians that you
could ever come across. I believe she died in 1928.
But this one reconstructed Southerner said to Mrs.
Rutherford, he said, "My father was a Confederate sol
dier, but had he lived, I am sure he would have regret
ted having fought for the wrong side." To which Mrs.
Rutherford replied: "Far more probably he would have
regretted having a son so disloyal to the principals for
which he was willing to give his life" . The Confederate
flag is not a racist flag. The Confederate flag is not a
flag of slavery.
Now here is the third thing I want to teach you
tonight and I want you to listen carefully: The
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Confederate flag is a Christian flag and it represents

freedom from tyranny. The Confederate battle flag as
we know it really did not come into existence, or I
should say, into full blown presence until after first
Manasses July 21 , 1861 . Most of you know, or at least
you should know, that the South and the North called
their battles by different names. So it's either First
Manasses or First Bull Run depending on what section
of the country you are from. But during that battle the
Confederate Battle Flag was the stars and bars and the
Stars and Bars was very easily confused with the Stars
and Stripes, not only at a distance, but also especially
under battle conditions. And you have got to remember
all of the smoke that those black powder rifles and can
nons made at that particular time. It was during this bat
tle that General Beauregard was observing the battle
and he sees a large body of troops moving toward the
union right flank. And Beauregard tried and tried to
make out the flag and to see if it was a Northern flag or
Southern flag, and he just simply could not make it out.
So he called some of his young lieutenants up and he
said tell me is that our flag or is that their flag. They
could not make it out either. So he stood there very
cautiously trying to determine whose flag it was , what
group was there. And all of a sudden a little puff of
wind came and it unfurled and he could see that it was
stars and bars and he crled, 'The day is ours attack!
Attack!" And with that of course they won the day and
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the Yankees literally threw down their weapons and ran

all the way back to Washington, D.C. Later Beauregard
wrote "At the Battle of Manasses I found it difficult to
distinguish our then Confederate flag from the United
States flag, the two being so much alike especially
when General Jewel A. Early made the flight movement
who decided the fate of the day. So Beauregard said, "I
couldn't tell if it was ours or theirs." Then he wrote "I
resolve to have our flag changed or to adopt for my
command a battle flag, which would be entirely diffcr
ent from any state or federal flag. Beauregard later said
after the War, "after the battle it was found that many
persons in both armies firmly believed that each side
had used as a strategy on the flags of his opponents ." So
the North thought the South was using its' flag and the
South thought the North used our flag trying to confuse
us. Thus Beauregard ordered a totally different flag to
be carried into battle. There were two designs, one by
Colonel Walton and one by Colonel Miles. Colonel
Walton's flag had a Latin cross on it and Colonel Miles'
flag had the X or the St. Andrews cross on it. And
Bcaurcgard chose the one with the Saint Andrews
cross.
Now let me tell you that Andrew was the first dis
ciple of Jesus Christ . He became a follower of Jesus
Christ and preached relentlessly the Gospel of Christ.
He not only preached in many of the Asiatic nations, he

25

preached in Russia. Andrew was crucified around 69

AD in Patria, Greece. Unlike Christ, who was cruci
fied on a Latin cross, Andrew was crucified on the
Andrews cross. It looks like an X. And the reason he
was crucified like that was by his own request. He did
not believe himself worthy to be crucified as Christ was
crucified. So he talked his prosecutor and persecutor
into crucifying him on the X shaped cross instead of
having his hands nailed to the cross as Christ was . He
had his persecutor tie him to the cross even though he
knew that he would suffer longer and deeper pain and
agony. You have got to remember Andrew was approx
imately 90 years old when this was being done. For
three days he hung on that cross, preaching to everyone
who came by while he had breath. Finally, so many of
the people were impressed by his preaching, they went
and asked that Andrew be cut down from the cross and
allowed to live. The powers at be consented and they
went and cut Andrew down and as they cut the rope he
fell to the ground dead. He died as a martyr for Jesus
Christ. Andrew became the patron Saint not only of
Russia, but also of Scotland.
Did you know that in the 1800's about 75 % of the
South were either Scotch or Scotch-Irish? The
Confederate battle flag is based upon the national flag
of Scotland. The national flag of Scotland is the cross
of Saint Andrew and the cross of Saint Andrew is a

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symbol of the Christian faith and the heritage of the

Celtic race. In fact, another name for the Confederate
Battle flag is the Southern Cross. It was adopted con
sciously, purposefully, deliberately and premeditatedly
in order to display faith in the sovereign God of heaven
and earth, faith in the providence of that God, the God
of history and the God of salvation. How can I say that?
Did you know that the Confederate Constitution recog
nized the sovereignty of the Providence of God. Let me
read to you the preamble it goes like this : "When the
people of the Confederate States, each state acting in its'
sovereign and independent character, in order to form a
permanent federal government, established justice,
insure domestic tranquility and secure the blessings of
liberty to ourselves and our posterity invoking the favor
and guidance of all mighty God do ordain and establish
this constitution for the Confederate States of
America."
Even the Confederate States motto ,
"Deovendickia, the Lord is our vindicator", illustrates
the sovereignty and the righteousness of God. The
Saint Andrews cross is also known as the Greek letter
CHIA (KEE), has historically been used to represent
Jesus Christ. Why do you think people write Merry
x-mas, just to give you an illustration? The X is the
Greek letter CHIA and it has been historically used for
Christ. Moreover, its' importance was understood by
educated and uneducated people alike. When an uned
ucated man, one that could not write, needed to sign his
27

name please tell me what letter he made? An X , why?

Because he was saying I am taking an oath under God.
I am recognizing the sovereignty of God, the provi
dence of God and I am pledging my faith. May I tell
you the Confederate Flag is indeed a Christian Flag
because it has the cross of Saint Andrew, who was a
Christian martyr, and the letter T has always been used
to represent Christ and to attack the flag is to deny the
sovereignty, Ihe majesty, and the might of the Lord
Jesus Christ and his divine role in our history, culture,
and life.
Moreover, let me tell you this. That
Confederate flag today represents the valiant and
courageous Confederate soldiers who died and gave
their lives for the principles for which they fought.
General Beauregard had one of the three first original
Confederate battle nags. On May 28, 1883, he donal
ed that flag to the Louisiana Washington artillery.
Beauregard was unable to be there but Colonel Walton
was and he accepted the flag for Beauregard and here
is what he said: aClually Judge Alfred Roman said this
as he presented the flag to Colonel Walton, he said "in
the name of General Beauregard, under whose eyes you
first went under fire at Manasess , I have the honor to
present to you this sacred emblem of Southern valor
and patriotism," said Judge Alfred Roman. " Its' colors
are as yet as fresh as when it received the parting look
of its fair maker. Its' value is enhanced by the fact that
the upper pOJtion of its' staff is made of a piece of a flag

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staff of Fort Sumter, shot down by the Confederate gun

ners in April 1861. Gunners , who by the way, were
under the Command of General Beauregard. Unsoiled
though it is by the smoke of battle, it was none the less ,
born in war and the breeze first kissed it in the tented
field
It is the genuine model of the glorious flag
around which all of us fought and so many of us bled
and so many of us fell." What did he say? It is a sym
bol of Southern valor and patriotism.
Now let me try to answer a question for you. Why
attack the Confederate Battle Flag? Why attack
Confederate symbols? Let me tell you something.
Whenever the Confederate Battle Flag is attacked, and
here is why the attacks are so vicious and so ferocious,
is because it is an attack on the truth. Because the
South was not fighting as a racist nation or as a slave
holding nation, they were fighting for constitutional
rights . They were fighting for States rights. Did you
know that there were many in the South when it came
to adopting a flag, said let's take the Stars and Stripes.
Why? Because we are the ones that are remaining true
to the constitution. Let them adopt another flag
because they are untrue I To attack the flag is an attack
on political incorrectness. The flag represents those
who are opposed to unlimited federal government. The
flag represents a limited Constitutional republic . A
view of government opposed to the powers at be. Let

29

me tell you something folks, all one has to do is to look

at present day Washington, D.C. to know exactly what
our forefathers fought against. Two hundred and fifty
thousand Confederate soldiers gave their lives to pre
vent from having what we have today! The extension
of government into every area of our lives is a result of
the fact the South lost the War. To attack the flag is to
attack the truth , which the flag represented. The
Confederate flag not only represents a limited view of
government, but it also represents freedom from tyran
ny. It represents freedom from tyrannical governments.
I don 't know how many of you will remember this, r
know many of you saw it on TV, when the Berlin Wall
was being torn down. Do you remember what was fly
ing over the Berlin Wall? The Confederate Battle Flag
as the wall was being torn down. Did you know that the
Confederate Battle Flag has been adopted and used by
the people of Poland, Hungry, the Ukraine, Lithuania
and East Germany, as they were victorious over the
Uruon of the Soviets? Even Quebec in more recent
years used the battle flag as a symbol of its independ
ence in trying to secede from Canada. Historically
everyone understands that the Confederate Battle Flag
represents liberty and freedom and independence
against tyranny. The Confederate flag represents truth
against error, freedom against tyranny, light against
darkness and the Kingdom of Christ against the
Kingdom of Governance. You see, we have forgotten
30

the fact that the War of Northern Aggression was a cul

tural War. It was a religious War and the North was
predomin ately Unitarian and humani st, while the South
was predomin a ntly C hristian. And in reality, the War
was an attempt to crush C hristianity. Clui stian culture
and Christian presupositionalism.
Now, why must the flag be attacked ? Why must
the fla g be destroyed? Why must Confederate symbols
and monuments and heritage be defamed, destroye d,
and derided? I'll tell you why. Because if we are
allowed to keep our symbols, we might just one day
begin to inquire into the origin and meaning of those
symbols. And in so doing, begin to question the myths
and the propaganda of the political correctness that's in
our country today and as we see the truth, we might
actually begin to stand for the principal 's for which our
forefath ers stood an d fought. And my, would that ca use
problems for the present day administration and the
present day Socialist program . Now listen to me folks,
in order to keep a people enslaved and content in the
present, you must destroy the ir past. A people, who
have no past, will have no future. The attacks today, are
attacks against the truth. What you and r need to do is
this: we need to study our history We need to study our
heritage. We need to co me back to th e basics. We need
to come back to our Christian roots. r want yo u to turn
in your Bibles to Jeremiah 6. Let me close with this

3J

verse. Jeremiah Chapter 6: J 6 "Thus sayeth the Lord

stand ye in the ways and see and ask for the old paths,
where is the good way and walk therein and you shall
find rest for your souls, but they the wicked people
said, we will not walk therein." What did God say?
"God said stand in the ways and see and ask for the old
paths wherein is the good way." Let me tell you some
thing folks, I would trade the culture we have today in
a heart beat for the culture that the South had before the
War of Northern Aggression. r would trade the charac
ter that men have today for the character that men had
before the War of Northern Aggression in a heartbeat.
I would trade the morality today for the morality that
was in the South before the War of Northern
Aggression. We better stand in the way and soon ask
for the old ways which is the good way') We not only
need to keep our symbols, we need to defend their prin
cipals and apply those principals in ollr present day life.

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