Removing the Confederate Flag May Solve Political Issues, But Removing ‘Hate’ and ‘Meanness’ Will Take the Body of Christ
The Confederate battle flag, honored by some who value their southern heritage and vilified by others who see it as nothing but a symbol of deep-seeded racism, finds itself once again at the center of a storm after Dylann Roof shot and killed nine people during a bible study in Charleston, South Carolina last week. But will lowering a flag be enough to penetrate the roots of hate and vile acts that cause death because of skin color or religious beliefs? There’s a lot to tackle here and debating whether a flag carried by southern troops over 150 years ago should be removed from the capitol grounds in South Carolina or from the official state flags of Mississippi and Georgia is not an issue I’m concerned with addressing now. That issue will and should be decided by voters and elected leaders in their respective states. There have been two well-written pieces, one by Russell Moore and another by David French that make valid points on both sides and reading each should provide a better perspective from which to formulate your own opinion. Yet the issue of a flag is keeping us from focusing on the larger and more repressive issue [...]