Stars and Bars

impetus for this post can be found here.

There are some things in this world that I will never understand. (Does this sound like a soapbox?) My brain will never wrap itself around why this isn't a foul (notice especially the hand caressing the backside at :58), why Christians are the world's worst at maintaining the status quo, or why sound and smell are the most powerful senses (I can say Graduation Song 2000 or "middle school boy smell" and you not only know exactly what I am talking about, but your whole perspective changes in about 1.4 seconds).

I have lived in Kentucky for my entire life, yet the Confederate flag is something that I have neither come to understand nor embrace. Rather than being a symbol of "southern pride" it is, to me, a symbol of ignorance, hatred, and a yearning for a thankfully bygone era. There are those in my life who do not share this view. Instead of viewing the flag as a sad piece of history with two too many stars (Missouri and Kentucky never joined the Confederate States although they are represented on the flag), it is a celebration of the "free spirit" and "rebellious nature" of the south and, by extension, the wearer. Unfortunately, not everyone who lived under that flag was free.

I fail to understand how Americans, especially Christians, cannot see that their symbol of pride is one of persecution and put-down for another, and why that isn't enough to take a stand against it. There is nothing inherently evil about a swastika, indeed it is a stylized cross, yet we have mutually agreed that the its symbolism is unacceptable in public discourse. While the Confederate States did not murder three million people, there is still inherent oppression and racism in it, whether it is "confederate states" or "southern heritage". Why is there such difficulty with this symbol?