England Part 1: My Favorite Things

Indeed It Does...

History, it repeats itself.

Such is the subtitle for the campaigns of President-Elect Barak Obama and his hero President Abraham Lincoln. Obama boast of his similarities loudly because of the misinformed public, who credits Lincoln as being a moral, honest, and anti-racial-discriminating individual.

Lincoln was from Illinois. Obama grew up in Illinois. Both served, however shortly, in the Ill. Senate.

Obama claims he is ending the racial suppression of the black people. Lincoln was credited for doing so.

Lincoln was called 'the Messiah' by the Northern population. Obama is referred to as 'the Messiah' for all Americans.

Both were far too inexperienced to run the country. They were criticized for it in both campaigns.

Lincoln was raised by his stepmother. Obama by his grandmother. Both lost their mothers at a young age.

Obama is 47. Lincoln was 51. Both are in the running for top five youngest presidents.

Lincoln wrote a best selling book before becoming President. Obama did too.

Both walked into a sharply divided country.

Lincoln and Obama served one term and only one term in Congress.

Obama is reading "A Team of Rivals" written by Lincoln about his cabinet. The other presidents who have used this book and it's strategies: FDR, JFK, Nixon and Clinton.

Obama has quoted Lincoln several times. Even called Lincoln his model for his vision.

Obama is using Lincolns Bible to be sworn in on.

They share many liberal views, such as government should be involved in the private sector.

Most importantly, they knew the power of words. Hope, Change, New Birth, Freedom... Americans soak in these words. They hold great power. They know it.

I draw these similarities not because I think it funny. But because we should understand Lincoln did not want equality. Lincoln was not a champion for the black race, he did not like blacks, they were inferior to him. He was a racist. For all the talk of the reincarnation of Lincoln in Obama, I have only this to say, Lincoln is turning in his grave. He would hate a black president. Read his words:

"I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races - that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, "Fourth Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Charleston, Illinois" (September 18, 1858), pp. 145-146.

Lincoln was not the Great Emancipator, he used the slaves for political pundits! He did not want to free them but it came to this: free them or risk the British joining with the South and losing the Union. His response was this:
""My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; " The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume V, "Letter to Horace Greeley" (August 22, 1862), p. 388.

"There are no accidents in my philosophy." Lincoln 1864

As some of you may think, I am not a racist. Some of the smartest people I know are black people, all humans are made in the image of God, as a Christian I am bound to love my neighbor, no matter his color. 

However, I do not have to agree with his insane policies.

Lincoln? A Hero?

Many believe that Lincoln was a friend to the black people, that he loved them and wanted their oppression to end. This however is not the case in documented history, but merely a bias reconstruction that some historians feel that they must rewrite history. To truly understand the Civil War and the heroes therein you must, yes to be a truly educated person, you must research this topic for yourself. Read the speeches, read the journals of the slaves. This is our heritage and it’s being sabotaged by those that have only read their Government issued textbooks. In our schools, even in our home school text books one of the most emotional times in our history has been ripped apart at the seams and been sewn back together by those who favor the Unionist sediments of the time.

Today I tell you that Lincoln WAS prejudice. It was not the Southern people that were bigots. Let’s look at Lincoln’s own words in context.

You do not have to look further than Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address:

“Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that--

I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.

Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar declarations and had never recanted them; and more than this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read:

Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.”

This speech was given in Washington D.C. to the American people, published in many of the newspapers of the time. Can you read that and honestly believe Lincoln wanted to be elected to do away with slavery? It was about the economy.

Looking further into history you find these quotes:

"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause."

Source: The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume V, "Letter to Horace Greeley" (August 22, 1862), p. 388.

And again in his own words:

"I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races - that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the Negro should be denied everything."

Source: The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, "Fourth Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Charleston, Illinois" (September 18, 1858), pp. 145-146.

Looking still further at his own words:

"I have never said anything to the contrary, but I hold that notwithstanding all this, there is no reason in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I hold that he is as much entitled to these as the white man. I agree with Judge Douglas he is not my equal in many respects---certainly not in color, perhaps not in moral or intellectual endowment. But in the right to eat the bread, without leave of anybody else, which his own hand earns, he is my equal and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living man. "

Source :The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, "First Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Ottawa, Illinois" (August 21, 1858), p. 16.

This type of ignorance is what Martin Luther King Jr. fought hard against. You want a Hero? There he is. Dr. King should be given the honor that is misplaced on Abraham Lincoln.

I had a young friend ask me a few days ago, “If he didn’t like the black people why didn’t he just leave them in slavery? Why did he liberate them?”

The answer; Lincoln was more than happy to give us is in his Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862, he stated:

“I cannot make it better known than it already is that I strongly favor colonization.”

According to the ACS website:

The colonization of freed blacks was brought up by the American Colonization Society, which was established in 1817 in Liberia. This idea was the plan of upper class white citizens who weren't ready to view the free blacks equal to whites. In 1819 Congress approved $100,000 to return the illegally brought Africans back to Africa. However, some of the blacks didn't consider themselves African because they were born in United States and African was only their heritage. They were technically Americans. In 1821, the U.S. Navy purchased this land called Liberia for the placement of the free blacks from the United States. Up until 1840 when the American Colonization Society declined more than 11,000 blacks were placed in Liberia. However, the United States took responsibility for Liberia until 1912.

Back to the freeing of the slaves; why did Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation?

The Emancipation Proclamation had less to do with Abolitionism than most people think. Initially, the war was centered on preserving the Union rather than freeing slaves. The North needed the South because of it’s agriculture to keep their industries going. The North controlled Congress due to their population. When the South grew tiered of being controlled by the Federal Government that was taking away their State’s rights guaranteed by the Constitution, they voted to succeed.

The North couldn’t let them leave the Union! Hence the Civil War, which would be more accurately called The War Between the States. The North needed a noble reason to be remembered for after they won. So the Emancipation Proclamation became the scapegoat. Much to their advantage, they slipped in some humanitarian statements and BANG! There is the result. Generations later if you ask the average student “What was the Civil War about?” he will respond “Slavery!” Ask him “who was the best president ever?” and he will respond “Lincoln”.

Issuing the Proclamation was actually a strategic political maneuver.

Proclamation did allow freed slaves admittance into the US military, which gave the North extra manpower. Although, many of the freed slaves went to war WITH their masters. Abroad, as Lincoln hoped, the Proclamation turned foreign popular opinion in favor of the Northern States for its new commitment to end slavery. Pure Politics!

The Emancipation Proclamation Written almost two years after the Civil War started!!!

"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.”

Please notice the Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in the Confederacy.

I must add this before ending:

Slaves were not treated as badly as the textbooks would have us believe, few were actually beaten. Why would a master beat a slave? If you beat and starve them they cannot work. The needed the work done. I’m not saying that there were no mistreated slaves, there were, but that was a rare situation. Just as there are American parents that starve and beat their children today, but that does not make all parents in America child abusers.

Most Southern plantation owners bought their slaves out of compassion. After seeing them on the dock with their chains and ropes, the gentlemen of the south would pay the slave trader (who is the true villain here), would bring the slave home to give him/her food and shelter. After so many years of service most slaves were retired and given some of the acres they had worked by plantation owner. Was it the ideal situation? No.

My passion about Southern history is not about slavery, but about Constitutional State’s rights! Slavery was and IS wrong, but history must be told correctly if we are going to learn from it and avoid repeating it!

This post has become far too long. So I will end with this:

Southerners AND Northerners owned slaves.

The Civil War was about States Rights and Economy.

Lincoln was not a hero.

A Piece or Two of News for You (that don't have much to do with history)

Piece of News Number One:

"Deep South Blog Design recently did a wonderful job at redesigning the blog background. Stop by their site, tell them what you think about the re-do, and check out the other great backgrounds they're cranking out."

Piece of News Number Two:

I recently discovered another way that you can help me with my England Trip. This win-win proposition involves no money out of your pocket but will help to fund my expenses. Swagbucks is a search engine that pays you rewards for searching. Most of us on the blogosphere use Google or other search engines all the time, but to get paid...

Here's how it works:

1. Sign Up: Swagbucks asks for very little information, it only takes a minute. You're automatically rewarded 3 Swagbucks for simply signing up.
   
2. Download the toolbar (opt.): for convenience, to make sure you use it for all your searching. Don't worry, you won't miss Google. Swagbucks pulls it's searches from Google and Ask Jeeves.
3. Start Searching: Just search throughout the day like you usually would. Throughout the day you will "win" more swagbucks.
4. Trade in Swagbucks for Gift Cards and more: Once you have 45 "bucks," you can turn them in for a $5 Amazon Gift Card. There are many gift cards to choose, from Starbucks to Macy's to NewEgg. There are also electronics to choose from, if you'd rather save up your bucks for awhile.

"Ok, this sounds great for me, but how is this going to help you?"

If you sign up after following any of the links in this post, Swagbucks counts that as a referral from me. Every point that you earn, helps me earn points. And those points can be traded in for things like:

• $50 Southwest Airlines Gift Card for my flight from Birmingham to NYC. (This is the main one I'm working towards)

The following are other things that would help some:

• $5 Starbucks and Subway Gift Cards: Not all of my meals are provided for in the travel package.
• $5 Amazon and $20 Target Gift Cards: For those "little" things that have to be bought for a trip.
• $100 NewEgg or the electronics prize Sony - Cyber-shot 10.1-Megapixel Digital Camera: My camera is old with almost no options. So, if ya'll are hoping for photos, I'm going to have to buy a new camera.

Transforming America Through the Redemption of Hearts

"Whether or not abortion is legal, there will always be some women who participate in it."

This statement used to make my blood boil. But, I've come to see some truth in it (although not for the exact same reason as most quoters of that statement). Sinners will still sin to some extent, regardless of what government says. It may be behind closed doors, it may occur less often when government restricts it, but it will still lurk as long as the hearts of mankind are lost.

The core reason women have abortions is because their spiritual lives are a mess and they don't see any other solution for the moment. They may have been rejected, abused, or neglected at home, they may have bought the lies of feminism lock, stock and barrel, or someone else may be forcing them to murder their own child. But, it all goes back to a heart issue. Someone, somewhere, (more than likely including the woman herself) who had not been saved by Christ, influenced this women to the point that murder appears to be the only option.

It doesn't matter how much lobbying Conservative Americans do on domestic and "social justice" issues, the U.S. will not ultimately change until the hearts of the leaders and the people are redeemed. And, that redemption comes from Christ Jesus alone.

Government and society are intertwined. A government, with enough control, can change a society. But, a society that believes in certain ideals enough, whether they be good or bad, can transform a government which can then in turn influence that society in new ways.

This same principle, that sin exists wherever there is absence of redemption and spiritual reformation, fuels fire for Christians to take action. If you have been saved from the bondage of sin, then why are you not letting the new man that you are influence and transform your culture? There are many examples I could give, but the main one I would like to address is that of education.

Why allow children to be fed the lie that mankind needs no redemption (or needs a false form of salvation). Why send children to an institution that teaches them to passively live out and/or passionately enforce the chaos our country is wallowing in? If the answer to society's redemption is through the Christian transformation and discipleship of lives, then why are Christian families not living out the power of the Great Commission in their own lives?

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;"
-Matthew 28:19-20

Thankfully, because our country is still free to a point and because of the advances of technology, there are practical, sensible, and even inexpensive options for discipling children in the ways of Christ. Jasmine Baucham brought "The Call to Dunkirk" project from the Exodus Mandate to my attention.



Please, evaluate every area of your life and scout out any ways that you can combat the present destructive forces of our country through the changing of hearts.

A Dream Come True

Hello, dear readers!

Anyone who knows me has heard among my list of hopes and dreams, that wish to visit the land of my beloved Dickens and Austen, the fair isle where Narnia was born, the country shaken by Wycliffe, Tyndale, and Wilberforce, and the capitol of the former empire on which the sun never set.


Well, it looks like my dream will come true this September, thanks to Jennie Chancey who is allowing me to tag along on her Sense and Sensibility Historical Costume Tour. While not a costume enthusiast, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to study history where it happened and in some of the finest museums in the world.

I am pleased to invite you to join me on this exciting trip as I plan to live blog as much of the trip as possible. The current itinerary involves visiting the following:

Shakespeare's Globe
Dulwich Picture Gallery
Metropolitan Tabernacle
National Portrait Gallery
Kensington Palace
Museum of London
Victoria and Albert Museum
Greenwich

British Museum

Stonehenge

Jane Austen Festival in Bath (opening weekend)
Jane Austen's house in Chawton
Jane Austen's grave in Winchester

I already have part of the funds needed lined up (hopefully). But, because my current provider may be interrupted with other needs to meet, that may not be an option. I'm also trying to start some entrepreneurial enterprises to help cover costs. However, this is still a very expensive trip, and I would appreciate any help I can get.

ChipIn is an online service that allows contributions to be made through PayPal.

I have also set up a personal ChipIn page here.

I understand that many of you would not be able to contribute financially and I am extremely grateful for your much-needed prayers and friendships, but I would also be appreciative to those of you that are able to help out monetarily.

I am also planning on blogging about my pre-trip studies of British history, Jane Austen, Shakespeare, European art, and more. So, please join me as I feed my love of England and finally hop across the pond to a dream come true.

P.S. (1/14/08) Here's another way all of you can help.

Imitating the Father of History: Part II

Read Part I

This religion of Islam, that I mentioned, reaches back to the seventh century A.D. A monotheistic religion which shares similarities with Judaism and Christianity has also waged many a conflict with those two religions. Founded by an Arab named Mohammed, a vast Islamic empire stretched across the Middle East, Asia Minor, North Africa, Central Asia, Greece and Spain throughout the Middle Ages. The second largest religion in the world, Islam regards the Qur’an as its holiest scriptures.

President Chamoun was a member of the Syriac Maronite Church, which, according to Wikipedia, is a sect of the Syriac Eastern Catholic Church. St. John Maron, an ascetic monk of the fourth century, spawned the movement that grew into the Maronite church. Despite its fall from majority in Lebanon, the Maronite church still exists with significant populations in about nine countries of the world. Curiously, unlike Roman Catholics, the Maronites liturgical language is a form of Aramaic.

In response to the first trial of his doctrine, Operation Blue Bat was President Eisenhower’s answer to the Lebanon crisis on July 15, 1958. The Army and the Marine Corps were called upon to secure the Beirut International Airport, the Beirut port and approaches into Beirut. One of the Marines who was commanded to secure the airport, namely Norman Cartee, kindly explained his mission to me.

“Because we were called upon so quickly, most of us didn’t really understand why we were going, we just carried out the orders. I was set to guard a supply airfield in Beirut, Lebanon. Since our duty was guarding, we didn’t leave the airfield often, and that was only to scout out those trying to destroy the airfield.

During scouting trips we went as patrols made up of four to six men into the hills and mountains outside the city. We were not to engage, and those we were looking for usually weren’t interested in combat either. They only wanted to take over the airfield. We were only to fight out of self-defense, which did happen several times.

We weren’t allowed to enter the city due to the semi-guerrilla warfare. You couldn’t take any chances. The few natives I did see wore turbans and baggy, silky clothes.

The barracks and the mess hall were away from the airfield. We had a post exchange where we could get haircuts, eat at a deli, buy personal items…you know like a mini ‘Wal-Mart.’

While at the airfield, we supplied air support when needed. We served a patrol in shifts of four hours on, eight hours off, four hours on, etc… When on patrol I sat in a ‘fox hole’ made of sandbags and canvas tarp that had machine guns.”

Probing the book Enchantment of the World by Leila Merrell Foster, I discovered the following facts about Lebanon. Beirut is part of the coastal mountain range of Lebanon. This was the region from which King Solomon harvested cedars for his palace. The country of Lebanon is bordered by the Mediterranean coast on the west, Israel to the South, and Syria to the North and East.

The Lebanese highly prize familial connections. Family support and recommendations is the key to power, opportunities, and relationships. Marriage between religious sects is deprecated which pulls religious based communities closer together. Lebanon highly prizes education and the arts. Their music has a soothing reputation.

As soon as October 25, 1958, the U.S. forces were able to pull out. Tensions were diminished, the Lebanese government was strengthened by a new president, and Americans casualties consisted of three killed by accident and one shot by a sniper. Overall, the first test of President Eisenhower’s doctrine proved successful.

Bibliography

Note: Herodotus would not have listed a Bibliography at the end of his histories. Instead he gave credit similar to the way I tried to in the text of the paper. But, because this is 2008, with frights abounding for copyright laws and plagiarizing, I thought it best to still include this.

“1958 Lebanon Crisis.” Wikipedia.org

Cartee, Norman G. Telephone interview. 22 Nov. 2008.

“Dwight D. Eisenhower.” Wikipedia.org

Foster, Leila Merrell. Enchantment of the World: Lebanon. Chicago: Childrens Press,
1995

“Islam.” Wikipedia.org
<>

“Lebanon.” Wikipedia.org

Palmer, Norman D. “Central Treaty Organization (CENTO).” The World Book
Encyclopedia. International ed. 1975.

“Syriac Maronite Church.” Wikipedia.org

Thompson, Carol L.“Cold War.” The World Book Encyclopedia. International ed. 1975.