The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of BCNN1. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s).
A few months ago, I was reading from my signed copy of W. A. Swanberg’s biography, “First Blood: The Story of Fort Sumter.” It’s a marvelous account of events that led up to the firing on Fort Sumter, the act that represented the North-South quarrel and led to the greatest war America has ever known – the Civil War.
In the book, Swanberg describes what was taking place in South Carolina just before the terrible War Between the States ensued. He wrote:
“Almost without exception, the state senators and representatives were in favor of secession, the main points at issue being how soon and under what circumstances. That they had ample provocation to quit the Union, few had any doubt. The victory of Lincoln on the anti-slavery Republican platform, while not sufficient cause in itself, was regarded as the last straw in a thirty-year succession of wrongs against the South. …They could give reasons galore to justify slamming the door on the Union. The slavery question, the tariff, the fight for territories, the endless fugitive-slave quarrels – undoubtedly all of these underlay the trouble. But probably Mary Boykin Chesnut, the pretty and mettlesome wife of Senator James Chesnut, struck more at the heart of the matter. ‘We are divorced,’ she said, ‘because we have hated each other so.’”
For some time now, various news articles have been claiming that Americans are just as divided as they were before the Civil War and query as to whether we’re headed for another one. God forbid.
Last year, C. Bradly Thompson, a professor at Clemson University and an opinion contributor for USA Today, aptly wrote about America’s current great divide. Thompson said:
“There was a time, not long ago, when most Americans were proud to be Americans, and they liked each other. Sadly, that is no longer the case.
“People are so polarized in 2019 that we might now speak of the ‘Disunited States of America’ or the ‘United States of Hate!’
“Americans are irredeemably divided over Donald Trump, impeachment, capitalism, socialism, democracy, pronouns, abortion, marriage, immigration, climate change, reparations, Brett Kavanaugh, the Covington kids, free speech, drag queen reading hour, political correctness, and many other topics.
“All of our cultural institutions – the schools, Boy Scouts, NFL, Oscars, soap operas, late-night television, Broadway, stand-up comedy – have become polarized and weaponized. We can’t even come together over the flag and the national anthem.
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SOURCE: Christian Post, Rev. Mark H. Creech
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