[Republican Wildcat]

I am not the author of the piece - it is, however, going viral - and the points raised need to be discussed. There is also nothing in here where he is arguing the killer represents the people of South Carolina (who, after all, just elected a black U.S. Senator in massive landslide), so I’m not sure what it is you are getting at with your comments.

[Ohioan]

What I am getting at, is that the Confederate flag is more likely to be honored by people who would never, ever, think it acceptable to murder their neighbors--of any race or ethnicity--at a prayer meeting or a church service. The traditional Southerners, I have known and worked with, understand the difference between an abomination (an indefensible atrocity) and a statement of belief.

As an added note, as to just how confused this killer was, did you note that he tried to identify with Rhodesia? Rhodesia was a nation that prided itself on its race relations. Rhodeia was so far from the thinking of this murderer, that the son of a friend of mine in the Rhodesian Parliament, commanded a unit in their anti-terrorist forces, which consisted of him and 20 or so Bantu enlisted men--he being the lone White. (He is now active in Christain work in England.)

Another note, are you aware that Stonewall Jackson taught a Sunday School class for Negro children in Virginia, before the War?

Whoever wrote the piece, it is an apology for what should never be apologized for--honoring your forebears! There is nothing in the New Testament that repeals the importance of the Fifth Commandment.