Happy Birthday and God Bless -- The Chimneyville Discussion Forum

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Date Posted: 18:02:57 01/23/03 Thu
Author: Marvin T. Cornpone (once removed)
Subject: Happy Birthday and God Bless

> > Well, Marty had his birthday fracas on Monday. I just didn't want to forget these boys.........Lee and Jackson--Stalwarts of the Faith
By Al Benson, Jr.
Published 01. 22. 03 at 22:04 Sierra Time
xxx This week we should have remembered, and should have celebrated, the birthdays of two of America's greatest Christian soldiers, Robert E. Lee and Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson. It is poor tribute to us as a country that we neglect to remember Christian men of their caliber and prefer instead to celebrate the birthdays of socialists and apostates.
Douglas Southall Freeman has written of Lee that: "In early boyhood he had been drilled in his catechism by Rev. William Mead. From his youth he had lived in the spiritual atmosphere Meade had created in Northern Virginia, but had not joined any church. As he grew older, all his religious impulses were deepened, and he felt an increasing dependence on the mercy of a personal God." Lee felt that no man could truly be a gentleman unless he were first a Christian. Freeman noted " [Lee] could not have conceived of a Christian who was not a gentleman." Rev. Steve Wilkins, in his book "Call of Duty" which deals with the life of Robert E. Lee, noted that: "To Lee, there was no contradiction between the two at all. There was no possibility of being a gentleman without first being a Christian. And there should be no such thing as a Christian who was not a gentleman."

Lee joined the Episcopal Church in 1853 and remained therein throughout the rest of his life. All his years thereafter he lived as a humble and devoted Christian and stated: "My chief concern is to try to be an humble, earnest Christian." This motive was at the bottom of all that Lee did in his life. In response to a pastor he once talked to, General Lee said "..I can only say that I am a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone for salvation and that I need all the prayers you can offer for me." With Lee, this was genuine, heartfelt concern, and not just so much political verbiage.

Many lesser men and "historians" in our day have sought to tarnish Lee's image, trying to tell us he really fought only to perpetuate the institution of slavery. Actually Lee had little use for slavery. He had freed his slaves and wrote: "In this enlightened age, there are few I believe, but what will acknowledge, that slavery as an institution, is a moral and political evil in any Country." Lee fought, in the War of Northern Aggression, out of devotion to his home state of Virginia and to the principles of state sovereignty that this country was originally founded upon. That in our day many would seek to besmirch the character of this great man rather than recalling his virtues is a sad sign of how far America has degenerated in the past 150 years. We fail to produce men of the character of Robert E. Lee in this generation, and we are infinitely worse off as a country for that lack.

Stonewall Jackson came from what is now West Virginia. He was not born into affluence by any stretch of the imagination and his early years were extremely difficult. He served in the Mexican War and after that he was sent home and stationed at Fort Hamilton, about seven miles from New York City. Author Mary Williamson wrote of him: "While there, he was baptized and began to live his life for the glory of Christ. God had changed the heart of this brave soldier and gave him wisdom to see that life should be lived for the glory of God--not for the glory of self."

>From that point on Jackson did, indeed, seek to live for the glory of God, both as a professor at Virginia Military Institute and as a soldier. Jackson was a member of the Presbyterian Church in Lexington, Virginia, where he founded and taught a black Sunday School class each Sunday afternoon. Even after he left to go to war, Jackson continued to be concerned for the black youngsters that had been in his Sunday school class and he wrote back whenever possible to check on their progress. It is said that several black preachers eventually came out of Jackson's Sunday school class.

Like General Lee, General Jackson was a sincere and humble Christian that gave thanks to God for everything, even down to a glass of water. He always sought to observe the Sabbath as strictly as possible, not wanting to fight or march on the Lord's Day unless emergency dictated that he do so. Jackson was a strict disciplinarian, not only with his soldiers, but with himself as well. Yet he manifested care and concern for his men, and, like General Lee, was much concerned for their spiritual welfare, promoting church services for them whenever possible, that they might be further exposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jackson had something most of our military men, with their spirit of compromise today do not have--a desire to win the battles he fought in. His detractors, "historian" Ken Burns among them, have labeled Jackson a "cold-eyed killer." Interesting they choose to say such things about Jackson the Christian but they overlook the abberations of Sherman, the agnostic and would-be military dictator, Sheridan the arsonist of the Shennandoah Valley, and Grant, the often barely sober General who has been referred to as a "butcher" for his willingness to send men into battle in certain situations where he might have done otherwise. Jackson, to his credit, never sought to wage war on women, children, and private property as Sherman did. Jackson's Christian worldview prevented such heinous activity, which, by the way, the Lincoln administration gave tacit approval to.

Again, it is to our national hurt that we refuse to recognize and remember such good Christian men. In their efforts to preserve the Constitutional Republic the founders bequeathed to us and which they saw being destroyed by a galloping centralism from Washington, they did all that they did within the framework of their Christian faith. They have nothing of which to be ashamed in their actions. Their detractors can not say as much. Robert E. Lee was born on January 19th and Stonewall Jackson on January 21st. Let us remember these faithful men this week. AMEN.

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