Dr. Marc J. Yacht: Continuing hatreds embody true cost of war

Wars never end.

The bullets may stop but the hatreds continue. Any family that’s lost a son, daughter, wife or husband will never end their anguish or forget those responsible for their loss.

Both sides remember.

That’s why the march to war must be carefully considered with all alternatives on the table. Such was not the case in Iraq, Vietnam, and Korea.

Generations of hatred are triggered by war and last longer than faded photographs. If we all examined conflict through the loss of one soldier or civilian and sensed the effect on loved ones, perhaps there would be an end to war.

I was 4 years old when my grandmother’s early-morning visit told of my cousin Eugene’s death in an Air Corps training accident. The year: 1944. I still remember the weeping and wailing of family members devastated at Eugene’s demise. My aunt never recovered from losing her son and spent the remainder of her life in and out of mental institutions. One death!

The Civil War never ended. The battles are over, the bullets stopped flying but be assured, the hatreds and conflicts continue.

Two books are worth reading: “Neo-Confederacy,” edited by Hague, Beirich, and Sebesta  and “Kingdom Coming” by Michelle Goldberg.  Although their emphasis is different, they explore the history and growing influence of the conservative religious right.

The contemporary Neo-Confederacy movement made its mainstream appearance in 1995. The authors Thomas Fleming and Michael Hill, two of the founding members, published the “New Dixie Manifesto” that appeared in The Washington Post. Espoused were, home rule for “Southerners”; states’ rights and devolved political power; local control over schooling, in opposition to federal desegregation decrees; removal of federal funding and initiatives from Southern states; Christian tradition in opposition to modernity; support for Confederate symbols.

The manifest further expressed that Southerners are maligned as “racist” and “anti-immigrant” by hypocritical, prejudicial Northerners; that the South should be left alone on the issue of race; that race relations are better in Southern states than Northern ones; that the United States is a “multicultural, continental empire” run by elites in Washington, Wall Street, Hollywood, and the Ivy League.

The reasons for the Civil War were challenged. The Neo-Confederates suggest that it was a war against Christians by heretics from the North. The war, they said, was primarily an effort to destroy the gentile agrarian Southern way of life and was never about slavery. Slaves were defined as workers properly treated, housed, and fed by the white gentry.

Brian Britt, a professor of religion and culture at Virginia Tech suggests that the Neo-Confederacy intersects with white supremacy, the Christian Right, the Populist Party, and the states’ rights movement. He further contends that the Neo-Confederate culture presents two faces to the world: one of heritage and the other of hate. Desired is the return to the antebellum South but that face of gentility often adjoins angry right-wing extremism.

The catalyst to the rapid and successful growth of white supremacy groups started with the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling to desegregate schools (Brown v. Board of Education).  The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voters Rights Act of 1965 continued to transform the nation’s political landscape. The aftermath of those changes spurred anti-integration, anti-immigration, and commentary that suggested another assault on Southern traditions.

By 1976 the South shifted allegiance to the Republican Party and has continued that loyalty to date.

Parallel efforts to Christianize politics and protect a Christian white America could be attributed to Michael Farris, founder and president of the Evangelical Patrick Henry College. The strategy was to place educated conservative Christians into civil service and elected posts at every level of government.

Their efforts have been highly successful in rural America. They continue to make inroads and are well exemplified by the current crop of Republican presidential candidates. Their influence is shown through the Tea Party and a myriad of religious conservative groups.

The nation is at a crossroads. Integrity is lost and corruption pervades our political process. The difficulty separating fact from fiction and ideologues from rational thinkers has confused the voter.
The continued Civil War results from the insensitivities of dogmatic ideologies.

Revision of history, the continued growth of intolerance, the white supremacy mantra and hate pose serious threats to our nation’s future.

Marc J. Yacht M.D., M.P.H., is a retired physician living in Hudson, Florida.