Regarding the Sons of Confederate Veterans, of which I am glad to take part for nearly 14 years, I have something I wish to get out there. I appreciate the statement by compatriot Marc Robinson ... if a SCV member has not educated himself enough to understand that his Confederate ancestors were right, he can never fulfill the charge that he committed himself to. The more I read and think about The Charge, the more clear it appears to me that in order to read it, understand it, and support it, you MUST see that the cause underlining it was and is a good and correct cause. Can one possibly be an SCV member while NOT agreeing to this way of seeing things? In my view, I dont think so. I think this vindicates the mission I try to fulfill with every issue of my camps newsletter.... to further make our point, and to offer items for education and enlightenment as to our cause and our Charge. We, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, are NOT and should NOT be an organization merely for hobbyists and civil war roundtable activities. Being a hobbyist and a civil war roundtable participant is not bad in and of itself, but the SCV waters are and should be far, far deeper than those of the mere civil war roundtable, the hobbyist and the reenactor. When recruiting, I hear people routinely ask if we are a reenactor group, to which I always quickly answer, NO, we are not. While we have some who engage in this activity, and while we generally support this activity, we are FAR FAR more than that and in fact are quite different from a reenactment group. I think OUR CHARGE makes us entirely different, very different in our activities, and in our very reason for existence. Reenacting is a way to promote the study of the history of the thing, and I am glad for that. But the SCV is not a history club where we simply tell stories and history of the war... we have a cause and a CHARGE. I think we need to keep repeating this so that we are clearly set apart from those other endeavors, however worthy they might be. I here and now make this further vow: IN FUTURE RECRUITING ACTIVITIES, IF I AM SPEAKING TO SOMEONE EXPRESSING INTERESTED IN THE SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS, AND IF HE TELLS ME HE IS ONLY PRIMARILY INTERESTED IN REENACTING AND/OR HISTORY, I WILL NOT ENCOURAGE HIM TO PURSUE MEMBERSHIP IN THE SCV. Let me be really clear, in years past I was of the opinion that we should gladly take in each and every interested and willing prospect we can lay our hands on, but now I dont feel that way, BECAUSE, the mere hobbyist will most likely not be with us when the chips are down (so to speak). I, for one, dont think, in view of the CHARGE, that we should pursue men who do not really believe in the CHARGE. To be extra clear, I am NOT advocating running anyone off, but just saying that we should in the future be more careful in how we promote the SCV to interested parties. IF I be wrong or misguided, someone tell me.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 13:32:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015