Memorial Day: Both Sides of the Gun

"Maybe God can be on both sides of the gun"

-Say When by THE FRAY

I couldn't sleep last night.  I started thinking about Memorial Day, which is now today. I thought it was odd how little we Memorialize the Civil War, which was fought on our own soil and with the highest US casualty count.  

620,000 lives lost is so many, but it's even more staggering when you consider this:  This represented roughly 2% of the US population.   Taken as a percentage of today's population, the toll would have risen as high as 6 million souls!

I'm sure part of the lack of memorial to the Civil War is the shameful reminder of slavery in our our country's history.  But there is so much to be honored in that war...on "both sides of the gun."  In fact, Memorial Day was even born out of grave site "decoration days", begun shortly after the end of the Civil War:

"The first memorial days were group events organized in 1865 in both the South and North, by black and white, just a month after the war ended. Quickly evolving into an annual tradition, these "decoration days" were usually set for early summer, when the most flowers would be available to lay on headstones."

As they say, "History is written by the victors".  Understandably, much of what gets taught in schools is that the Civil War was all about Slavery, and obtaining freedom for the slaves.  Certainly, it was about that.  But, the South was also fighting for their own freedoms, the freedom of self-government, which they believed was afforded to them by the US Constitution and the rights of individual states.

Here's what I know, for sure.  The rivers of debate are very deep regarding this war and the moral justification on both sides.  But I want to apply the Principle of Positive Intent here, which is to basically to assume the most positive motives of others.

While it's much more complex than this, the most positive intentions in the Civil War were these:

The North wanted to "preserve the Union" and give Freedom to slaves. They thereby justified their military aggression against the South.

The South wanted the Freedom to govern themselves, which they felt was their legal right.  These freedoms extended to their "right" to own slaves.

It wasn't "the good guys vs. the bad guys".  They both felt they were right.  And, in some sense, they WERE both right.  And, in a different sense, they were both wrong. 

Both North & South fought for different rights...and 620,000 lost their lives in the process.  Both sides were fighting for freedoms, although in different forms.  I feel that those who died should be honored for the freedoms they gave their lives to protect.

"Maybe God can be on both sides of the gun"

Next post: The  Parallel Universe of our Next Civil War