The Next Civil War

One of the first things I learned when I entered the military (USAF) in 1956 was that our American civil War—also known as either The War Between The States, or The Northern Aggression—was still raging on.

Yes, ninety-one years after General Robert E. Lee signed the formal surrender of the Army Of Northern Virginia to Ulysses Grant’s Army of the Potomac, there was still some doubt as to the outcome of that four-year struggle.

I had never been exposed to the Southern sentimentality before that time. Heck, I hadn’t ever been below the Mason-Dixon line. It took me only a short time to realize that there were some “foreigners” in our midst. But then, come to think of it, I was the foreigner, since I took my boot camp at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas.

The reason I bring up the subject is that it ties into my topic for this week; and that topic is indirectly tied to one that I posted a some time ago, the writing of The Battle Hymn of The Republic. I received a response to that column that linked to a website of vitriolic invective (whew, I love big words) regarding the penning of that famous song.

A fellow named Michael Dan Jones was the website author, and he was highly critical of Julia Ward Howe and of the song she wrote. I will include the link so that you can read them if you choose. http://www.plpow.com/Atrocities_BattleHymn.htm.

It is apparent that the Civil War (or whatever you choose to call it) is still going on for some people, including Mr. Jones.

One of the more fascinating facts about The Battle Hymn of the Republic is that I have listened to several versions of it, and the word ‘transfigures’ is rarely pronounced as it should be, with the ‘urs’ sounding like the word ‘yours.’ Instead, it is pronounced as ‘ers.’

I got curious and looked up the word in the dictionary, since I really didn’t know its meaning. Here is Webster’s definition:
1. To change the form or appearance of
2. To transform so as to glorify
If I interpret that correctly, transfiguration is the change in appearance of Jesus so that his body actually glows and his head is encircled by a halo; he is beatified. If that is so, then I suppose Julia Ward Howe actually believed that the Union soldiers would be Transfigured by their very act of fighting in the war. Now that’s a little overboard to me.

If I can believe what I hear from the current members of the military, things haven’t changed much in the fifty odd years since I enlisted in the Air Force, and there is still some rivalry today over the North-South alliances. I wonder how much animosity there is going to be over the next four years with a black president who seems to fan the fires of discontent on an almost daily basis.

We may yet have another civil war in this country, but it won’t be North versus South this time. It may well be either a political or a racial war. I hope I’m wrong, but I do see a lot of signs and I hear a lot of talk about it every day. President Obama and his party are not helping with all their baiting and class warfare.

If you are prone to prayer, you had better pray for some peace and understanding in this land in the coming days. Otherwise, Battle Hymn of the Republic might well become a national anthem once again.