After the racist nutjob killed 9 black people in South Carolina, people have been calling for South Carolina to take down the Confederate battle flag from the state capital grounds.

I don’t know what to think. I’m from Colorado. No one flies a Confederate flag here. Black people probably make up less than 1% of the population, so I don’t really know what they think, but I could see how they would dislike it.

I think the Civil War was an atrocious, wicked act committed by the Northern states. Every Southern soldier that died was murdered. (The North wasn’t fighting to free slaves, but to force the rebels back into line.) The Southern states should have been allowed to secede peacefully. Nevertheless, slavery did play a part in why they seceded and it was a part of their plans going forward.

Joel McDurmon points out that it’s hypocritical for South Carolinians to be showing rebel pride while being bought off by federal money. A third of the state budget is made up of federal money.

If the Confederate flag stands for racism and slavery, why doesn’t the American flag stand for millions of aborted babies, a police state, civil asset forfeiture, confiscatory taxes, socialism/fascism and gay marriage? I don’t think it’s OK to fly the American flag.

I’m considering flying a flag at my house that might provoke some conversation and thought. I looked into some of the Revolutionary War flags, and there are some interesting ones, but the meanings aren’t well-known.

The Confederate flag would be provocative and well-known, but I certainly wouldn’t want to be associated with racism and slavery.

So, I don’t have any good ideas and no flag flies at my house.

A Facebook acquaintance covertly rearranged the flags at a church in a town he was passing through. I think this at least makes a good statement.