Lincoln in his first inaugural address begged the South not to leave because he didn't have the slightest intention to interfere with them, and neither did the Republican party. The Republican party was a single issue party based on non-extensionism, not abolitionism (though abolitionists were certainly part of the coalition).
I remind you that the South was originally pro-French Revolution and pro-free thought (Jefferson, Madison, etc.) while the original conservatives were northern merchant Federalists. And btw, George Washington was a Federalist (he signed the "unconstitutional" First Bank of the United States into law).
The fact that the federal government has become a nihilistic monstrosity does not, believe it or not, mean that Jeff Davis and Bobby Lee were right to secede in their day on those issues. Nor does the fact that they were wrong in their day mean that secession can never be the right thing to do.
I sympathize with Southerners who are being told their ancestors were "nazis" because they fought for the Confederacy. I am the descendant of Southern Unionist Republicans and I resent being told that my ancestors were "Communists" because they fought against the Confederacy, as Southerners from every seceded state except South Carolina did.
There is such a thing as "political correctness" on the Right as well as the Left, and I stand by my ancestors just as other FReepers stand by theirs.
Some of you are heading to identifying G-d A-mighty with a particular culture/civilization/ethnic group, implying that there is a different and equally valid "gxd" for each people and each culture. This is henotheism, and it is what "palaeconservatives" believe (this makes them pagans). G-d is universal and His Laws are binding on all of us. The only nation singled out and separated is the Jewish People because they perform the function of the priestly nation amongst all the other nations.
blah, blah, freaking blah. All that blather didn’t add up to your ignorant comment that the South seceded because Lincoln was elected.
“The fact that the federal government has become a nihilistic monstrosity does not, believe it or not, mean that Jeff Davis and Bobby Lee were right to secede in their day on those issues. Nor does the fact that they were wrong in their day mean that secession can never be the right thing to do. “
Shades of grey? Where is your line in the sand? When have they crossed the Rubicon?