You ever wondered why the U.S. flag is called "Old Glory"? Well, here's the answer. . .
From Bill Bennett's American Patriot's Almanac:
A sea captain from Salem, Massachusetts, named William Driver first called the U.S. flag “Old Glory.” In 1824, when Driver turned twenty-one, his mother and several young ladies sewed a large American flag for his merchant ship. The captain was delighted with the birthday gift. “I name thee Old Glory!” he declared when he saw it unfolding on the breeze. In the 1820s and ’30s, he flew it on his ship during his sea voyages.
In 1837 Driver left the sea and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, taking his precious flag with him. On Washington’s birthday, the Fourth of July, and St. Patrick’s Day (which happened to be Driver’s birthday), he proudly hung Old Glory from a rope stretched across his street.
With the coming of the Civil War, Driver grew worried that Confederates might seize his flag, so he hid it by sewing it inside a bed comforter. The war divided the Driver family, as it did so many others. Captain Driver was a staunch Union man, but his two sons fought for the Confederacy, and one was killed at the Battle of Perryville, Tennessee.
On February 25, 1862, Nashville became the first Southern state capital to fall to Union troops. When the soldiers entered the city, Driver ripped open the comforter’s seams, carried Old Glory to the capitol building, climbed its tower, and raised his beloved banner. After hearing the story, Americans adopted the nickname Old Glory for the U.S. flag.
Today Driver’s original Old Glory resides at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where it has been carefully preserved.
Every day, Bill Bennett provides via email--for free--a reading from his American Patriot's Almanac. It's "a daily newsletter that will teach you key events that took place each day in American history." Click here to subscribe.
Welcome to the Intersections Blog, where I try to work out where politics, pop culture, and the Bible meet
So What's This All About?
In case you didn't know, I'm in the multi-year-long process of posting a Christian devotional at the TAWG Blog. The TAWG Blog is, and always will be, mostly apolitical. For the most part, Bible-believing Christians will find little to disagree with there. But I also firmly believe that God's word can--and should--inform everything in life, and this should include politics and popular culture. How should we vote? How should we respond to hot topics such as abortion, capital punishment, taxes, and other issues? Which party, if either, is closer to the Biblical ideal? Tony Campolo and Ron Sider, Evangelicals whose political leanings are on the Left, have made the case in several of their writings that God wants his followers to vote politically on the Left more than on the Right. At times, some of them have gone so far as to equate voting on the Left with obedience to Christ, either subtly or not-so-subtly contending that the converse is true as well: If you vote Republican, you're sinning against the Savior.
I don't agree. I think that to the degree they actually resort to the Bible, they're misinterpreting it. With a whole bunch of caveats, I think politically conservative positions are a lot more compatible with the Scriptures than the Leftist positions.
Just to clarify, I would never accuse people who disagree with me--especially siblings in Christ--of what they accuse me of. I don't judge my own heart, much less anyone else's, and I don't equate political disagreement with theological fidelity to God. I have no reason to doubt their love for the Lord and "for the least of these," but I believe that they're sincerely wrong.
Just to clarify, I would never accuse people who disagree with me--especially siblings in Christ--of what they accuse me of. I don't judge my own heart, much less anyone else's, and I don't equate political disagreement with theological fidelity to God. I have no reason to doubt their love for the Lord and "for the least of these," but I believe that they're sincerely wrong.
So there are two main purposes for this blog. One is to make a case for my political beliefs based on Scripture. The other is a bit more vague, basically to work out my political beliefs and figure out what's based on Scripture and what's based on my own biases. I certainly don't have all the answers. Some of this stuff I'm still figuring out. And I'm certainly open to correction. As long as you make your case civilly and based on Scripture, feel free to make a comment, and I promise I'll post it and consider your arguments thoughtfully and prayerfully. Who knows? Maybe we'll learn a little something from each other.
May God bless our common striving together towards both the "little t" truth and "Big T" Truth. Our watchword here is a line from C. S. Lewis's The Last Battle: "Further up and further in!"
P.S. -- Below on the left is "Topics I've Covered" which lists everything I've posted topically. It's come to my attention that some people would like to see everything just listed for them. If that's you, you can get it here. Thanks to my friend Stephen Young for the tip!
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