Methodists: Move Confederate flag

Delegates attending the South Carolina United Methodist Conference last week in Florence passed a resolution calling for the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse grounds, according to church officials.

The resolution, which recommends the flag be placed in a museum or other appropriate historical context, was brought to the floor of the conference late Wednesday and was approved by a clear majority, according to the Rev. Don Britt, former minister of Trenholm Road United Methodist Church in Columbia.

"There was debate," he said, "but not as contentious as it has been in the past."

Some Methodists in the state have been actively advocating the removal of the Confederate flag for years, he said. About a month ago, a couple dozen church members attended a lecture and prayer vigil at the Statehouse, spearheaded by Tim McClendon, the church's Columbia district superintendent, Britt said.

The state's Methodists join at least one other religious organization, the South Carolina Christian Action Council, in publicly calling for the removal of the flag.

University of South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier attracted attention in April when he told a crowd at a banquet in Columbia that he doesn't think the flag should be flown on the Statehouse grounds.

The United Methodist Church was formed in 1968 when the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church merged. Both protestant denominations inherited their predecessors' strong opposition to slavery, and both emphasize the value of diversity.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, citing the Confederate flag's symbolic link to slavery and oppression, has promoted an economic boycott of South Carolina for more than seven years.

Flying the flag on sovereign state grounds, behind which laws are made, is to place the banner in a current context, to make it a living statement of public policy, said the Rev. Joe Darby, pastor of Morris Brown AME Church and NAACP activist. But respecting other people's heritage does not obligate blacks to endure an insult, he said.

Lonnie Randolph, president of the NAACP state conference, rejects the argument that Confederate heritage should be respected. He said he can't respect a past that includes bigotry, white supremacy and hatred. The Confederacy depended on a form of terrorism, he said, a "violence of intimidation used to obtain a political end," and that cannot be condoned. The state has no business sanctioning bigotry and white supremacy, he said.

Others say that when the flag was moved to the Confederate Soldier's Monument, the issue was resolved. "Unfortunately, there are people in our culture today who make a living by fanning the flames of intolerance and by selling the bigotry of victimhood," Glenn McConnell, president pro tem of the S.C. Senate, wrote in a recent op-ed piece published in The Post and Courier.

Darby called the new Methodist resolution a "welcome move."

"It speaks well for diverse people of faith," he said. Not only does the vote reveal how blacks and whites can cross racial lines to find common ground, it suggests that the faith community in South Carolina might be able to wield some influence, Darby said.

"If we pray together toward that common goal, maybe we can make a difference," he said.

Rhett Jackson, an active member of the United Methodist Church in Columbia who has served in various official capacities over the years, applauded the decision to pass the resolution. Jackson, 82, has been pushing for racial reconciliation for a long time. In South Carolina, Jackson said, the Civil War was fought and lost; it's time to appreciate objects of that era for what they are: part of history.

"We don't need to be celebrating that Confederate flag when we were on the wrong side of that war," he said.

Reach Adam Parker at 937-5902 or aparker@postandcourier.com.