RE: [DL] old post, but mainly directed at Chris McGlothlin....

["Mr. Christopher McGlothlin, M.Ed." <sosentinel@adelphia.net>]

At 12:14 AM 8/5/2002, you wrote:
>One really does hope that in the end Americans on both sides fought for 
>what they believed to be morally right, whether or not it was 
>Constitutional. Anyone who would fight for a Constitutional detail above a 
>moral imperative has a fairly twisted set of values.

         The Constitution reflects natural law, from which morality is 
derived. To fight for the Constitution was by definition to fight for 
"moral law."
         Yes, yes, yes--we can argue the degree to which my opening 
statement is true...just not on THIS list. The important point is that to 
the men who fought The War, there was no separating Constitutional and 
natural law. By definition, both sides were fighting for what they 
considered moral reasons BECAUSE they were fighting over the details of the 
Constitution.
         Strange perhaps, but no one ever said Americans make much sense to 
anyone but themselves.;-)

>Morally, West Virginians had every right to secede AS DID VIRGINIA.

         Not to the American way of thinking. Dividing States without their 
consent is, again, expressly forbidden by the Constitution. Doing so 
violates the document itself and the natural law it is intended to reflect, 
and the Federal government said as much.

>The USA fought for the wrong reasons

         Preserving the Union was a worthy goal, by anyone's estimation.

>and did it badly

         I don't know...they did kinda WIN.:-)

>but in the end they achieved a great good.

         Well, they finally did get around to abolishing slavery after The 
War--a good thing in anybody's book. To what degree this absolves them from 
the numerous and countless wrongs perpetuated at the same time is another 
debate for another time.


Deo Vindice,
Mr. Christopher L. McGlothlin, M.Ed.

Educator & Freelance RPG Writer
Member, Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design
Moderator of the New Gamers Order Listserver

"Look upon me! I'll show you the life of the mind!"
--Charlie Meadows (John Goodman), _Barton Fink_