SCV Camp 1524 Prattville Dragoons' Commander's Column for February 2023 - Our Level of Commitment as Sons of Confederate Veterans

Our pastor spoke this past Sunday of how we as Christians view church attendance and even our relationship with Jesus Christ.  He displayed a chart depicting four categories into which most might be grouped: “An Inconvenient Distraction”, “A Convenient Distraction”, “A Necessary Problem”, or “A Necessary Good”.  He ultimately said that none of these should categorize one’s faith as our relationship with Christ should be a continual walk and experience.  But these categories made me reflect on how we as Sons of Confederate Veterans view our membership and the Charge to which we are called.  We often bemoan limited participation in camp events by our members and these viewpoints may describe why and where our SCV brothers hearts reside in regards to their membership. 

A common rule of thumb is that for volunteer organizations, you will see only about a 10% participation rate from the general membership.  We are fortunate that we have a much more active camp and typically we see around 20-25 members at our camp meetings which represents around a 30% attendance.  But other events like parades and festivals which may be on weekends and in other locales we see fewer folks participate.  For the community service cemetery maintenance workdays, its only around 5%.  Obviously, many members are busy with work and family commitments and SCV activities especially outside of the regularly-scheduled-second-Thursday-of-the-month-camp-meetings are difficult to prioritize.  For these folks who rarely make the camp meetings and other events, the SCV is something of an Inconvenient Distraction.   Certainly for our detractors and those like BLM, Antifa and progressive woke history revisionists, the SCV is an inconvenient distraction as we are among the few standing in their way of removing all historical monuments and vestiges of our Southern heritage. 

It is often highlighted that the age of our SCV membership is between 50 and 60 years old.  For many members, they are retired and have newly prioritized participation in community service organizations like the SCV.  These folks are doubly valuable as they are free of a lot of other time consuming commitments but also they have the capacity to be seasoned experienced contributing members including speakers and officers for the camp.  These folks are seeking activities to challenge them mentally and physically and help keep their calendars full.  For these, the SCV would be a Convenient Distraction. 

Hard to imagine why a member might view the SCV as a Necessary Problem but perhaps they view their ancestry as an integral part of their self-identity and want to be a member of this (oldest Confederate) organization.  I have stated before that THE most important thing anyone can do to support the SCV and the Cause is renew their membership.  We have had countless members who unfortunately have not seen the value of the fellowship and comradery and the rewards of the community service inherent in our meetings and work as a camp and simply wanted the membership certificate to hang on their wall to show that they were at least once upon a time, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. 

But today, with the incessant attacks on our monuments and Southern heritage and the revisionists’ contorting the greatness of our nations’ founding principles as we sink into a woke socialist quagmire, the Sons of Confederate Veterans should be viewed by all members and those who appreciate the truth being told about and the defense of our Southern history as a Necessary Good.  The SCV has fought many legal battles and affected legislation in many states and locales to protect our historic Confederate monuments.  Our National Museum as well as Division libraries and museums like that at Confederate Memorial Park in Marbury and that at Beauvoir in Biloxi are resources for original first person accounts telling the true history of the Southern states’ secession movement and the War for Southern Independence.  As the Charge implores us and General Lee challenged us to do our duty, we must vindicate the Cause for which our grandfathers fought and defend their good name, guard his history, emulate his virtues, and perpetuate those founding principles he loved.  And together, the tens of thousands of SCV members and the millions of descendants of Confederate veterans must make a concerted united stand to protect our Southern history and heritage ongoing.  Giving of our time and resources in this pursuit and defense is worthwhile.   The Sons of Confederate Veterans is a Necessary Good as an instrument to further the Cause for which our ancestors fought and died.  Deo Vindice!