|
For Immediate Release
First Southern National
Congress a Resounding Success
Marion, VA; December 9, 2008 – Over one hundred
Southern men and women, from all walks of life and from
fourteen States, gathered near Hendersonville, NC December 5
through December 7 to convene the First Southern National
Congress (SNC). This historic meeting at the Kanuga
Conference Center in the shadow of the Blue Ridge was the
first all-South congress since 1861. It was a “resounding
success,” according to Thomas Moore of Charlottesville, VA,
who was elected Chairman.
Delegates attended from the following States: Alabama,
Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland,
Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
The SNC is a representative assembly of citizens of the
Southern States, providing an alternative, legitimate forum to
express Southern grievances and advance Southern interests in
a way that is no longer possible through today’s political
process or the major political parties.
Eminent historian and South Carolina Delegate Dr. Clyde
Wilson said, “The SNC will reclaim the political legacy of
great Southerners like Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and
John C. Calhoun. That legacy is individual liberty and a small
central government limited to its enumerated powers; and which
is the creation, the servant, and the agent of the sovereign
people acting through their respective States. But these
principles enacted in the Constitution of 1789 have been
violated. The Federal Government today is engaged in ‘a long
train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same
Object, evincing a design to reduce us under absolute
Despotism,’ to borrow the words of Jefferson in the
Declaration of Independence.”
In his opening Charge to the Delegates, Chairman Thomas
Moore observed, “We Southerners are well acquainted with the
attacks on our symbols, our heroes, our heritage. This is bad
enough, but it only highlights the deeper attack on our
liberty, our prosperity, and our very identity as a People.
An authentic Southern voice is suppressed by a hostile
culture, and our elected leaders have either failed us or
actively betrayed us. The U.S. Government no longer
represents the people’s interests; it represents the interests
of the highest bidder, the big corporations and money power.
We Southerners have been among the most loyal and patriotic
Americans, but in sadness we must acknowledge that Washington,
DC has forfeited its moral authority by its folly and its
unlawful acts. Now the people of the South who still love
liberty and justice have no choice but to withdraw their
consent from this corrupt Regime. However, withdrawing our
consent is not enough. We must have alternative, legitimate
institutions to which we can transfer our consent. This is the
principle behind the SNC.”
Chairman Moore explained that when the duly elected or
appointed “magistrates” fail in their sworn duty to uphold the
law and safeguard liberty, then any People worthy of the name
will bring forth new leaders to act on their behalf.
Political sovereignty resides in the whole People under a
sovereign God. When oppressed, the People have the right to
organize the collective means to defend their interests. Such
means derive their legitimacy from a commitment to the welfare
of the community. This is a constant theme in Western history
and a hallowed principle in English common law. Not only does
this right have support in history and politics, it also has
theological sanction in the Christian doctrine of
“interposition of the lesser magistrate.” That is, when then
higher magistrates fail or betray their public trust, lesser
magistrates must step forward and “interpose” themselves
between the People and the abuses of despotism. This is the
basis on which the SNC rightfully claims its moral authority.
A proven, historical model for the SNC comes from America’s
own history – the First Continental Congress. The
Crown-authorized governors and colonial assemblies were still
the “legal” governments at the time. But they represented the
exploitative interests of the British ruling class, not the
interests of the American people. Colonial Committees of
Correspondence appointed delegates to an alternative forum,
and delegates met in Philadelphia in April 1774 to represent
their States’ interests and voice their grievances.
In keeping with its mission to speak for Southern
interests, the SNC debated and passed a number of resolutions
called “Remonstrances and Petitions for the Redress of
Grievances.” These resolutions petitioned the Federal
Government to cease its abuses, usurpations, and unlawful acts
in the following areas:
-
Failure to secure the borders and promoting of mass
immigration that threatens to overwhelm our communities;
-
Just law, protection of liberty, and the threat of rogue
government;
-
Just war and lawful defense, including proper
(Constitutional) declaration of war;
-
Southern agriculture and the rights of smallholders vs.
corporate agribusiness;
-
Sound money, economic policy, and Government crimes against
our livelihoods;
-
States’ sovereignty over their natural resources, especially
along the Gulf Coast;
-
The individual citizen’s unalienable right of armed
self-defense.
The debates on these measures were marked by an unusual degree
of knowledge, insight, dignity, public-spiritedness, and
respect for the views of others. And there were dissenting
views.
Internationally respected author
and President of the Middlebury Institute, Kirkpatrick Sale,
was a South Carolina Delegate. Mr. Sale noted that, “It was
an audacious move to try to create a new political voice for
the South for the first time in a century-and-a-half, but you
brought it off, and with dignity and authority.”
Newly elected Vice-Chairman, Mark Thomey of Louisiana, said,
“If you believe what you hear in the popular media today, we
Southerners are just too backwards to be able to put together
a coherent thought, much less assert our rights and govern
ourselves. This Congress, and the Southern men and women who
instituted it and participated in its debates, have thoroughly
exploded that worn-out mythology.”
The SNC is now exploring ways in which it can operate and
conduct business between annual plenary sessions through the
creation of a secure Internet forum. Southerners wishing to
become Delegates to the “Virtual Congress” or to future
plenary sessions should apply via the SNC website,
www.southernnationalcongress.org.
Qualifications to become a Delegate are as follows:
-
There
are no restrictions based on race, creed, or sex.
-
A
Delegate must be a resident of one of the 14 Southern States
cited above.
-
A
Delegate must be 18 years of age on the date.
-
A
Delegate must be willing to affirm the following: I believe
that I have a duty to my home State. I believe that the
Southern people are a distinct people. I believe in the
right of voice, the right of preservation, and the right of
recognition, for the South and her people.
News media representatives or Southern citizens seeking
information about the SNC should direct their queries to Mr.
Terry Compton, SNC Director of Communications:
communications@southernnationalcongress.org.
SNC Chairman Thomas Moore is available for scheduling radio
appearances or other interviews:
chairman@southernnationalcongress.org.
### |
