Today Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, beloved of white Southern Baptists (and a Baptist church-goer as a teenager), is promoted to lieutenant general. Thus rewarded for his battlefield daring and bravery, upon Jackson’s shoulders falls ever more the burden of ensuring that the Confederacy emerges victorious over the United States. The general’s exploits are already…
Today the United States and Confederate armies clash in Culpeper County, Virginia. In the early years of the American nation, this area was Baptist giant John Leland’s stomping grounds. In those days, Leland preached religious liberty for all and church state separation. Now, many Southern Baptists still cling to “religious liberty” language yet consider the…
In Virginia’s northern Shenandoah Valley, German Baptists are rebelling against a proclamation from Virginia governor John Fletcher incorporating the state’s militia into the Confederate Army. The proclamation is in response to a desperate need for more Confederate manpower in the face of recent Union victories. Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, ready to ramp up efforts…