Revolutionary War vs. Civil War

This topic is not new to those who know me. I have studied military history (hobby) and I have enough knowledge to at least ask an intelligent question:

Why is it that we tend to see the Revolutionary War as a good thing (justified and justifiable war against an evil(or at least mean) oppressor) and the Civil War as a bad thing (unjustified and unjustifiable war against legitimate rulers who were not oppressive)?

Basically, each war shares some significant similarities.

First, the Civil War was not "about slavery." That is like saying WWII was about the extermination camps (which were a part of the war and an atrocity), the Revolutionary War was about freedom from oppression (contemporary situations were as oppressive or worse) and the second Gulf War was about George W. Bush getting even with Sadam (failed intelligence and national paranoia and past hostile behavior (Iraqi)). All of these examples (including that of the Civil War) are short sighted and overly simplistic. The Civil War and the Revolutionary War were both about the desire of a group of people (colonies or states) to seperate themselves from a larger governmental body. Both the colonists and state citizens felt "oppressed" by the larger governmental body for various reasons, including economic, political, and social factors.

It takes even more of a complex twist if you are a Christian who believes that Christians should submit to legitimate authority. The only book that I have seen that tries to speak to the difference between Rev and Civ is "The Light and the Glory" by Marshall. The best the book can do is pluck a bible verse out of context and argue that in that specific situation, Christians were justified to rebel. Not to put it too harshly, but the book was crap.

To sum up, because I have been typing for a while, examine your perceptions of the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. Ask yourself, do I believe what I believe because of the facts, or because the victor puts the spin on the facts.

Aloha.

War? What is it?

War:

The use of force (typically military style/level force) to bend a group of people (typically a country or portion of a country) to the force user's will.

We tend to think of war as the military from one country fighting a somewhat conventional war against the military of a different country. This is too narrow, inaccurate and simplistic. War can include terrorism (the asymetrical application of force by paramilitary forces against civilian targets to influence a population). War includes diplomatic, information, economic and force aspects.

I will post more later.

Aloha.

First Post

Aloha.

I was encouraged to start this after many friends started blogs and thought I should as well. I will use this blog to discuss deeper issues. I don't plan on having the blog be a running history of my life. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

I will try to post my first thoughts later tonight, but have people coming over for supper and talk, so I might not get to it.

Later,

Dan