Rednecks  - the Backbone of America
By Barbara Henderson

My daughter Raina and my son in law Ray Robinson have just started a group on Facebook called ‘Conservative Rednecks’.  You are invited and welcome to join.  I thought it would be a good idea to spend a little time defining a redneck.  I think I will start a long time ago.

Many years ago there were hard working people who spent long hours working outdoors in various honorable professions such as farming, logging, lumber, fishing, ranching, and so on.  The back of their necks were often burned red from over exposure to the sun, so they were referred to as rednecks. 

These redneck people had goals. 
They wanted to be independent,
self supporting, and
beholding to no one. 

The foundation for their way of life was:

Love God
Love your Family
Love your church
Love your country

Their motto was:

 Let your actions show your convictions.

Do you see a similarity there to the Christian work ethic?  Today, if some rednecks have erred, it is attempting to reach their goals without firmly standing on the foundations layed by God Almighty.

I know some rednecks by reputation, and others personally.  I knew my great grandfather slightly.  He and my great grandmother raised nine children, all of which were also redneck – independent, self supporting, and beholding to no one. 

I knew my granddad, gramps, my dad, and my father in law very well.  I know my husband, my brothers, my cousins, and my own children.  What I find in these rednecks is people you can count on to get the job done.  I find people who are problem solvers.  They see what needs to be done to provide for their families, and they find a way to do that. 

Redneck men such as my granddad had the idea that real men didn’t spend time whining about their circumstances.  They went out and did something about it instead.  In the process, the raised sons and daughters with the same values; they raised sons and daughters who wanted to be independent, self supporting, and beholding to no one.  One story from my dad and granddad is that one fall during the great depression of the 1930’s, my dad, a young teenager, had outgrown his shoes.  The family was chopping cotton and waiting for a payday.  My dad complained about how hard it was to chop cotton barefoot, especially since the ground had frost in the morning.   I still don’t have the full story of what happened next, but it is sufficient to say that dad did not complain the rest of that fall about anything.  He chopped cotton until he got his new shoes.  Today, it might be thought that granddad was too harsh on his son.  I don’t know.  It hurt dad at the time, but he did grow up to be a real man.  He became a Christian man when I was small, so I had a father who, while not perfect, was an awesome man. 

Today, rednecks are laughed at and made fun of as being ignorant in general, completely lacking in social graces, and usually drunkards besides.  Probably most offensive is they are stereotyped as being lazy and without respect toward women.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  Lazy men don’t have rednecks.  Lazy men let the women support the family when they consider the available work beneath them. 

Read rednecks do whatever is necessary to support their families and maintain their independence.  My mom says that during the depression, government handouts came to the rural community in which they lived.  People who signed up for ‘assistance’ were given things like oranges and peanut butter and cheese.  Her dad refused any such handout, as he said they didn’t need it.  They were getting by just fine on their own.  Mom had a different opinion as a child, but as an adult, she came to understand that Gramps was right.  Some of the families who ‘got on assistance’ in the 1930’s are still on ‘assistance’ today.  What a dreadful mentality to cultivate. 

Redneck is really just a general term for a group of fine hardworking people.  Generally speaking, rednecks have a tremendous sense of humor.  They can take a joke, even when it is on them.  That is one of the reasons the ‘You might be a redneck if’ jokes go over so well.  Rednecks love to laugh.  They know laughter is a strong medicine. 
Rednecks prefer to look at the world through laughter instead of through self pity. 
Rednecks do not live within the boundaries of perpetual victimhood.
Rednecks are risk takers, preferring to think outside the box of ‘socially acceptable behavior’.
Rednecks have a very strong sense of right and wrong, based on the Biblical definitions of right and wrong.

Rednecks love education, despite stereotyping to the contrary.  Rednecks and hillbillys understand that a people with an education are harder to fool than ignorant people.  Rednecks deplore the way public schools have hijacked education in favor of ‘social programming’.  Rednecks think for themselves.  They are problem solvers.  For instance, when my dad need shoes that fall, granddad didn’t wait for the government to come to the rescue.  He saw a way to earn the needed money to get the family through few more months.  He led his two sons to the cotton field and they went to work.  My grandmother probably did not chop cotton due to a heart condition.  Rednecks are mindful of the differences in men and women, and protective of their wives and daughters as much as circumstances will allow. 

As you can probably tell, I am a big fan of rednecks in general.  Despite the deplorable stereotyping of Hollywood and the media regarding the work ethic and intelligence of rednecks, I know them to be strong, independent, compassionate, hardworking, and just the sort of people that you would want with you when something important and good needed to be done. 

If you or someone you love is a redneck, or if you are just a ‘wanna-be’ redneck, check out the Conservative Rednecks on Facebook.    http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=193603745329

We are all facing an uncertain future.  The economy is failing, institutions are failing, belief systems are crumbling.  The future is uncertain to say the least.  Faith in God will be what carries Christians through the future, whether the economy continues to spit and sputter until it actually improves, or whether it falls into another great depression.  Regardless of what happens, it will be the Christians with a ‘redneck mentality’ that God uses to accomplish His purpose

Barbara Henderson