Lincoln was right (and so was Biden)

Okay, here’s a quick-answer exercise – from the news, and from history – that will paint an interesting picture of where we’ve come, as a nation, in 154 short years. Two quotes follow: who was the nationally-notable political leader who was willing to say:

“…a guy who’s a decent guy, our vice president…”

Quote from: ___________________________________

“With Malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds.”

Quote from: ___________________________________

Time! Here are the answers. Quote #1: Joe Biden, from a speech last week in Omaha. Quote #2: Abraham Lincoln, from his second Inaugural Address (March 4, 1865).

Both were statesman-like declarations, recognizing that political activity within our nation will involve dedicated people with differing opinions whose right to those positions is sacrosanct, and that decency and decorum salutes the opposition on the playing field where ideas are contested.

Within days of Mr. Biden’s affirmation of Mr. Pence’s character, the demands of the digital universe were delivered as an ultimatum: publically denounce Pence because of his faith-based beliefs about personal values or expect rejection by the partisans whose support would be required to announce a run for president. The ransom note from the extremists produced his powerful retraction.

Just 42 days after Mr. Lincoln’s gracious expression of charity for a nation still reeling from a war that cost our still-young country the lives of 620,000 warriors in both grey and blue, President Lincoln was assassinated while attending a performance at Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC.

Written 65 years ago, it is still an accurate observation today: “Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.” (Albert Einstein).

Winston Churchill was right: “If two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary.” Ben Carson – once a candidate for his party’s presidential nomination, now a Cabinet Secretary, says, “Disagreement is part of being a person who has choices. One of those choices is to respect others and engage in intelligent conversation about differences of opinion without becoming enemies, eventually allowing us to move forward to compromise.” Mr. Churchill and Mr. Carson seem to be in agreement on that basic tenet of life in a world of constant conflict.

The Christian faith is the underlying foundation for life for people who have accepted the offer made by the Lord Jesus, which the Scriptures characterize as “The Gospel.” Paul reiterates the exclusivity of that belief system, in Ephesians 4: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

Good people can disagree about politics and policies, but the ranks following Jesus are not split by spiritual differences proposed by human wisdom. Like Lincoln, they join forces behind the divine revelation of the God who created the universe and intervened in human history. Lincoln called it “the right.” He wasn’t talking about a political spectrum; rather, he recognized the reality of absolute truth, from God.

May we embrace grace and decency in an era bent on destruction instead of debate…

Bob Shank