Talk:Abraham Lincoln

"Lincoln was perhaps the only President who appeared to move from being an unbeliever to believer while in office."

Unbeliever/believer of what? This has no context for non-Christians. I get it, but to most other people it probably sounds bizarre.

The word "unbeliever" is also sort of awkward. Someone can be unbelievable, but usually someone isn't an unbeliever. So if you're an "unbeliever" do you "unbelieve" things? I'm not so sure someone can "unbelieve" something; I don't think it works well as a verb or a noun. --WOVcenter 12:30, 5 March 2007 (EST)

Good point. I'll clarify now. Thanks.--Aschlafly 12:42, 5 March 2007 (EST)

What about non-believer?--WOVcenter 12:47, 5 March 2007 (EST)

Ah, it looks good now. Thanks! -WOVcenter 12:50, 5 March 2007 (EST)

Where is the evidence that Lincoln was a "non-believer?" In almost everything I have read on Lincoln, he certaintly believed in God but held views that were outside the norms. Just because he didn't practice an organized form of Christianity does not mean he was a "non-believer."--Dave3172 23:28, 7 March 2007 (EST)

Picture

Added a pic of Lincoln taken in 1863, but it won't load into the page properly. Karajou 12:12, 18 March 2007 (EDT)

Selective quotation

I replaced the out-of-context quotation which liberals like to tar and feather Lincoln with. They want to make him seem soft on slavery, when he in fact opposed it.

There was, however, one thing he cared more about than the slavery issue: that was keeping the union together. If he had to pick one over the other, this was the one he'd pick.

As history shows, he managed to get both, even if it killed him. --Ed Poor 22:56, 21 March 2007 (EDT)

"Lincoln opposed slavery."

This page currently contains the quote "Lincoln opposed slavery." This is at best an over-simplification of his later philosophy.

The plain, objective, documented fact, for which citations and quotations are widely available, is that this is a stance that he took considerable time to arrive at. You cannot uphold the credibility of this site by whitewashing this. Those of opposing points of view know this and will use it to discredit this site, and they will be right. I have re-added the quote to hopefully stimulate people into making a truly balanced page, instead of a central-party style hagiography. If you object to the presence of the quote, balance it rather than censor it.

No, you are right: Lincoln hated slavery but was wary about abolition. He only forced the issue in the last dozen years of his life. But consider this quote:

• I confess that I hate to see the poor creatures hunted down down, and caught, and carried back to their stripes and unwarranted toils; but I bite my lip and keep quiet. ... It is hardly fair for you to assume, that I have no such interest in a thing which has, and continually exercises, the power of making me miserable.

Where Liberals and Conservatives disagree is on the meaning of this contradiction. Lincoln debunkers say that his reluctance to support abolition implies an equal lack of concern about slavery. Their view contradicts Lincoln's view! --Ed Poor 19:41, 23 March 2007 (EDT)

I don't worry about people laughing - their merriment is no indication of the correctness of their views. --Ed Poor 19:41, 23 March 2007 (EDT)