...that we know what is right.
Journalists, clergy, and bloggers, trying to settle the questions about church influence on John Kerry and George W. Bush over abortion and homosexual marriage, might take a moment to consider Lincoln’s 1862 letter to ministers over emancipation:
He replied to a committee representing various Protestant denominations asking for immediate emancipation in 1862 by saying: "I am approached with the most opposite opinions and advice, and that by religious men who are equally certain that they represent the divine will. I am sure that either the one or the other class is mistaken in that belief, and perhaps in some respects both. I hope it will not be irreverent for me to say that if it is probable that God would reveal his will to others on a point so connected to my duty, it might be supposed that he would reveal it directly to me; for, unless I am more deceived in myself than I often am, it is my earnest desire to know the will of Providence in this matter. And if I can learn what it is, I will do it. These are not, however, the days of miracles, and I suppose it will be granted that I am not to expect a direct revelation. I must study the plain physical facts of the case, ascertain what is possible, and learn what appears to be wise and right."
We can, however, ask which politicians and clergy earnestly "desire to know the will of Providence in this matter" We can also pray for them.
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