…..Unlike Lincoln, who understood that there is no “right” to commit a wrong, Obama has not only refused to fight to protect the unborn and free them from persecution, but he has made it clear that the discrimination and wanton killing of the unborn is a “right” that should be protected…..
By James Todd, Pewsitter.com, January 29, 2009
Earlier this month, in the days leading up to his inauguration, President Obama promoted a comparison between himself and Lincoln. They were both from Illinois, Obama made the same train stops on his way to the inauguration as Lincoln, Obama used Lincoln’s bible for the swearing in ceremony.. and there are others. However, these similarities are largely superficial ones. On more substantive issues the comparison between the two Presidents reveals not a similarity but an irony.
President Lincoln, our 16th President, fought to rid the country of slavery and to free the slaves. His motivation was simple and expressed most eloquently and succinctly in the Lincoln Douglas debates. In response to a Douglas comment about slavery, Lincoln said “There is no right to do a wrong.”
The Dred Scott decision, which had been handed down before Lincoln became President, had enabled slavery to continue by designating the worth or value of a black man at 3/5′s of a person. Since blacks weren’t fully persons that could be bought and sold, mistreated abused and even killed. In short they were not persons so they were denied basic and fundamental human rights.
Today in 2009, almost 150 years after Lincoln’s election to the same Office, President Obama is facing a similar moral imperative. Like Dred Scott, Roe vs. Wade has made large scale abortion possible in the U.S. by declaring that the unborn are not persons. Like their slave counterparts 150 years ago, babies in the womb suffer the ultimate injustice – which is death.
President Obama stands at the cross roads of history in 2009. Lincoln, one of our greatest presidents, had the moral courage to stand up for what was right. In doing so, after a bloody civil war, he was able to free the slaves and rid the country of slavery. Lincoln’s place in history and his recognition as one of our greatest Presidents was achieved because of this.
The country and President Obama are confronted with no less a moral injustice as Lincoln did with slavery when it comes to the unborn. Unlike Lincoln, who understood that there is no “right” to commit a wrong, Obama has not only refused to fight to protect the unborn and free them from persecution, but he has made it clear that the discrimination and wanton killing of the unborn is a “right” that should be protected.
The irony of an African American man in the oval office – - made possible by Lincoln’s stand against injustice — imposing legislatively through FOCA and judicially through his stated support of Roe v. Wade, the continued unjust discrimination against his fellow man – the sanctioned and protected killing via abortion, stands in stark contrast with Lincoln.
Lincoln’s triumph enabled President Obama’s historic election.
President Obama’s tragedy of abandoning the unborn, will undoubtedly rob this country of other future leaders, scientist, composers, and perhaps even the country’s first woman president.
On the superficial realities there are similarities between our 44th President and our 16th, but substantively, on the great moral issues of the day, there is contrast and hypocrisy. President Obama may want to rethink that Lincoln analogy; at this juncture Lincoln’s shoes are much too big for Obama to fill.
Obama and Lincoln: Superficial Similarities, Substantive Hypocrisy
By James Todd, Pewsitter.com, January 29, 2009
Earlier this month, in the days leading up to his inauguration, President Obama promoted a comparison between himself and Lincoln. They were both from Illinois, Obama made the same train stops on his way to the inauguration as Lincoln, Obama used Lincoln’s bible for the swearing in ceremony.. and there are others. However, these similarities are largely superficial ones. On more substantive issues the comparison between the two Presidents reveals not a similarity but an irony.
President Lincoln, our 16th President, fought to rid the country of slavery and to free the slaves. His motivation was simple and expressed most eloquently and succinctly in the Lincoln Douglas debates. In response to a Douglas comment about slavery, Lincoln said “There is no right to do a wrong.”
The Dred Scott decision, which had been handed down before Lincoln became President, had enabled slavery to continue by designating the worth or value of a black man at 3/5′s of a person. Since blacks weren’t fully persons that could be bought and sold, mistreated abused and even killed. In short they were not persons so they were denied basic and fundamental human rights.
Today in 2009, almost 150 years after Lincoln’s election to the same Office, President Obama is facing a similar moral imperative. Like Dred Scott, Roe vs. Wade has made large scale abortion possible in the U.S. by declaring that the unborn are not persons. Like their slave counterparts 150 years ago, babies in the womb suffer the ultimate injustice – which is death.
President Obama stands at the cross roads of history in 2009. Lincoln, one of our greatest presidents, had the moral courage to stand up for what was right. In doing so, after a bloody civil war, he was able to free the slaves and rid the country of slavery. Lincoln’s place in history and his recognition as one of our greatest Presidents was achieved because of this.
The country and President Obama are confronted with no less a moral injustice as Lincoln did with slavery when it comes to the unborn. Unlike Lincoln, who understood that there is no “right” to commit a wrong, Obama has not only refused to fight to protect the unborn and free them from persecution, but he has made it clear that the discrimination and wanton killing of the unborn is a “right” that should be protected.
The irony of an African American man in the oval office – - made possible by Lincoln’s stand against injustice — imposing legislatively through FOCA and judicially through his stated support of Roe v. Wade, the continued unjust discrimination against his fellow man – the sanctioned and protected killing via abortion, stands in stark contrast with Lincoln.
Lincoln’s triumph enabled President Obama’s historic election.
President Obama’s tragedy of abandoning the unborn, will undoubtedly rob this country of other future leaders, scientist, composers, and perhaps even the country’s first woman president.
On the superficial realities there are similarities between our 44th President and our 16th, but substantively, on the great moral issues of the day, there is contrast and hypocrisy. President Obama may want to rethink that Lincoln analogy; at this juncture Lincoln’s shoes are much too big for Obama to fill.