NOM

I've read several books about Abraham Lincoln, and they all have different views of Abraham Lincoln's religious beliefs. If nothing else this points out that Lincoln's beliefs changed over time, and covered a lot of ground. The general belief is that Lincoln was agnostic or atheist in his early manhood, but developed or evolved a belief, albeit unconventional, in God. I think it's fascinating that Lincoln lived in the era and the area that the LDS church came to be! What are your observations about Lincoln's religious beliefs?

It's hard to know.

And in a public figure, performance is important. For example, I think Zelensky in normal times is a poor political leader. But I think for the purposes of a political leader in war, Zelensky fully understands the performative aspect of the leader in inspring his people and is doing well at that.

Trump performed religiously for the camera in a non-commital weak fashion, though it seems pretty clear he has no personal belief in scriptural Christianity.

And I suspect Lincoln's public performance of belief cannot be untangled from whatever his personal beliefs at this great remove and the limited documentation availalble. But I would wager that more than 50% of his displayed belief was performative rather than actually held.

Here are a bunch of historians examining this very question. Not to suggest that this bunch of eggheads have better speculations than we on this board, but that they may be a supplement since they've read the related documents.

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/26298 ... te-belief?

I don't know, but I would love to learn more. This is a very intriguing topic for me. Thanks for posting DB!

moksha wrote: ↑Sat May 21, 2022 9:16 pm Here are a bunch of historians examining this very question. Not to suggest that this bunch of eggheads have better speculations than we on this board, but that they may be a supplement since they've read the related documents.

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/26298 ... te-belief?

Their usage of speeches goes right to my point about performance. Speeches are performance to an audience intended to sway the audience. I would put more weight on personal private correspondence to long time close friends and family written with the expectation of ongoing privacy.

moksha wrote: ↑Sat May 21, 2022 9:16 pm Here are a bunch of historians examining this very question. Not to suggest that this bunch of eggheads have better speculations than we on this board, but that they may be a supplement since they've read the related documents.

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/26298 ... te-belief?

This post by Moksha is really helpful. It will take me weeks to digest it. The issue will probably never be settled, but it is, as Stealth says, intriguing. Lincoln went through challenges that I will never face. I can't judge him, but I can use him as an example to those whose certainty seems unjustifiable.