by Fred Moleck
Debatable
Some of you were probably rehearsing your choir or your ensemble this past Thursday night while the debate between the vice-presidential candidates was going on. Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Joseph Biden made up the first and last vice-presidential debates before the November election.Debating in the United States is nothing new. In fact, it was an important diversion and entertainment to the nineteenth-century populace. One debate—actually, a series of debates—that is part of common knowledge is the 1858 debates of Abraham Lincoln and Steven Douglas. That’s one hundred and fifty years ago.
The debates put Lincoln, an unknown lawyer from Springfield, Illinois, against Senator Stephen Douglas, a heavy-duty party boss.
Douglas and Lincoln were running for state senate. Douglas championed slavery. He could not conceive equality for the slave population. In fact, the idea was abhorrent.
Lincoln championed full human citizenship to the slaves. He considered them “my equal, Judge Douglas’s equal, and the equal of every living man.”
The debates attracted as many as 15,000 people. (I’ve always wondered how the preachers at outdoor rallies or camp meetings could communicate to so many people without being amplified.)
The scene must have been a little amusing. Lincoln was six-foot-five, had craggy features, and was gangly. Douglas was one foot shorter, somewhat squatty. The picture I found in my research reminded me of a fireplug.
The debates were the subject of a work by Robert Sherwood, which was scripted and went to New York in 1938. A movie was made in 1940 entitled Abe Lincoln in Illinois.
Lincoln lost the election. However, his running against Douglas thrust him into the national scene, and he was elected president in 1860.
Debates are part of the American process of electing leadership. Where we are as a nation right now when solid leadership is necessary, a presidential election is crucial in determining where the nation is going.
If you think that this election is just one more political exercise, then you haven’t been paying attention. Both candidates are promising change. At this writing Congress is trying to bail out moneychangers (didn’t Jesus have a bout with them?). Iraq warfare is still going on.
Here in Pittsburgh, the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh votes on October 4 to secede and join the southern cone of the South American Episcopal Church.
Prayer is called for. I suggest you take a look and consider praying with open mind and heart the prayer “For the Nation” found in the The Book of Common Prayer according to the Episcopal Church, 1979.
Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
** Neither John McCain nor Barach Obama has approved this message, since I didn’t think to ask for their approval. **
You can reach Fred Moleck via email at fmoleck@comcast.net