The Presidential Emancipation Proclamation was very important in 1863, but it had limited Constitutional authority. It did not permanently or legally abolish slavery across the entire country. An amendment to the Constitution was needed for that.
The Civil War was nearing an end. The amendment had to get through Congress before the Southern states were again reinstated, because once they were back, there would be no way to get all the necessary votes. The Thirteenth Amendment had to be passed, and it had to be passed very quickly.
Unfortunately, even the Northern states were divided on the issue. It was clear to Abraham Lincoln and everyone else that there would not be enough votes for the required two-thirds majority. Thus, began weeks of wheeling and dealing, secret back-room discussions, arm-twisting, bribery, deceit, and threats, all designed to change enough minds to get the necessary votes. The master-mind behind the whole devious process was none other than the wonderful (but shrewd) Abraham Lincoln.
The measure passed Congress. Several months after Lincoln was assassinated, the 13th Amendment was ratified by the necessary three-fourths of the states, and slavery was abolished.
When it was all over, Pennsylvania radical abolitionist Representative Thaddeus Stevens said of the whole ordeal, “The greatest measure of the nineteenth century was passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man in America.” This is a perfect illustration of what was described in my Emailmeditation two days ago (#3299): politics in this sinful world will dirty everyone who gets close to it, no matter how wise or noble.
So, what is the message here? Does the end always justify the means? Well, not quite. But as Christians we do need to give this some thought.
In one of my college classes many years ago, the professor was going on and on about how there are no moral absolutes, so we could forget whatever we learned in Sunday School about that. For example, lying cannot always be wrong, because what if you were in Germany in WW II and the Nazis came to your house looking for Jews who they would most certainly kill. Would you then be obligated to tell them the truth about the Jews hiding in your basement? No, of course not, he argued, and so therefore it is not always wrong to lie, and there are no moral absolutes. Back then this was called ‘situation ethics,’ meaning that right and wrong depended not on some overall divine moral law, but on each situation.
Well, for someone who is already of a noble and upright moral character that might work. But for many people, especially college students, it can easily mean that in whatever situation I am in, I am free to do whatever I want to do. How convenient! In fact, back in those “drugs, sex, and rock and roll” days of the 1960’s, a popular slogan, seen on many bumper stickers, was “If it feels good, do it.” What could go wrong with that? Everything can go wrong, of course, and many lives are ruined by that approach to life.
It is far better to maintain that there are moral absolutes: that lying is always wrong, and killing is always wrong, and stealing is always wrong, and so forth. But then, with that firmly in mind, it must be added that sometimes in this wicked world, moral absolutes will conflict with each other, and then one moral absolute must over-rule the other. Sometimes this is easy to figure out and sometimes it isn’t. The case of the Nazis at the door is an easy one. You lie to them to prevent them from unjustly killing an innocent human. The intent of the fifth commandment is to protect life, and if you have to tell a lie to protect a life, of course you will do that. In some cases, you might even have to take one life to protect another life, and this can get very complicated. But one must begin by affirming the moral absolutes, not disregarding them.
Martin Luther was brilliant, bold, and decisive. His friend and fellow reformer Philip Melancthon was also brilliant, but was timid and slow to act, always worried about making a mistake and committing a sin. In a 1521 letter, Luther wrote to him, “Sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death, and the world. As long as we are in this world, we will sometimes have to sin.”
Luther was not saying “If it feels good, do it.” He was saying that sin is an unavoidable reality of life in this world, even if we want to do what is right; and we must not be so afraid to sin that we are incapable of doing any good. But then, most important, we who are called on to serve our neighbor in this messy world, can remember that we are able to confess our sins and receive God’s forgiveness.
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“In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”
–Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
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Luke 2:51 says that Jesus was obedient to his parents, just like it says in the commandment to “Honor your father and your mother.” However, in that same chapter, he disappeared for three days without telling his parents where he was going. His mother said, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” And Jesus said, appealing to a higher moral absolute, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
Matthew 23:23 — (Jesus said), “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.”
Mark 2:23-27 — One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” Jesus answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions… The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
I Peter 4:8 — Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
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Most gracious God, who hast so ordered our life upon this earth, that we must eat our bread in toil and sorrow, grant us thy peace, in the midst of our perplexities. We ask of Thee, O Lord, out of weakness to make us strong, in anxiety to keep us patient, and in all disappointments to preserve in us a cheerful spirit; and since we may not pass our time in rest and quietness, may we fight the good fight, learning how to endure, so that in due time we may obtain the crown of life that fades not away, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
–source lost
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The story of the 13th amendment is accurately (for the most part) told in the terrific 2012 movie Lincoln. It has been said that this portrayal of Lincoln by Daniel Day-Lewis is the best of any movie ever, accurately reflecting his voice, mannerisms, and personality. You may view the official trailer here:
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P. S. I thought this was going to be a short Emailmeditation, but once again I went over my self-imposed limit of 1,000 words. I can’t help it. In that same movie, Lincoln, there is a line that describes my problem. Lincoln tells someone, “As the country preacher said, ‘I could write shorter sermons, but once I start, I get too lazy to stop.’”
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