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Lincoln Daily News
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Response to 'Abe in church revisited'          Send a link to a friend

(Letter from Leigh Henson: Abe in church revisited)

Dear Mr. Henson,

I just finished reading your updated post to your website. I feel you treated my response to you fairly and have no objection to it. I expected that we would end up with only partial agreement and I'm OK with that. I want to thank you for your suggestions for further research and I plan to pursue them.

I do have one objection to your post. You state:

"I do suggest that perhaps later in his life Mr. Stringer, who would have been between 71 and 76 when the plaque was dedicated, became more sentimental in his love of Lincoln. Thus, he might have become more vulnerable to wishful thinking, impressed by the discovery of even questionable new evidence, and seduced by the Lincoln legend. The questionable new evidence may have been the items donated to the Christian Church that were allegedly used by Mr. Lincoln. Nowhere do I see a date for that donation, but I suppose it could have been when Stringer was still alive. If so, he may have been overly eager to believe the oral history associated with those items. Stringer's involvement in the plaque project could be a case of wishfully thinking Mr. Lincoln practiced law in the Christian Church. If so, his role in the plaque dedication shows bias."

   

Is it really fair to compose such a paragraph where you suggest Stringer may have been influenced by "sentimental" and "wishful thinking," none of which you have evidence of, and then suggest that he was biased? Since we do not know when the bootjack display was even rediscovered, it is impossible to know if Stringer even knew about it. To suggest he may have been influenced by their rediscovery is careless. You ought to be ashamed of yourself for such a suggestion! The entire paragraph is nothing but conjecture on your part and does not aid in discovering the truth in the least.

[to top of second column in this letter]

A better suggestion for Stringer's involvement in the plaque dedication is that he and E.H. Lukenbill were acquaintances and fellow buffs on Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Lukenbill was a member of Lincoln Christian Church and a member of the board. At the time that the plaque was dedicated, Stringer was widely recognized as the "local expert" on Abraham Lincoln. The members of the board of Lincoln Christian were serious men and would not want to make false statements knowingly. They would have sought out Stringer to aid in wording of the plaque and would have wanted to include him in its dedication.

About the same time the plaque was being dedicated, Lincoln Christian Church was breaking away from the Disciples of Christ. The reason for the split from the Disciples was over a growing liberal view of the Bible and taking liberties with its interpretation. These same men would not then turn around and knowingly make false statements about Mr. Lincoln and the church they all loved. They would not risk the reputation of the church in such a manner. We have several letters from the church board to the Disciples of Christ over their leaving the denomination. If you read them, you would know they were serious about the reputation of Lincoln Christian.

I want to suggest to you that you delete this paragraph from your post. It unnecessarily influences the reader toward a conclusion that is based solely on conjecture. Your position in the discussion is not strengthened by this paragraph, and quite honestly, as a reader, I think it raises questions about your own possible bias to the story. Your post would stand on its own merits without it.

Thank you for your time. I would enjoy meeting you someday, and my offer to buy lunch is a standing one. Please let me know when you are in Lincoln and are available.

Blessings,

Todd Parmenter
Executive minister
Lincoln Christian Church

[Posted February 14, 2012]

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