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(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]
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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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