Today we had an ex-Navy chaplain celebrating Mass at STA. For his homily he mentioned Valentine's Day and President's Day, telling us that Lincoln's prayer life is underappreciated. He then read something from Lincoln's letter to a Union general(?), written when the Battles of Vicksburg and Gettysburg were being waged. In the letter he wrote how "our struggle" was God's struggle and so on, claiming God for the Union side. I have heard about how Lincoln had used this sort of rhetoric before, but each time I am reminded of it, I can't help but feel repulsed. Lincoln said that he had been praying for victory, and that he felt at peace, believing that God would deliver victory. Perhaps Lincoln was a true believer and a sincere Deist. But that doesn't make him any more palatable, nor does it excuse his actions. (Even if today he would claim that he had been vindicated by the National government prevailing over the South.) I don't think telling the priest about King Lincoln or his unjust war to prevent the secession of the South would have been received well.