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http://www.lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo67.htmlThe neocons who have dominated U.S. foreign policy in recent years live in a contrived reality. The ideological cornerstone of this strange existence is the Lincoln myth, which has its roots in the ideology of New England Puritanism. The New England Puritans always believed they were "God’s chosen people" and their country was a "shining city on a hill." In their own eyes, they were morally superior to all other peoples and nationalities. This is what they believed would give Americans license to destroy all those who stood in the way of their "national greatness" and the spreading of their moral purity – southerners, American Indians, Mexicans, etc. This was "a conflation of Christianity and Americanism," writes Clyde Wilson. It was "America as the fulfillment of God’s plan for mankind, a seductive bit of blasphemy that has remained a strong motif in our national consciousness ever since" (Clyde Wilson, "The American President: From Cincinnatus to Caesar," in John Denson, ed. Reassessing the Presidency, Mises Institute, 2001, p. 707).
This arrogant and blasphemous belief system is why the push for consolidated, dictatorial government, headed by a strong executive who would enforce "national unity" (i.e., no freedom of choice for the citizens of the sovereign states), always came primarily from New England and, by the mid nineteenth century, from New England’s political brethren in the Midwest. A powerful central government was needed to raise the funds – and the military might – to spread this special American moral purity throughout North America and the world. It is the ideology of American imperialism, hidden behind the language of Christianity.
The deification of Lincoln after his assassination was the final, essential ingredient in this bizarre mix of strange beliefs. As Clyde Wilson further states:
Lincoln’s assassination provided the final missing ingredient in the drama of presidential salvation. The president had begun as the CEO of a federal republic, expected to have extraordinary republican virtue in the exercise of his powers. He was now the martyred savior in the world historical drama of American uniqueness. The Northern clergy and their business lobbyist allies were not slow to use the opportunity for all it was worth. A huge literature developed in which Lincoln was literally a Christ figure who died for our sins . . . . To read the Lincoln hagiography is to understand easily how the Romans came to grant divinity to their emperors, the difference being that those Romans did not claim to be Christians (p. 708).
Thus, the blasphemous deification of Lincoln redefined the American president as world savior. He is routinely referred to as "Father Abraham" in the literature, and is compared to Jesus and Moses (He supposedly died for our sins, and led his people to the "promised land"). His second inaugural address is frequently compared to the Sermon on the Mount since, although he was either an agnostic or an atheist, he was adept at inserting Scripture into his political speeches for good effect....more... Good editorial.
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