Controversially Against the Controversial

Did the title catch your eye? If it seems contradictory, it’s because it is. We live in a world of contradictions. And as Christians, we are called to live controversial lives – in the world, not of the world. Jesus Christ himself – his identity, his life, and his mission – may have been the greatest controversy of all time. At least it’s safe to say he caused quite a stir. A world-changing, life-altering stir.

Fast forward 2,000 years. In the post modern age of electronics and fast food (faster everything, actually), we Americans love controversies. Our media devours them, chewing them up and spitting them out again for the public, appearing slightly different from their original state. And even when they get a little messy, it’s safe to say we love our debates. We love to be right. Even more, we love the spotlight. In fact, some of us love it so much, it doesn’t really even matter anymore how we get there. This is why we love controversies – significant or not, as the case may be – we love attention. And if we’re honest with ourselves, most of the controversies we give attention probably don’t deserve the attention. In short, most of us aren’t really concerned with revealing the truth, or changing lives. As long as we get our five minutes of fame, that’s all that really matters.

That’s the trouble with the authors and artists and filmmakers of our day. Everyone is clamoring for their spot on the stage, for their six weeks on the best sellers list, or their place in the 10 most popular songs chart. These folks know how to do it too. Just look at John Cage, Katy Perry, or Dan Brown to name a few. The problem with people like these though, is that controversy for the sake of controversy isn’t actually attracting attention because it’s new or different – it attracts attention because it appeals to the shallow cravings of human nature. In the end, it’s all just adding to the noise of a culture that is slowly dragging itself deeper into depravity.

You might point out that the case I’m making is, in essence, controversial. You’d be right. But what is the case I’m trying to make, anyway?

I am controversially against the controversial.

I believe that one of the main reasons that our culture is in the predicament that we’re in, is because with all the hype over the “new” and the “different”, we’ve forgotten the steadfastness of what has already been written in stone. First and foremost, that would include God. But in the ever-escalating pursuit of modern advancement, we have undermined the importance of our past. In this case, our nation’s past. Our history. Our specific history of God’s providence in our story as a nation. Actually, if Americans pay any attention to history at all, it’s mostly to criticize our nations past leaders or – you guessed it – to dig up (or more often, invent) controversies about their character. After all, this is what gets us the attention we crave. But the idea that we would seek to slander some of the very individuals who fought to win and preserve our freedoms, all for the sake of pursuing our own popularity should put us to shame. Quite honestly, it makes me sick.

But before I go any further and leave any room for confusion, let me clear a few things up. Our founding fathers and the icons of our past were human too. They were not saints (at least, no more in the sense than we are), immune to sin and the deceitful nature of the heart. They were not unscathed by the temptations of their culture – indeed, they would have defined their own age as “modern” because it was as far as anyone had ever gotten! The idea is not that they were perfect; but that the point of history is that we might learn from it. Time and time again God has raised up imperfect men and women to places of authority so that we might look back and remember that it was Him working through them for their good and eventually, ours today.

Does this mean we don’t form opinions about people in history? Absolutely not. Part of the process of learning from the past is identifying faults in systems, societies, and individuals and learning from the resulting consequences. If we did not identify these faults or judge people according to their choices – both good and bad – then we would never learn from them. The closer we examine and the deeper we dig, the more we glean. But what are motives in picking apart the characters of revered men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, or Abraham Lincoln? When we discover a flaw, is our desire to learn from the mistake, or to exult in its uncovering as we might in a juicy piece of gossip? If we’re honest with ourselves, our first reaction to such a finding is to inwardly gloat in the idea that such a revered icon was really no better than us. Those with the opportunity will almost always take it to the next level – publicize the flaw so that it excites enough people to bring in a profit by one means or another. In this regard, controversies have become almost…predictable. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

People throughout the ages have taken hits to their character by ignorant later generations. As Americans, our founding fathers have been the primary recipients of such ridicule. I would like to focus this series, however, about some popular controversies over the War Between the States. Some of the rising issues regarding this pivotal conflict involve core players, like Abraham Lincoln and William T. Sherman. I would also like to devote some time to a question that still rears its ugly head today – which side was right, and which was wrong? Was either? And what, or who, really caused the war?

There are people today, 150 years later, who are suddenly speaking up with controversial opinions – proclaiming that the Confederacy was in the right, or that Abraham Lincoln was not as heroic as he has been made out to be. Is this simply the result of more years of research – the digging up of truths that we have long ignored? Have Americans really been left in the dark on these issues for a century and a half? Or is it just the hunger for fame that has inflated our appetite for historical controversies? Maybe it’s one, maybe it’s the other. Maybe it’s a combination of the both. I have a theory for the final judgment: First, we must objectively seek the facts. And by facts I mean the hard, material evidence left behind for us in the form of letters, speeches and documents. We cannot go by the opinions of scholars and historians alone – opinions vary as surely as we vary as individuals. We must see for ourselves what really happened, or what was really said, by reading these first hand sources. Secondly, we must not judge anyone by only one corner of their lives – whether it be their political, social, or family circles. We must take into account all of the aspects that make a person who he is, including their friends, their families, their influences, and their pasts. We must judge them the same way we judge ourselves. If we do not do this, we can never learn from them.

So…with all these things taken into consideration…I am going to attempt to tackle at least 3 main controversies revolving around the Civil War. Knowing me, I will undoubtedly get sidetracked and veer off onto some rabbit trails, but they will be branches of these core issues. First, I want to unpack the problem of slavery and the question of what the war was truly about. Second, I want to explore the complex character of Abraham Lincoln, not as a hero…not as a baboon, but as an ordinary man raised up by God for some divine purpose. Thirdly, I want to look at the end of the war and Sherman’s famous march to the sea. I would like to encourage you to approach each of these subjects with a spirit of humility and objectivity, a desire to learn, and a desire to really know the truth for truth’s sake. You have been forewarned…my views and opinions (as fallible as anyone’s) are precariously, if not stubbornly, against the controversial.

Controversially so.