Subject: Darwin Day Celebration website praises Lincoln

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2006 14:58:48 EDT

Chuck,
 
              The website for the Darwin Day Celebration is making a 
big deal out of the fact that Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln 
have the same official birthdate.     This website  gushes, 
 
Lincoln & Darwin - The Emancipators' Legacies
 
These two great men were born on the same  day, in the same year: Sunday, 
February 12, 1809.   This section is  devoted to essays and articles that 
specifically address their legacies. Lincoln  freed American slaves from physical 
servitude while Darwin freed the human mind  from the bonds of supernatural 
dogma.  The positive influences of  their legacies are as relevant in the world 
today as they were in the  1800s.    We invite you to send a brief statement or 
an essay of  1000 words or fewer, regarding their lives and relevance, to 
[email-masked] (mailto:[email-masked])  for  consideration.   
-- from _http://darwinday.org/englishL/newsviews/darlin.html_ 
(http://darwinday.org/englishL/newsviews/darlin.html) 
                 Of course,   I am concerned that these essays will present 
a one-sided picture of Lincoln.    These essays may be  expected to 
ignore his share of the blame for the Civil War,  his  racial prejudices, 
and his flagrant violations of civil  liberties.     The essays are also 
likely 
to present one-sided views of the South,  the North,  and  the Confederacy.
 
                Darwin and Lincoln really have nothing in common other 
than sharing the same official birthdate.    If they did not  share the 
same official birthdate,  probably no one would have thought of 
connecting the two men.  
 
This matter is also discussed on my blog,  at -- 
_http://im-from-missouri.blogspot.com/2006/08/linking-lincoln-myth-to-darwin-m
yth.html_ 
(http://im-from-missouri.blogspot.com/2006/08/linking-lincoln-myth-to-darwin-myth.html) 
 
Larry Fafarman