In his letter to the editor, Oct. 19, Harold Riley states, “and one thing is certain, nowhere is the hypocrisy more evident than ignoring the Founding Fathers famous comment about America. ?A house divided cannot stand.””
Mr. Riley needs to know that this comment was not made by the Founding Fathers. It was originally made by Jesus as reported by Matthew 12:25, Mark 3:25, and Luke 11:17. Abraham Lincoln, who was not a Founding Father, used it in reference to slavery in America, not with respect to Congress.
The full text of his quotation is: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved ? I do not expect the house to fall ? but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new, north as well as south.
Congress by its nature is divided. It was purposely created that way as a place to debate the merits of issues and reach majority agreement on them.
Bert Atwood
Kelseyville
