In the darkest hour of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln quoted the words of Jesus of Nazareth: "A house divided against itself cannot stand..."

Certain scribes were trying to impugn Jesus' great acts of healing. They were disturbed at his escalating popularity. People were thronging to hear him and to see him everywhere he went. "It is said that he can cast out demons," they declared. Defensively the scribes replied, "No wonder. He is possessed by the Devil himself!" Jesus immediately exposed the flaw in their criticism. "How can Satan cast out Satan?" he asked. And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. "And if a house be divided against itself, it cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand...."

No wonder those words cap…