`  ::::I think Joseph Sobran has made a decent case that Lincoln was a religious cynic, possibly approaching agnosticism. Certainly Loncoln's faux-religious imagery in many of his speeches indicates what in modern times would be recognized as a cynical use of God for political purposes. It also seems like the unnecessary killing of a half-million American men and the making of war on a distinctly Christian Confederacy could be construed as un-Christian. If Lincoln had any sincere relious beliefs, I would argue that his statement that God basically willed the Civil War reflects a self-inflated, messianic view of himself as the savior of the ``Union.```