Christians: we agree slavery is bad, but in seeking the power to limit it, you have destroyed your Christian witness by embracing a politician who shows no sign of Christian faith, tears apart our country, tramples our constitutional rights, and threatens war on his opponents.

Whatever our personal views, we are a democracy and the principle of popular sovereignty is central to our move of government. If we want to stop the expansion of slavery in the territories, the only legitimate way to do so is by winning the hearts and minds of the people there.

Any attempt to impose our views through raw political power—to trample on the process by which states have made their laws since the foundation of our republic—will only discredit our cause and drive honorable people away from us and even away from the Christian faith.

We may not agree with Stephen A. Douglas on every position, but he is a godly man who married a woman of good character and experienced real suffering from her untimely death. He is committed to popular sovereignty and will protect our democratic institutions and national unity.

Finally, there are good Christians on both sides of this issue and nothing does more to drive people from the church than to demand that Christians vote for your candidate.