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The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. I get it. It is time for us to act on what everyone knows to be true.
It comes from Deuteronomy 30 when Moses talks to his followers about the challenges they'll find when they reach the Promised Land without him. We can tackle race only as spectacle - as we did in the OJ trial - or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. And we will keep our promise to every young American - if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education. But it was not violence that won full and equal rights. Since the Islamic Revolution, Iran has played a role in acts of hostage-taking and violence against U.S.
But she had a healthy skepticism of religion as an institution. In the following century, men and women of faith waded into the battles over prison reform and temperance, public education and women's rights - and above all, abolition. This is a problem that's brought together churches and synagogues and mosques and people of all faiths as part of a grassroots movement. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother - a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is no coincidence that countries where women are well-educated are far more likely to be prosperous.
Well, I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America - there is the United States of America. The skeptical bent of my mind didn't suddenly vanish. The Arab-Israeli conflict should no longer be used to distract the people of Arab nations from other problems. All of us have a responsibility to work for the day when the mothers of Israelis and Palestinians can see their children grow up without fear; when the Holy Land of three great faiths is the place of peace that God intended it to be; when Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims, and a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together as in the story of Isra, when Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed (peace be upon them) joined in prayer. But it is clear to all concerned that when it comes to nuclear weapons, we have reached a decisive point.
That's why pastors, friends of mine like Rick Warren and T.D. Jakes and organizations like World Vision and Catholic Charities are wielding their enormous influence to confront poverty, HIV/AIDS, and the genocide in Darfur. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children. But let us be clear: al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 people on that day. So let me be clear: no system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by any other.
Thank you. And may God's peace be upon you.