Obama Ipsum

I've been speaking to a lot of churches recently, so it's nice to be speaking to one that's so familiar. It is a sign of neither courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children, or to blow up old women on a bus. Some are eager to stoke the flames of division, and to stand in the way of progress.

Let's come together - Protestant and Catholic, Muslim and Hindu and Jew, believer and non-believer alike. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need. And we will also expand partnerships with Muslim communities to promote child and maternal health.

It's a war I'm proud I opposed from the start - a war that should never have been authorized and never been waged. And despite the costs involved, America's commitment will not weaken. Rather than remain trapped in the past, I have made it clear to Iran's leaders and people that my country is prepared to move forward. And I want to particularly say this to young people of every faith, in every country - you, more than anyone, have the ability to remake this world.

We have to do what we can, knowing it's hard and not swinging from a naive idealism to a bitter defeatism - but rather, accepting the fact that we're not going to solve every problem overnight, but we can still make a difference. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America - to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality. You're on your own. Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess. All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The Holy Bible tells us, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

E pluribus unum. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. The question, now, is not what Iran is against, but rather what future it wants to build.

Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.