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King delivered his prayer for our country. From Willow Creek to the 'emerging church,' from the Southern Baptist Convention to the National Association of Evangelicals, folks are realizing that the four walls of the church are too small for a big God.God is still speaking. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of co-existence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars. It is easy to point fingers - for Palestinians to point to the displacement brought by Israel's founding, and for Israelis to point to the constant hostility and attacks throughout its history from within its borders as well as beyond.
Because we all have the capacity to do justice and show mercy; to treat others with dignity and respect; and to rise above what divides us and come together to meet those challenges we can't meet alone. These are the policies I will pursue. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. The Palestinian Authority must develop its capacity to govern, with institutions that serve the needs of its people.
But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don't have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together. "I'm here because of Ashley." By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Yet in this new age, such attitudes are self-defeating.
This year, in this election, we are called to reaffirm our values and our commitments, to hold them against a hard reality and see how we are measuring up, to the legacy of our forbearers, and the promise of future generations. They all have different stories and reasons. When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot. Likewise, it is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practicing religion as they see fit - for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear.
I wanted to be part of something larger. And it's a lesson we need to remember today - as members of another Joshua generation. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America. And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. That is the spirit we need today.
Thank you, and God bless America.