The most presidential lorem ipsum in history.
I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. We all put our country first.
But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God's spirit beckoning me. This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. But I am convinced that in order to move forward, we must say openly the things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors. Now is the time for Palestinians to focus on what they can build.
I didn't fall out in church, as folks sometimes do. Their experience is the immigrant experience - as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America. Our problems must be dealt with through partnership; progress must be shared. Threatening Israel with destruction - or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews - is deeply wrong, and only serves to evoke in the minds of Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve.
And Ashley asks him why he's there. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess. The first issue that we have to confront is violent extremism in all of its forms. 9/11 was an enormous trauma to our country.
The UCC is still listening. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part - through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time. Hamas does have support among some Palestinians, but they also have responsibilities. The Internet and television can bring knowledge and information, but also offensive sexuality and mindless violence.
Thank you.