The most presidential lorem ipsum in history.
And yet, I know that, on this night, they look down on me with great pride. 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. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak out against perceived injustice. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. Fear that because of modernity we will lose of control over our economic choices, our politics, and most importantly our identities - those things we most cherish about our communities, our families, our traditions, and our faith.
And that man is John Kerry. And slowly, I came to realize that something was missing as well - that without an anchor for my beliefs, without a commitment to a particular community of faith, at some level I would always remain apart, and alone. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. So I've got news for you, John McCain. Because I've seen it.
My parents shared not only an improbable love, they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. I didn't fall out in church, as folks sometimes do. It's that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country - a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old - is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. But it is clear to all concerned that when it comes to nuclear weapons, we have reached a decisive point.
But we cannot walk away this time. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. That is why there is a mosque in every state of our union, and over 1,200 mosques within our borders. But that is not yet the case. For peace to come, it is time for them - and all of us - to live up to our responsibilities.
I'm not talking about blind optimism here - the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don't think about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. Today there are 12 million undocumented immigrants in America, most of them working in our communities, attending our churches, and contributing to our country. Consensus and compromise will not come easy. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain. As the Holy Koran tells us, "Be conscious of God and speak always the truth." That is what I will try to do - to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart. Hamas does have support among some Palestinians, but they also have responsibilities.
Thank you. And may God's peace be upon you.