Amen!
On 7/24/08, I listened to Barack Obama’s speech in Berlin and was surprised, by what I heard at the end of the speech.
“I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes. And there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions. But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived at great costs and great sacrifice to form a more perfect union, to seek with other nations a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom. Indeed, every language is spoken in our country. Every culture has left its imprint on ours, every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us, what has always driven our people, what drew my father to America’s shores, is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people. That we can live free from fear and free from one. And we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please. These are the aspiration that join the faiths of all nations in this city. These aspirations are bigger than anything that drives us apart.
“It is because of these aspirations that the airlift began. It is because of these aspirations that all free people everywhere became citizens of Berlin. It is in pursuit of these aspirations that a new generation, our generation, must make our mark on the world. People of Berlin and people of the world, the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope with an eye towards the future with resolve in our hearts. Let us remember this history and answer our destiny and remake the world once again.”
At that point of Obama’s speech, I proclaimed: Amen! Obama had demonstrated the courage to continued a patriotic tradition begun in 1847, by a freed slave. In Syracuse, New York, abolitionist Fredrick Douglass proclaimed in his speech entitled: “Love of God, Love of Man, Love of Country,” that “I make no pretension to patriotism. So long as my voice can be heard on this or the other side of the Atlantic, I will hold up America to the lightning scorn of moral indignation. In doing this, I shall feel myself discharging the duty of a true patriot; for he is a lover of his country who rebukes and does not excuse its sins. It is righteousness that exalteth a nation while sin is a reproach to any people.”
“I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes. And there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions. But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived at great costs and great sacrifice to form a more perfect union, to seek with other nations a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom. Indeed, every language is spoken in our country. Every culture has left its imprint on ours, every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us, what has always driven our people, what drew my father to America’s shores, is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people. That we can live free from fear and free from one. And we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please. These are the aspiration that join the faiths of all nations in this city. These aspirations are bigger than anything that drives us apart.
“It is because of these aspirations that the airlift began. It is because of these aspirations that all free people everywhere became citizens of Berlin. It is in pursuit of these aspirations that a new generation, our generation, must make our mark on the world. People of Berlin and people of the world, the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope with an eye towards the future with resolve in our hearts. Let us remember this history and answer our destiny and remake the world once again.”
At that point of Obama’s speech, I proclaimed: Amen! Obama had demonstrated the courage to continued a patriotic tradition begun in 1847, by a freed slave. In Syracuse, New York, abolitionist Fredrick Douglass proclaimed in his speech entitled: “Love of God, Love of Man, Love of Country,” that “I make no pretension to patriotism. So long as my voice can be heard on this or the other side of the Atlantic, I will hold up America to the lightning scorn of moral indignation. In doing this, I shall feel myself discharging the duty of a true patriot; for he is a lover of his country who rebukes and does not excuse its sins. It is righteousness that exalteth a nation while sin is a reproach to any people.”
posted by Jim O'Leary | 1:00 AM
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