Barack Obama: America's promise -- the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort

My fav section of Obama's historic speech:

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. 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. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This, too, is part of America's promise -- the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. 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. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.

As someone emailed Andrew Sullivan:

If America votes for John McCain after hearing this man's vision, it truly isn't the country I think it is.

Comments

big things- showing the world that if there is a thought that America can be attacked, harrassed, and terrorized: it may not work out like intended(it hasn't worked out well for us or anybody); babies matter- we were all babies in our mother's womb at one time; redefining what marriage is requires a leap of faith...the term "same sex" indicates that it is different than the unqualified traditional arrangement and different is not always good or Godly(God's been the same God for a lot of years now) Jesus is not running for office, He never seemed that interested in local politics, He's into souls.