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And meeting them won't be easy. To the Joshua generation, these challenges seem momentous - and they are. That has been my experience at Trinity. 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. And it is no coincidence that countries where women are well-educated are far more likely to be prosperous.
But then I asked myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he is serving us? And he knows that it's not enough for just some of us to prosper. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. 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. That is not how moral authority is claimed; that is how it is surrendered.
I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him. And when these battles were overtaken by others and when the wars they opposed were waged and won, these faithful foot soldiers for justice kept marching. And it's a testament to what we can achieve when good people with strong convictions stand up for their beliefs. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability.
It's the wisdom Moses imparted to those who would succeed him. In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. These are not opinions to be debated; these are facts to be dealt with.
They know they have to work hard to get ahead - and they want to. Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. And it puts the lie to the notion that the separation of church and state in America means faith should have no role in public life. 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. It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time.
Thank you. And may God's peace be upon you.