Obama Ipsum

They saw that I knew the Scriptures and that many of the values I held and that propelled me in my work were values they shared. Part of it's because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who've been all too eager to exploit what divides us. My faith teaches me that I can sit in church and pray all I want, but I won't be fulfilling God's will unless I go out and do the Lord's work. So let there be no doubt: Islam is a part of America. There need not be contradiction between development and tradition.

Hope in the face of uncertainty. I was not raised in a particularly religious household.

Not even close. It is a sign of neither courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children, or to blow up old women on a bus. I know there are many - Muslim and non-Muslim - who question whether we can forge this new beginning.

They saw that I knew the Scriptures and that many of the values I held and that propelled me in my work were values they shared. They cheered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial when Dr. God is still speaking. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. We cannot walk alone. I saw it firsthand as a child in Indonesia, where devout Christians worshiped freely in an overwhelmingly Muslim country.

John Kerry understands the ideals of community, faith, and service because they've defined his life. And that it's not enough to just believe this - we have to do our part to make it a reality. What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow. King's birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta. And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

Thank you, and God bless America.