Barack Obama

it great to be here __PUNCT__

i been speak to a lot of church recent __PUNCT__ so it nice to be speak to on that so familiar __PUNCT__

i understand you switch venu at consider expens and inconveni becaus of unfair labor_practic at the place you were go to be have thi synod __PUNCT__

clearli __PUNCT__ the past___NUM___year have not weaken your resolv as faith wit of the gospel __PUNCT__

and i glad to see that __PUNCT__

it been sever month now sinc i announc i wa run for presid __PUNCT__

in that time __PUNCT__ i had the chanc to talk with american all across thi countri __PUNCT__

and i found that no matter where i am __PUNCT__ or who i talk to __PUNCT__ there a common_theme that emerg __PUNCT__

it that folk ar hungri for chang __PUNCT__ thei hungri for someth new __PUNCT__

thei readi to turn the page on the old polit and the old polici __PUNCT__ whether it the war in iraq or the health_care crisi we in __PUNCT__ or a school_system that leav too mani kid behind despit the slogan __PUNCT__

but i also get the sens that there a hunger that deeper than that __PUNCT__ a hunger that goe beyond ani singl caus or issu __PUNCT__

it seem to me that each dai __PUNCT__ thousand of american ar go about their live __PUNCT__ drop the kid off at school __PUNCT__ drive to work __PUNCT__ shop at the mall __PUNCT__ try to stai on their diet __PUNCT__ try to kick a cigarett habit __PUNCT__ and thei come to the realiz that someth is miss __PUNCT__

thei decid that their work __PUNCT__ their possess __PUNCT__ their divers __PUNCT__ their sheer busy __PUNCT__ is not enough __PUNCT__

thei want a sens of purpos __PUNCT__ a narr arc to their live __PUNCT__

thei look to reliev a chronic loneli __PUNCT__

and so thei need an assur that somebodi out there care about them __PUNCT__ is listen to them __PUNCT__ that thei ar not just destin to travel down that long_road toward nothing __PUNCT__

and thi restless __PUNCT__ thi search for mean __PUNCT__ is familiar to me __PUNCT__

i wa not rais in a particularli religi household __PUNCT__

my father __PUNCT__ who i didn't know __PUNCT__ return to kenya when i wa just two __PUNCT__

he wa nomin a muslim sinc there were a number of muslim in the villag where he wa born __PUNCT__

but by the time he wa a young_adult __PUNCT__ he wa an atheist __PUNCT__

my mother __PUNCT__ whose parent were non __PUNCT__ practic baptist and methodist __PUNCT__ wa on of the most spiritu soul i ever knew __PUNCT__

she had thi enorm capac for wonder __PUNCT__ and live by the golden_rule __PUNCT__

but she had a healthi skeptic of religion as an institut __PUNCT__

and as a consequ __PUNCT__ so did i __PUNCT__

it wasn't until after colleg __PUNCT__ when i went to chicago to work as a commun_organ for a group of christian_church __PUNCT__ that i confront my own spiritu dilemma __PUNCT__

in a sens __PUNCT__ what brought me to chicago in the first place wa a hunger for some sort of mean in my life __PUNCT__

i want to be part of someth larger __PUNCT__

i been inspir by the civil right movement __PUNCT__ by all the clear __PUNCT__ ei __PUNCT__ straight __PUNCT__ back __PUNCT__ courag young_peopl who board buse and travel down south to march and sit at lunch_counter __PUNCT__ and lai down their live in some case for freedom __PUNCT__

i wa too young to be involv in that movement __PUNCT__ but i felt i could plai a small_part in the continu battl for justic by help rebuild some of chicago poorest neighborhood __PUNCT__

so it __NUM__ and i in chicago __PUNCT__ and i work with these church __PUNCT__ and with lot of laypeopl who ar much older than i am __PUNCT__

and i found that i recogn in these folk a part of myself __PUNCT__

i learn that everyon got a sacr stori when you take the time to listen __PUNCT__

and i think thei recogn a part of themselv in me too __PUNCT__

thei saw that i knew the scriptur and that mani of the valu i held and that propel me in my work were valu thei share __PUNCT__

but i think thei also sens that a part of me remain remov and detach __PUNCT__ that i wa an observ in their midst __PUNCT__

and slowli __PUNCT__ i came to realiz that someth wa miss as well __PUNCT__ that without an anchor for my belief __PUNCT__ without a commit to a particular commun of faith __PUNCT__ at some level i would alwai remain apart __PUNCT__ and alon __PUNCT__

and it around thi time that some pastor i wa work with came up to me and ask if i wa a member of a church __PUNCT__

__PUNCT__ if you organ church __PUNCT__ thei said __PUNCT__ it might be help if you went to church onc in a while __PUNCT__

and i thought __PUNCT__ well __PUNCT__ i guess that make_sens __PUNCT__

so on sundai __PUNCT__ i put on on of the few clean jacket i had __PUNCT__ and went over to triniti unit_church of christ on __NUM___street on the south_side of chicago __PUNCT__

and i heard reverend jeremiah a __PUNCT__ wright deliv a sermon call __PUNCT__ the audac of hope __PUNCT__

and dure the cours of that sermon __PUNCT__ he introduc me to someon name jesu_christ __PUNCT__

i learn that my sin could be redeem __PUNCT__

i learn that those thing i wa too weak to accomplish myself __PUNCT__ he would accomplish with me if i place my trust in him __PUNCT__

and in time __PUNCT__ i came to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weari or a hedg against death __PUNCT__ but rather as an activ __PUNCT__ palpabl agent in the world and in my own life __PUNCT__

it wa becaus of these newfound understand that i wa final abl to walk down the aisl of triniti on dai and affirm my christian_faith __PUNCT__

it came about as a choic __PUNCT__ and not an epiphani __PUNCT__

i didn't fall out in church __PUNCT__ as folk sometim do __PUNCT__

the question i had didn't magic disappear __PUNCT__

the skeptic bent of my mind didn't suddenli vanish __PUNCT__

but kneel beneath that cross on the south_side __PUNCT__ i felt i heard god spirit beckon me __PUNCT__

i submit myself to hi will __PUNCT__ and dedic myself to discov hi truth and carri out hi work __PUNCT__

but my journei is part of a larger journei __PUNCT__ on share by all who ever sought to appli the valu of their faith to our societi __PUNCT__

it a journei that take us back to our nation_found __PUNCT__ when none other than a ucc church inspir the boston tea_parti and help bring an empir to it knee __PUNCT__

in the follow centuri __PUNCT__ men and women of faith wade into the battl over prison reform and temper __PUNCT__ public_educ and women right __PUNCT__ and abov all __PUNCT__ abolit __PUNCT__

and when the civil_war wa fought and our countri dedic itself to a new birth of freedom __PUNCT__ thei took on the problem of an industri_nation __PUNCT__ fight the crime against societi and the sin against god that thei felt were be commit in our factori and in our slum __PUNCT__

and when these battl were overtaken by other and when the war thei oppos were wage and won __PUNCT__ these faith foot_soldier for justic kept march __PUNCT__

thei stood on the edmund pettu bridg __PUNCT__ as the blow of billi club rain down __PUNCT__

thei held vigil across thi countri when four littl girl were kill in the __NUM___street baptist_church __PUNCT__

thei cheer on the step of the lincoln memori when dr __PUNCT__ king deliv hi prayer for our countri __PUNCT__

and in all these wai __PUNCT__ thei help make thi countri more decent and more just __PUNCT__

so do the lord work is a thread that run through our polit sinc the veri begin __PUNCT__

and it put the lie to the notion that the separ of church and state in america mean faith should have no role in public_life __PUNCT__

imagin lincoln second inaugur without it refer to __PUNCT__ the judgment of the lord __PUNCT__

or king __PUNCT__ i have a dream __PUNCT__ speech without it refer to __PUNCT__ all of god_children __PUNCT__

or presid_kennedi inaugur without the word __PUNCT__ here on earth __PUNCT__ god_work must truli be our own __PUNCT__

at each of these junctur __PUNCT__ by summon a higher truth and embrac a univers faith __PUNCT__ our leader inspir ordinari_peopl to achiev extraordinari thing __PUNCT__

but somehow __PUNCT__ somewher along the wai __PUNCT__ faith stop be us to bring us togeth and start be us to drive us apart __PUNCT__

it got hijack __PUNCT__

part of it becaus of the so __PUNCT__ call leader of the christian right __PUNCT__ who been all too eager to exploit what divid us __PUNCT__

at everi opportun __PUNCT__ thei told evangel_christian that democrat disrespect their valu and dislik their church __PUNCT__ while suggest to the rest of the countri that religi american care onli about issu like abort and gai_marriag __PUNCT__ school prayer and intellig_design __PUNCT__

there wa even a time when the christian_coalit determin that it number on legisl prioriti wa tax_cut for the rich __PUNCT__

i don't know what bibl thei read __PUNCT__ but it doesn't jibe with my version __PUNCT__

but i hope becaus i think there an awaken take place in america __PUNCT__

peopl ar come togeth around a simpl_truth __PUNCT__ that we ar all connect __PUNCT__ that i am my brother keeper __PUNCT__ i am my sister keeper __PUNCT__

and that it not enough to just believ thi __PUNCT__ we have to do our part to make it a realiti __PUNCT__

my faith teach me that i can sit in church and prai all i want __PUNCT__ but i won't be fulfil god will unless i go out and do the lord work __PUNCT__

that why pastor __PUNCT__ friend of mine like rick_warren and t.d __PUNCT__ jake and organ like world vision and cathol chariti ar wield their enorm influenc to confront poverti __PUNCT__ hiv/aid __PUNCT__ and the genocid in darfur __PUNCT__

religi_leader like my friend rev __PUNCT__ jim_walli and rabbi david saperstein and nathan diament ar work for justic and fight for chang __PUNCT__

and all across the countri __PUNCT__ commun of faith ar sponsor dai_care program __PUNCT__ build senior center __PUNCT__ and in so mani other wai __PUNCT__ take part in the project of american renew __PUNCT__

yet what we also understand is that our valu should express themselv not just through our church or synagogu __PUNCT__ templ or mosqu __PUNCT__ thei should express themselv through our govern __PUNCT__

becaus whether it poverti or racism __PUNCT__ the uninsur or the unemploi __PUNCT__ war or peac __PUNCT__ the challeng we face_todai ar not simpli technic problem in search of the perfect ten __PUNCT__ point_plan __PUNCT__

thei ar moral problem __PUNCT__ root in both societ indiffer and individu callous __PUNCT__ in the imperfect of man __PUNCT__

and so long as we not do everyth in our person and collect power to solv them __PUNCT__ we know the conscienc of our nation cannot rest __PUNCT__

our conscienc can't rest so long as __NUM___million_american ar poor and forgotten by their leader in washington and by the media_elit __PUNCT__

we need to heed the biblic call to care for __PUNCT__ the least of these __PUNCT__ and lift the poor out of despair __PUNCT__

that why i been fight to expand the earn_incom incom_tax_credit and the minimum_wage __PUNCT__

if you work forti hour a week __PUNCT__ you shouldn't be live in poverti __PUNCT__

but we also know that govern initi ar not enough __PUNCT__

each of us in our own live need to do what we can to help the poor __PUNCT__

and until we do __PUNCT__ our conscienc cannot rest __PUNCT__

our conscienc cannot rest so long as nearli __NUM___million_american don't have health_insur and the million more who do ar go bankrupt try to pai for it __PUNCT__

i have made a solemn pledg that i will sign a univers_health_care health_care_bill into law by the end of my first term as presid that will cover everi american and cut the cost of a typic famili premium by up to __MONEY__ a year __PUNCT__

that not simpli a matter of polici or ideolog __PUNCT__ it a moral commit __PUNCT__

and until we stop the genocid that be carri out in darfur as i speak __PUNCT__ our conscienc cannot rest __PUNCT__

thi is a problem that brought togeth church and synagogu and mosqu and peopl of all faith as part of a grassroot movement __PUNCT__

univers and state __PUNCT__ includ illinoi __PUNCT__ ar take part in a divest campaign to pressur the sudanes_govern to stop the kill __PUNCT__

it not enough __PUNCT__ but it help __PUNCT__

and it a testament to what we can achiev when good_peopl with strong convict stand up for their belief __PUNCT__

and we should close guantanamo_bai and stop toler the tortur of our enemi __PUNCT__

becaus it not who we ar __PUNCT__

it not consist with our tradit of justic and fair __PUNCT__

and it offend our conscienc __PUNCT__

but we also know our conscienc cannot rest so long as the war goe on in iraq __PUNCT__

it a war i proud i oppos from the start __PUNCT__ a war that should never have been author and never been wage __PUNCT__

i have a plan that would have alreadi begun redeploi our troop with the goal of bring all our combat brigad home by __DATE__ of next year __PUNCT__

the presid veto a similar plan __PUNCT__ but he doesn't have the last word __PUNCT__ and we go to keep at it __PUNCT__ until we bring thi war to an end __PUNCT__

becaus the iraq_war is not just a secur problem __PUNCT__ it a moral problem __PUNCT__

and there anoth issu we must confront as well __PUNCT__

todai there ar __NUM___million undocu_immigr in america __PUNCT__ most of them work in our commun __PUNCT__ attend our church __PUNCT__ and contribut to our countri __PUNCT__

now __PUNCT__ as children of god __PUNCT__ we believ in the worth and digniti of everi human be __PUNCT__ it doesn't matter where that person came from or what document thei have __PUNCT__

we believ that everyon __PUNCT__ everywher should be love __PUNCT__ and given the chanc to work __PUNCT__ and rais a famili __PUNCT__

but as american __PUNCT__ we also know that thi is a nation of law __PUNCT__ and we cannot have those law broken when more than __NUM___peopl cross our border_illeg everi dai __PUNCT__

we cannot ignor that we have a right and a duti to protect our border __PUNCT__

and we cannot ignor the veri real concern of american who ar not worri about illeg_immigr becaus thei ar racist or xenophob __PUNCT__ but becaus thei fear it will result in lower_wage when thei alreadi struggl to rais their famili __PUNCT__

and so thi will be a difficult debat next week __PUNCT__

consensu and compromis will not come easi __PUNCT__

last time we took up immigr_reform __PUNCT__ it fail __PUNCT__

but we cannot walk awai thi time __PUNCT__

our conscienc cannot rest until we not onli secur our border __PUNCT__ but give the __NUM___million undocu_immigr in thi countri a chanc to earn their citizenship by pai a fine and wait in line behind all those who came here legal __PUNCT__

we will all have to make concess to achiev thi __PUNCT__

that what compromis is about __PUNCT__

but at the end of the dai __PUNCT__ we cannot walk awai __PUNCT__ not for the sake of pass a bill __PUNCT__ but so that we can final address the real concern of american and the persist hope of all those brother and sister who want noth more than their own chanc at our common dream __PUNCT__

these ar some of the challeng that test our conscienc __PUNCT__ as american and peopl of faith __PUNCT__

and meet them won't be easi __PUNCT__

there is real evil and hardship and pain and suffer in the world and we should be humbl in our belief that we can elimin them __PUNCT__

but we shouldn't us our humil as an excus for inact __PUNCT__

we shouldn't us the obstacl we face as an excus for cynic __PUNCT__

we have to do what we can __PUNCT__ know it hard and not swing from a naïv ideal to a bitter defeat __PUNCT__ but rather __PUNCT__ accept the fact that we not go to solv everi problem overnight __PUNCT__ but we can still make a differ __PUNCT__

we can recogn the truth that at the heart of the ucc __PUNCT__ that the convers is not over __PUNCT__ that our role ar not defin __PUNCT__ that through ancient text and modern voic __PUNCT__ god is still speak __PUNCT__ challeng us to chang not just our own live __PUNCT__ but the world around us __PUNCT__

i hear from evangel who mai not agre with progress on everi issu but agre that poverti ha no place in a world of plenti __PUNCT__ that hate ha no place in the heart of believ __PUNCT__ and that we all have to be good steward of god_creation __PUNCT__

from willow_creek to the __PUNCT__ emerg_church __PUNCT__ from the southern_baptist convent to the nation associ of evangel __PUNCT__ folk ar realiz that the four wall of the church ar too small for a big god __PUNCT__

god is still speak __PUNCT__

i hear from progress who understand that if we want to commun our hope and valu to american __PUNCT__ we can't abandon the field of religi discours __PUNCT__

that why organ ar rise up across the countri to reclaim the languag of faith to bring about chang __PUNCT__

god is still speak __PUNCT__

he still speak to our cathol friend __PUNCT__ who ar hold up a consist ethic of life that goe beyond abort __PUNCT__ on that includ a respect for life and digniti whether it in iraq __PUNCT__ in poor neighborhood __PUNCT__ in african villag or even on death_row __PUNCT__

thei tell me that their convers about what it mean to be cathol continu __PUNCT__

god is still speak __PUNCT__

and right here in the ucc __PUNCT__ we hear from god about what it mean to be a welcom church that hold on to our christian wit __PUNCT__

the ucc is still listen __PUNCT__

and god is still speak __PUNCT__

now __PUNCT__ some of you mai have heard me talk about the joshua gener __PUNCT__

but there a stori i want to share that take place befor mose pass the mantl of leadership on to joshua __PUNCT__

it come from deuteronomi___NUM__ when mose talk to hi follow about the challeng thei find when thei reach the promis_land without him __PUNCT__

to the joshua gener __PUNCT__ these challeng seem moment __PUNCT__ and thei ar __PUNCT__

but mose sai __PUNCT__ what i am command you is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach __PUNCT__

it is not up in heaven __PUNCT__

nor is it beyond the sea __PUNCT__

no __PUNCT__ the word is veri near __PUNCT__

it is on your lip and in your heart __PUNCT__

it an idea that often forgotten or dismiss in cynic time __PUNCT__

it that we all have it within our power to make thi a better world __PUNCT__

becaus we all have the capac to do justic and show merci __PUNCT__ to treat other with digniti and respect __PUNCT__ and to rise abov what divid us and come togeth to meet those challeng we can't meet alon __PUNCT__

it the wisdom mose impart to those who would succe him __PUNCT__

and it a lesson we need to rememb todai __PUNCT__ as member of anoth joshua gener __PUNCT__

so let reded ourselv to a new kind of polit __PUNCT__ a polit of conscienc __PUNCT__

let come togeth __PUNCT__ protest and cathol __PUNCT__ muslim and hindu and jew __PUNCT__ believ and non __PUNCT__ believ alik __PUNCT__

we not go to agre on everyth __PUNCT__ but we can disagre without be disagre __PUNCT__

we can affirm our faith without endang the separ of church and state __PUNCT__ as long as we understand that when we in the public_squar __PUNCT__ we have to speak in univers term that everyon can understand __PUNCT__

and if we can do that __PUNCT__ if we can embrac a common destini __PUNCT__ then i believ we not just help bring about a more hope dai in america __PUNCT__ we not just be care for our own soul __PUNCT__ we be do god_work here on earth __PUNCT__

thank you __PUNCT__