Już 62 609 użytkowników uczy się języków obcych z Edustation.
Możesz zarejestrować się już dziś i odebrać bonus w postaci 10 monet.
Jeżeli chcesz się dowiedzieć więcej o naszym portalu - kliknij tutaj
Jeszcze nie teraz ZAREJESTRUJ SIĘlub
Zaloguj »
ZAREJESTRUJ SIĘ
Nie masz konta?
Celebrating Ramadan at the White House
Poziom:
Temat: Społeczeństwo i nauki społeczne
The President:
Well, welcome to
the White House.
To you, to Muslim Americans
across our country,
and to more than one billion
Muslims around the world,
I extend my best wishes
on this holy month.
Ramadan Kareem.
I want to welcome members
of the diplomatic corps;
members of my administration;
and members of Congress,
including Rush Holt, John
Conyers, and Andre Carson,
who is one of two Muslim
American members of Congress,
along with Keith Ellison.
So welcome, all of you.
Here at the White House, we have
a tradition of hosting iftars
that goes back several years,
just as we host Christmas
parties and seders and
Diwali celebrations.
And these events celebrate the
role of faith in the lives of
the American people.
They remind us of the basic
truth that we are all children
of God, and we all draw strength
and a sense of purpose from our beliefs.
These events are also an
affirmation of who we are as Americans.
Our Founders understood that the
best way to honor the place of
faith in the lives of our people
was to protect their freedom to
practice religion.
In the Virginia Act of
Establishing Religious Freedom,
Thomas Jefferson wrote that "all
men shall be free to profess,
and by argument to maintain,
their opinions in matters of religion."
The First Amendment of our
Constitution established the
freedom of religion as
the law of the land.
And that right has
been upheld ever since.
Indeed, over the
course of our history,
religion has flourished within
our borders precisely because
Americans have had the right
to worship as they choose --
including the right to believe
in no religion at all.
And it is a testament to the
wisdom of our Founders that
America remains
deeply religious --
a nation where the ability of
peoples of different faiths to
coexist peacefully and with
mutual respect for one another
stands in stark contrast to the
religious conflict that persists
elsewhere around the globe.
Now, that's not to say that
religion is without controversy.
Recently, attention has been
focused on the construction of
mosques in certain
communities --
particularly New York.
Now, we must all recognize
and respect the sensitivities
surrounding the development
of Lower Manhattan.
The 9/11 attacks were a deeply
traumatic event for our country.
And the pain and the experience
of suffering by those who lost
loved ones is just unimaginable.
So I understand the emotions
that this issue engenders.
And Ground Zero is,
indeed, hallowed ground.
But let me be clear.
As a citizen, and as President,
I believe that Muslims have the
right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country.
(applause)
And that includes --
(applause)
That includes the right to
build a place of worship and a
community center on private
property in Lower Manhattan,
in accordance with local
laws and ordinances.
This is America.
And our commitment to religious
freedom must be unshakeable.
The principle that people of
all faiths are welcome in this
country and that they will not
be treated differently by their
government is essential
to who we are.
The writ of the
Founders must endure.
We must never forget those who
we lost so tragically on 9/11,
and we must always honor those
who led the response to that
attack -- from the firefighters who charged up smoke-filled
staircases, to our troops who
are serving in Afghanistan today.
And let us also remember
who we're fighting against,
and what we're fighting for.
Our enemies respect
no religious freedom.
Al Qaeda's cause is not Islam -- it's a gross distortion of Islam.
These are not
religious leaders --
they're terrorists who murder
innocent men and women and children.
In fact, al Qaeda has killed
more Muslims than people of any
other religion -- and that list of victims includes innocent
Muslims who were killed on 9/11.
So that's who we're
fighting against.
And the reason that we will win
this fight is not simply the
strength of our arms -- it is the strength of our values.
The democracy that we uphold.
The freedoms that we cherish.
The laws that we apply without
regard to race, or religion,
or wealth, or status.
Our capacity to show
not merely tolerance,
but respect towards those
who are different from us --
and that way of life, that
quintessentially American creed,
stands in stark contrast to the
nihilism of those who attacked
us on that September morning,
and who continue to plot against
us today.
In my inaugural address I said
that our patchwork heritage is a
strength, not a weakness.
We are a nation of Christians
and Muslims, Jews and Hindus --
and non-believers.
We are shaped by every
language and every culture,
drawn from every
end of this Earth.
And that diversity can
bring difficult debates.
This is not unique to our time.
Past eras have seen
controversies about the
construction of synagogues
or Catholic churches.
But time and again, the American
people have demonstrated that we
can work through these issues,
and stay true to our core
values, and emerge
stronger for it.
So it must be --
and will be -- today.
And tonight, we are reminded
that Ramadan is a celebration of
a faith known for
great diversity.
And Ramadan is a reminder that
Islam has always been a part of America.
The first Muslim ambassador to
the United States, from Tunisia,
was hosted by
President Jefferson,
who arranged a sunset dinner for
his guest because it was Ramadan
-- making it the first known iftar at the White House,
more than 200 years ago.
(applause)
Like so many other immigrants,
generations of Muslims came to
forge their future here.
They became farmers
and merchants,
worked in mills and factories.
They helped lay the railroads.
They helped to build America.
They founded the first Islamic
center in New York City in the 1890s.
They built America's first
mosque on the prairie of North Dakota.
And perhaps the oldest
surviving mosque in America --
still in use today --
is in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Today, our nation is
strengthened by millions of
Muslim Americans.
They excel in
every walk of life.
Muslim American communities -- including mosques in all 50
states -- also serve
their neighbors.
Muslim Americans protect our
communities as police officers
and firefighters and
first responders.
Muslim American clerics have
spoken out against terror and
extremism, reaffirming that
Islam teaches that one must save
human life, not take it.
And Muslim Americans serve
with honor in our military.
At next week's iftar
at the Pentagon,
tribute will be paid to three
soldiers who gave their lives in
Iraq and now rest among the
heroes of Arlington National Cemetery.
These Muslim Americans died for
the security that we depend on,
and the freedoms
that we cherish.
They are part of an unbroken
line of Americans that stretches
back to our founding; Americans
of all faiths who have served
and sacrificed to extend the
promise of America to new
generations, and to ensure
that what is exceptional about
America is protected -- our commitment to stay true to our
core values, and our ability slowly but surely to perfect our union.
For in the end, we remain "one
nation, under God, indivisible."
And we can only achieve "liberty
and justice for all" if we live
by that one rule at the heart
of every great religion,
including Islam -- that we do unto others as we would have
them do unto us.
So thank you all for being here.
I wish you a blessed Ramadan.
And with that, let us eat.
(applause)
