Monk

There is no doubt that the very nature of faith means that some of our beliefs will never be the same. We read from different texts. We follow different edicts. We subscribe to different accounts of how we came to be here and where we’re going next – and some subscribe to no faith at all...

We know too that whatever our differences, there is one law that binds all great religions together. Jesus told us to "love thy neighbor as thyself." The Torah commands, "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow." In Islam, there is a hadith that reads "None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." And the same is true for Buddhists and Hindus; for followers of Confucius and for humanists. It is, of course, the Golden Rule - the call to love one another; to understand one another; to treat with dignity and respect those with whom we share a brief moment on this Earth.

-- President Barack H. Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast

This may not be particularly original, but after Dubya's unapologetic creationist-fundamentalism, it is good to hear the President of the United States take a broad and positive view on faith and humanity.

The San Antonio Express-News runs the headline: A New World View in Washington. It hangs over a picture of a beaming Hillary with Obama at the State Department from their meeting yesterday, promising a much more invigorating diplomacy than we have known under Dubya.

Then I recalled Obama's first full day as president and the very first executive orders he signed, which were about making government more transparent, opening up information under the Freedom on Information Act, which had been strangled under Dubya. I don't think Hillary would have done that, but that she would have taken to the dark web of secrecy like a bat to a new cave.

I also saw a little bit of John McCain's interview with Larry King last night. And I mused how it would be if he had won the presidency, and how much more things would have stayed the same. And we would just accept that maybe this is the way it has to be in the adult world, that we need to be protected from some of the things that government has to do.

And I now see more clearly than ever how badly we needed Obama to win, this reawakening of faith in democracy - government of the people, by the people, for the people. It is only more poignant that it took a black president to remind Americans of this.

We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.

And because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.

To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.

-- President Barack H. Obama: The Inauguration Speech

It began somewhat inauspiciously with a Dubya-esque slip during the oath and swearing in, but I gather that it was Chief Justice Roberts who flubbed it, but still not a promising omen. Then it was Obama rising true to form, the oracular speaker who won a long, tough campaign, which is but a token of the political challenges in front of him now.

Godspeed, Mr. President, and good luck to us all!

( Inauguration Speech )