The following are my favorite parts of
Kerry’s speech. You can follow the link to the full text. mjh
The complete text of Kerry’s acceptance speech
Now I know there are those who criticize me for seeing complexities — and I do — because some issues just aren’t all that simple.
…
For us, that flag is the most powerful symbol of who we are and what we believe in. Our strength. Our diversity. Our love of
country. All that makes America both great and good.
That flag doesn’t belong to any president. It doesn’t belong to any ideology
and it doesn’t belong to any political party. It belongs to all the American people. …
We believe that what matters most is not
narrow appeals masquerading as values, but the shared values that show the true face of America. Not narrow appeals that divide us, but
shared values that unite us. …
And let me say it plainly: In that cause, and in this campaign, we welcome people of faith. America
is not us and them. I think of what Ron Reagan said of his father a few weeks ago, and I want to say this to you tonight: I don’t wear
my own faith on my sleeve. But faith has given me values and hope to live by, from Vietnam to this day, from Sunday to Sunday. I don’t
want to claim that God is on our side. As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are on God’s side. …
These
aren’t Democratic values. These aren’t Republican values. They’re American values. We believe in them. They’re who we are. …
What if we have a president who believes in science … ? …
That is the kind of America I will lead as president — an America
where we are all in the same boat.
Never has there been a more urgent moment for Americans to step up and define ourselves. I will
work my heart out. But, my fellow citizens, the outcome is in your hands more than mine.
I do have two objections. First,
what about those of us who believe you can be decent and moral and not believe in god or church? We’re used to be left out; we’re
pariahs in a nation founded on freedom from religious oppresion — oh, but wait, not freedom from religion itself.
Finally, I’m very
sad that I didn’t hear anyone at the convention protest the ‘free speech cage’. That not one ‘liberal’ would say ‘tear down that
cage — America is a free speech zone!’ This is how bad things are today. mjh