Faith and Reason
This will be the first of a new ‘Quote of the Week’ (QOTW) series on PTM. I’ll probably focus on current issues as well as those that I am more interested in exploring. You are welcome to guess who might have voiced these words. There will be no prize…only the satisfaction of knowing that you were right. =) And my hope is to promote learning something new and/or seeing something from a new perspective. Feel free to simply read or to read and comment to voice your own opinion of the quote.
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“I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. No matter how much we may want to fudge it – indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory – the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable.
In this world of competing claims about what is right and what is true, have confidence in the values with which you’ve been raised and educated. Be unafraid to speak your mind when those values are at stake. Hold firm to your faith and allow it to guide you on your journey. Stand as a lighthouse.
But remember too that the ultimate irony of faith is that it necessarily admits doubt. It is the belief in things not seen. It is beyond our capacity as human beings to know with certainty what God has planned for us or what He asks of us, and those of us who believe must trust that His wisdom is greater than our own.
This doubt should not push us away from our faith. But it should humble us. It should temper our passions, and cause us to be wary of self-righteousness. It should compel us to remain open, and curious, and eager to continue the moral and spiritual debate[...]. And within our vast democracy, this doubt should remind us to persuade through reason, through an appeal whenever we can to universal rather than parochial principles, and most of all through an abiding example of good works, charity, kindness, and service that moves hearts and minds.”
President Barack H Obama, 44th President of the United States.
You are correct, WE!
Did you know it or did you google it? =)
I don’t know that I agree completely with everything he said here (although there are certainly things that I do readily agree with) But one thing that I certainly appreciate is that it sure doesn’t seem like something a speech-writer coined for him. I give B.O. mad props for thought-provoking speeches that I don’t think he could be faking.
He did not have to google it- it was on TV last night. (So I had the correct guess too)
Wow, nice! Very poignant. President Obama was the first to come to my mind as well, and I didnt see the TV thing. Its interesting how you can often hear peoples’ voices when reading passages, talks, or quotes. Even though I had never heard it… Thats cool!