John F. Kennedy - Houston Ministerial Association Address

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介绍约翰肯尼迪的英文作文

介绍约翰肯尼迪的英文作文

介绍约翰肯尼迪的英文作文英文:John F. Kennedy, also known as JFK, was the 35th President of the United States. He was born in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1917 and served as President from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Kennedy was known for his strong leadership skills, charisma, and his ability to inspire people with his speeches.One of his most famous speeches was his inaugural address, where he famously said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." This quote became a rallying cry for Americans to get involved in their communities and make a difference.Kennedy also played a key role in the Space Race, where he challenged the United States to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. This goal was achieved in 1969, just a few years after his death.In addition to his accomplishments as President, Kennedy is also remembered for his tragic assassination in Dallas, Texas in 1963. His death shocked the nation andleft a lasting impact on American history.中文:约翰·肯尼迪,又称JFK,是美国第35任总统。

高中英语世界名人演讲词35JohnF.Kennedy素材

高中英语世界名人演讲词35JohnF.Kennedy素材

三十五、John F. KennedyCivil Rights AddressGood evening, my fellow citizens:This afternoon, following a series of threats and defiant statements, the presence o f Alabama National Guardsmen was required on the University of Alabama to carry out the final and unequivocal order of the United States District Court of the Northern District of Alabama. That order called for the admission of two clearly qualified young Alabama residents who happened to have been born Negro. That they were admitted peacefully on the campus is due in good measure to the conduct of the students of the University of Alabama, who met their responsibilities in a constructive way.I hope that every American, regardless of where he lives, will stop and examine his conscience about this and other related incidents. This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.Today, we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all who wish to be free. And when Americans are sent to Vietnam or West Berlin, we do not ask for whites only. It oughta be possible, therefore, for American students of any color to attend any public institution they select without having to be backed up by troops. It oughta to be possible for American consumers of any color to receive equal service in places of public accommodation, such as hotels and restaurants and the aters and retail stores, without being forced to resort to demonstrations in the street, and it oughta be possible for American citizens of any color to register and to vote in a free election without interference or fear of reprisal. It oughta to be possible, in short, for every American to enjoy the privileges of being American without regard to his race or his color. In short, every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated. But this is not the case.The Negro baby born in America today, regardless of the section of the State in which he is born, has about one-half as much chance of completing a high school as a white baby born in the same place on the same day, one-third as much chance of completing college, one-third as much chance of becoming a professional man, twice as much chance of becoming unemployed, about one-seventh as much chance of earning $10,000 a year, a life expectancy which is 7 years shorter, and the prospects of earning only half as much.This is not a sectional issue. Difficulties over segregation and discrimination exist in every city, in every State of the Union, producing in many cities a rising tide of discontent that threatens the public safety. Nor is this a partisan issue. In a time of domestic crisis men of good will and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics. This is not even a legal or legislative issue alone. It is better to settle these matters in the courts than on the streets, and new laws are needed at every level, but law alone cannot make men see right. We are confrontedprimarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the Scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution.The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities, whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated. If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public, if he cannot send his children to the best public school available, if he cannot vote for the public officials who will represent him, if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place? Who among us would then be content with the counsels of patience and delay? One hundred years of delay have passed since President Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their heirs, their grandsons, are not fully free. They are not yet freed from the bonds of injustice. They are not yet freed from social and economic oppression. And this Nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.We preach freedom around the world, and we mean it, and we cherish our freedom here at home, but are we to say to the world, and much more importantly, to each other that this is the land of the free except for the Negroes; that we have no second-class citizens except Negroes; that we have no class or caste system, no ghettoes, no master race except with respect to Negroes?Now the time has come for this Nation to fulfill its promise. The events in Birmingham and elsewhere have so increased the cries for equality that no city or State or legislative body can prudently choose to ignore them. The fires of frustration and discord are burning in every city, North and South, where legal remedies are not at hand. Redress is sought in th e streets, in demonstrations, parades, and protests which create tensions and threaten violence and threaten lives.We face, therefore, a moral crisis as a country and a people. It cannot be met by repressive police action. It cannot be left to increased demonstrations in the streets. It cannot be quieted by token moves or talk. It is a time to act in the Congress, in your State and local legislative body and, above all, in all of our daily lives. It is not enough to pin the blame on others, to say this a problem of one section of the country or another, or deplore the facts that we face. A great change is at hand, and our task, our obligation, is to make that revolution, that change, peaceful and constructive for all. Those who do nothing are inviting shame, as well as violence. Those who act boldly are recognizing right, as well as reality. Next week I shall ask the Congress of the United States to act, to make a commitment it has not fully made in this century to the proposition that race has no place in American life or law. The Federal judiciary has upheld that proposition in a series of forthright cases. The Executive Branch has adopted that proposition in the conduct of its affairs, including the employment of Federal personnel, the use of Federal facilities, and the sale of federally financed housing. But there are other necessary measures which only the Congress can provide, and they must be provided at this session. The old code of equity law under which we live commands for ev ery wrong a remedy, but in too many communities, in too many parts of the country, wrongs areinflicted on Negro citizens and there are no remedies at law. Unless the Congress acts, their only remedy is the street.I am, therefore, asking the Congress to enact legislation giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public -- hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments. This seems to me to be an elementary right. Its denial is an arbitrary indignity that no American in 1963 should have to endure, but many do.I have recently met with scores of business leaders urging th em to take voluntary action to end this discrimination, and I have been encouraged by their response, and in the last two weeks over 75 cities have seen progress made in desegregating these kinds of facilities. But many are unwilling to act alone, and for this reason, nationwide legislation is needed if we are to move this problem from the streets to the courts.I'm also asking the Congress to authorize the Federal Government to participate more fully in lawsuits designed to end segregation in public education. We have succeeded in persuading many districts to desegregate voluntarily. Dozens have admitted Negroes without violence. Today, a Negro is attending a State-supported institution in every one of our 50 States, but the pace is very slow.Too many Negro children entering segregated grade schools at the time of the Supreme Court's decision nine years ago will enter segregated high schools this fall, having suffered a loss which can never be restored. The lack of an adequate education denies the Negro a chance to get a decent job.The orderly implementation of the Supreme Court decision, therefore, cannot be left solely to those who may not have the economic resources to carry the legal action or who may be subject to harassment.Other features will be also requested, including greater protection for the right to vote. But legislation, I repeat, cannot solve this problem alone. It must be solved in the homes of every American in every community across our country. In this respect I wanna pay tribute to those citizens North and South who've been working in their communities to make life better for all. They are acting not out of sense of legal duty but out of a sense of human decency. Like our soldiers and sailors in all parts of the world they are meeting freedom's challenge on the firing line, and I salute them for their honor and their courage.My fellow Americans, this is a problem which faces us all -- in every city of the North as well as the South. Today, there are Negroes unemployed, two or three t imes as many compared to whites, inadequate education, moving into the large cities, unable to find work, young people particularly out of work without hope, denied equal rights, denied the opportunity to eat at a restaurant or a lunch counter or go to a movie theater, denied the right to a decent education, denied almost today the right to attend a State university even though qualified. It seems to me that these are matters which concern us all, not merely Presidents or Congressmen or Governors, but every citizen of the United States.This is one country. It has become one country because all of us and all the people who came here had an equal chance to develop their talents. We cannot say to tenpercent of the population that you can't have that right; that your children cannot have the chance to develop whatever talents they have; that the only way that they are going to get their rights is to go in the street and demonstrate. I think we owe them and we owe ourselves a better country than that.Therefore, I'm asking for your help in making it easier for us to move ahead and to provide the kind of equality of treatment which we would want ourselves; to give a chance for every child to be educated to the limit of his talents.As I've said before, not every child has an equal talent or an equal ability or equal motivation, but they should have the equal right to develop their talent and their ability and their motivation, to make something of themselves.We have a right to expect that the Negro community will be responsible, will uphold the law, but they ha ve a right to expect that the law will be fair, that the Constitution will be color blind, as Justice Harlan said at the turn of the century. This is what we're talking about and this is a matter which concerns this country and what it stands for, and in meeting it I ask the support of all our citizens. Thank you very much.。

高中英语 世界名人演讲词 14 John F.Kennedy素材

高中英语 世界名人演讲词 14 John F.Kennedy素材

十四、John F. KennedyAddress to the Greater Houston Ministerial AssociationReverend Meza, Reverend Reck, I'm grateful for your generous invitation to state my views.While the so-called religious issue is necessarily and properly the chief topic here tonight, I want to emphasize from the outset that I believe that we have far more critical issues in the 1960 campaign; the spread of Communist influence, until it now festers only 90 miles from the coast of Florida -- the humiliating treatment of our President and Vice President by those who no longer respect our power -- the hungry children I saw in West Virginia, the old people who cannot pay their doctors bills, the families forced to give up their farms -- an America with too many slums, with too few schools, and too late to the moon and outer space. These are the real issues which should decide this campaign. And they are not religious issues -- for war and hunger and ignorance and despair know no religious barrier.But because I am a Catholic, and no Catholic has ever been elected President, the real issues in this campaign have been obscured -- perhaps deliberately, in some quarters less responsible than this. So it is apparently necessary for me to state once again -- not what kind of church I believe in, for that should be important only to me -- but what kind of America I believe in.I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute; where no Catholic prelate would tell the President -- should he be Catholic -- how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church sc hool is granted any public funds or political preference, and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him, or the people who might elect him.I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish; where no public official either requests or accept instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source; where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials, and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all. For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been -- and may someday be again -- a Jew, or a Quaker, or a Unitarian, or a Baptist. It was Virginia's harassment of Baptist preachers, for example, that led to Jefferson's statute of religious freedom. Today, I may be the victim, but tomorrow it may be you -- until the whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped apart at a time of great national peril.Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end, where all men and all churches are treated as equals, where every man has the same right to attend or not to attend the church of his choice, where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind, and where Catholics, Protestants, and Jews, at both the lay and the pastoral levels, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, andpromote instead the American ideal of brotherhood.That is the kind of America in which I believe. And it represents the kind of Presidency in which I believe, a great office that must be neither humbled by making it the instrument of any religious group nor tarnished by arbitrarily withholding it -- its occupancy from the members of any one religious group. I believe in a President whose views on religion are his own private affair, neither imposed upon him by the nation, nor imposed by the nation upon him¹ as a condition to holding that office.I would not look with favor upon a President working to subvert the first amendment's guarantees of religious liberty; nor would our sys tem of checks and balances permit him to do so. And neither do I look with favor upon those who would work to subvert Article VI of the Constitution b y requiring a religious test, even by indirection. For if they disagree with that safeguard, they should be openly working to repeal it.I want a Chief Executive whose public acts are responsible to all and obligated to none, who can attend any ceremony, s ervice, or dinner his office may appropriately require of him to fulfill; and whose fulfillment of his Presidential office is not limited or conditioned by any religious oath, ritual, or obligation.This is the kind of America I believe in -- and this is the kind of America I fought for in the South Pacific, and the kind my brother died for in Europe. No one suggested then that we might have a divided loyalty, that we did not believe in liberty, or that we belonged to a disloyal group that threatened -- I quote -- "the freedoms for which our forefathers died."And in fact this is the kind of America for which our forefathers did die when they fled here to escape religious test oaths that denied office to members of less favored churches -- when they fought for the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom -- and when they fought at the shrine I visited today, the Alamo. For sid e by side with Bowie and Crockett died Fuentes, and McCafferty, and Bailey, and Badillo, and Carey -- but no one knows whether they were Catholics or not. For there was no religious test there.I ask you tonight to follow in that tra dition -- to judge me on the basis of 14 years in the Congress, on my declared stands against an Ambassador to the Vatican, against unconstitutional aid to parochial schools, and against any boycott of the public schools -- which I attended myself. And instead of doing this, do not judge me on the basis of these pamphlets and publications we all have seen that carefully select quotations out of context from the statements of Catholic church leaders, usually in other countries, frequently in other centuries, and rarely relevant to any situation here. And alwa ys omitting, of course, the statement of the American Bishops in 1948 which strongly endorsed Church-State separation, and which more nearly reflects the views of almost every American Catholic.I do not consider these ot her quotations binding upon my public acts. Why should you?But let me say, with respect to other countries, that I am wholly opposed to the State being used by any religious group, Catholic or Protestant, to compel, prohibit,or prosecute the free exercise of any other religion. And that goes for any persecution, at any time, by anyone, in any country. And I hope that you and I condemn with equal fervor those nations which deny their Presidency to Protestants, and those which deny it to Catholics. And rather than cite the misdeeds of those who differ, I would also cite the record of the Catholic Church in such nations as France and Ireland, and the independence of such statesmen as De Gaulle and Adenauer. But let me stress again that these are my views.For contrary to common newspaper usage, I am not the Catholic candidate for President.I am the Demo cratic Party's candidate for President who happens also to be a Catholic.I do not speak for my church on public matters; and the church does not speak for me. Whatever issue may come before me as President, if I should be elected, on birth control, divorce, censorship, gambling or any other subject, I will make my decision in accordance with these views -- in accordance with what my conscience tells me to be in the national interest, and without regard to outside religious pressure or dictates. And no power or threat of punishment could cause me to decide otherwise. But if the time should ever come -- and I do not concede any conflict to be re motely possible -- when my office would require me to either violate my conscience or violate the national interest, then I would resign the office; and I hope any conscientious public servant would do li kewise.But I do not intend to apologize for these views to my critics of either Catholic or Protestant faith; nor do I intend to disavow either my views or my church in order to win this election.If I should lose on the real issues, I shall return to my seat in the Senate, satisfied that I'd tried my best and was fairly judged.But if this election is de cided o n the basis that 40 million Americans lost their chance of being President on the day they were baptized, then it is the whole nation that will be the loser, in the eyes of Catholics and non-Catholics around the world, in the eyes of history, and in the eyes of our own people.But if, on the other hand, I should win this election, then I shall devote every effort of mind and spirit to fulfilling the oath of the Presidency -- practically identical, I might add, with the oath I have taken for 14 years in the Congress. For without reservation, I can, "solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution -- so help me God.。

约翰F肯尼迪美国历史上最受尊敬的总统之一

约翰F肯尼迪美国历史上最受尊敬的总统之一

约翰F肯尼迪美国历史上最受尊敬的总统之一约翰F.肯尼迪(John F. Kennedy)是美国历史上最受尊敬的总统之一。

他在1960年至1963年的总统任期内,以其领导才能和魅力,在美国和国际社会赢得了广泛的尊重和支持。

本文将回顾肯尼迪总统的重要事迹,探讨他为美国及世界做出的贡献,以及解释他为何被普遍认为是美国历史上最受尊敬的总统之一。

一、肯尼迪总统的背景介绍约翰F.肯尼迪于1917年5月29日出生在马萨诸塞州布鲁克莱恩市。

他来自一个富有而有政治背景的家庭,父亲是一位成功的商人和政治家。

在第二次世界大战期间,肯尼迪担任了一名海军军官,并因出色的表现而获得了勋章。

回国后,他进入政界,并在1952年当选为马萨诸塞州众议员。

他的强烈抱负与魅力使他在政界迅速崭露头角,并在1960年成为美国历史上第35任总统。

二、肯尼迪总统的内外政策成就1. 内政成就肯尼迪总统在内政领域表现出了杰出的领导能力。

他在执政初期就推出了一系列的改革计划,包括提高教育水平、改善公共卫生、推动经济发展等。

他还推动通过了《平等待遇法案》,以禁止种族歧视,并成立了《总统科学顾问委员会》以推动科学和技术的发展。

2. 外交成就肯尼迪总统面临着冷战时期的严峻挑战。

然而,他以稳定和明智的外交政策回应了这些挑战。

他通过《核试禁止条约》和《局部裁军协定》等国际协议,推动了核武器的控制和裁军。

此外,他还通过“联合国特派团”来解决古巴导弹危机,避免了一场可能严重升级的核战争。

肯尼迪总统在处理国际事务时,始终采取克制和理性的态度,赢得了国际社会的尊重和赞誉。

三、肯尼迪总统的遗产1. 激励年轻一代肯尼迪总统激励了年轻一代的美国人,鼓励他们追求远大的目标和梦想。

他在1961年发表的著名演讲《不要问国家能为你做什么,要问你能为国家做什么》仍然激励着人们。

2. 推动航天事业肯尼迪总统提出了“在这个十年内将人送上月球并安全带回地球”的目标,并在1969年实现了这一壮举。

美国历史上100个伟大演讲

美国历史上100个伟大演讲

60.Ronald Reagan Remarks on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day
61.Mario Matthew Cuomo Religious Belief and Public Morality
62.Edward M. Kennedy Address to the People of Massachusetts on Chappaquiddick
44. Mary Church Terrell What It Means to be Colored in Capital of the U.S
45. William Jennings Bryan Imperialism
46. Margaret Sanger The Morality of Birth Control
50. Spiro Theodore Agnew Television News Coverage
51.Jesse Jackson 1988 Democratic National Convention Address
52.Mary Fisher 1992 Republication National Convention Address
01. Dr Martin Luther King Jr I Have A Dream
02. John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address
03. Franklin Delano Roosevelt First Inaugural Address
04. Franklin D. Roosevelt Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation War Message

约翰·F·肯尼迪语录

约翰·F·肯尼迪语录

约翰·F·肯尼迪语录约翰·F·肯尼迪语录:不要问国家能为你做什么,而要问你能为国家做什么在人类历史的长河中,有一些名言流传至今,激励着人们追求自由、公正和进步。

而约翰·F·肯尼迪的这句名言,无疑是其中之一。

这句简短而深刻的话语,直击人们内心深处的责任感和使命感。

当我们回顾过去,想起肯尼迪总统在1961年的就职演说时,这句话的意义更加凸显。

当时的美国正处于冷战的阴影下,国内外问题层出不穷,人们对未来充满了不确定性和焦虑。

然而,肯尼迪总统却以他的领导力和远见卓识,向全国人民发出了这个振聋发聩的呼唤。

这句话所传递的信息是,我们不能仅仅依赖国家为我们做些什么,我们每个人都有责任为国家做些什么。

这是一个呼唤团结和奉献精神的时刻,每个人都应当为国家的繁荣和进步贡献自己的力量。

这句话的意义不仅仅局限于国家层面,它同样适用于个人生活。

在日常生活中,我们常常会抱怨生活的不公平和困难。

然而,如果我们只是坐以待毙,寄希望于别人的帮助,我们将无法改变自己的处境。

相反,如果我们拥有一颗为他人着想的心,愿意主动付出,我们就能够改变自己的命运,同时也为他人带来积极的影响。

这句话也提醒我们,作为公民,我们有义务参与到社会事务中。

政治、环境、教育、社会公正等问题都需要我们的关注和行动。

我们不能只是沉浸在自己的小世界中,而应该积极参与社会,为我们所关心的问题发声,推动社会的进步和改革。

肯尼迪总统的这句话,不仅仅是一句口号,更是一种价值观和行动指南。

它提醒我们,不要期待别人为我们做些什么,而是要问自己能为国家、社会和他人做些什么。

只有当我们拥有这种奉献精神和积极的行动意愿,我们才能真正实现个人的价值,同时也为社会带来积极的变革。

在这个充满挑战和机遇的时代,让我们铭记约翰·F·肯尼迪的这句话,不断激励自己,勇敢地追求梦想,为国家、社会和他人做出我们应有的贡献。

约翰F肯尼迪美国总统的勇气与领导力

约翰F肯尼迪美国总统的勇气与领导力

约翰F肯尼迪美国总统的勇气与领导力约翰F·肯尼迪美国总统的勇气与领导力约翰F·肯尼迪(John F. Kennedy)是美国历史上一位备受赞誉的总统,他以其卓越的勇气和独特的领导力在短暂的总统任期内留下了深刻的印记。

他在外交政策、国内改革和社会进步方面采取了一系列积极的举措,成为美国及全世界的激励之源。

本文将从肯尼迪在危机时刻的勇气、其在国内外政策中的领导力以及他的遗产的角度,探讨约翰F·肯尼迪展现出的独特魅力。

一、危机时刻的勇气约翰F·肯尼迪在面对危机时展现出非凡的勇气和果断的决策。

其中最著名的例子是古巴导弹危机。

在这个关键时刻,肯尼迪冷静地应对,不仅下达了封锁古巴的指令,还通过与苏联领导人赫鲁晓夫进行秘密谈判,最终避免了核战争的爆发。

他的勇气和智慧使得世界免于一场毁灭性的冲突,这无疑是他在历史上的一次伟大胜利。

二、国内外政策中的领导力肯尼迪在国内外政策中展现出的领导力也十分杰出。

作为美国历史上首位署名性禁令的总统,他坚持推动民权法案的通过,为美国争取了更大的平等和公正。

在经济方面,他实施了一系列政策,如减税和推动基础设施建设,促进了经济的增长和就业的增加。

在外交政策中,他提出了“新兴国家”理论,努力加强与发展中国家的合作,为美国在全球的影响力树立了坚实的基础。

三、约翰F·肯尼迪的遗产虽然约翰F·肯尼迪的总统任期只有短短两年半,但他的遗产却深远而持久。

他的演讲才华和鼓舞人心的演讲使他成为美国历史上最受瞩目的演讲者之一。

他的著名演讲“不要问国家能为你做什么,而是问你能为国家做什么”激励了一代人成为社会变革的先锋。

此外,他还设立了和平队,这个志愿者组织致力于帮助发展中国家,并为后来的国际志愿者事业奠定了基础。

结语约翰F·肯尼迪是一位伟大的总统,他的勇气和领导力在美国历史上具有重要意义。

他在危机时刻的果断决策、在国内外政策中的杰出领导以及他长久的遗产都使他成为激励和崇拜的象征。

约翰·F·肯尼迪:美国史上唯一获普利策奖总统

约翰·F·肯尼迪:美国史上唯一获普利策奖总统

约翰F肯尼迪:美国史上唯一获普利策奖总统
佚名
【期刊名称】《考试.高考英语版》
【年(卷),期】2009(000)008
【总页数】2页(P31-32)
【正文语种】中文
【中图分类】G63
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John F. Kennedy - Houston Ministerial Association AddressReverend Meza, Reverend Reck, I'm grateful for your generousinvitationto state my views.While the socalled religious issue is necessarilyand properly the chief topic here tonight, Iwant to emphasize from the outsetthatI believe that we have far more critical issues in the1960 campaign. the spread of Communist influence, until it now festers only 90 miles from the coast of Florida the humiliating treatmentof our President and Vice President by thosewho no longer respect our power thehungry children I saw in West Virginia,the old people who cannot pay their doctors bills, the families forced togive up their farms anAmerica with too many slums, with too few schools, andtoo late to the moon and outer space. Theseare the real issues which should decide this campaign. And they are not religious issues for war and hunger and ignorance and despair know no religious barrier.But because I am a Catholic, and no Catholic has ever beenelected President, the real issues in this campaign have been obscured perhaps deliberately, in some quarters less responsible thanthis. So it is apparently necessary for me to state once again notwhat kind of churchI believe in, for that should be important only to me butwhat kind ofAmerica I believe in.I believe in an America where the separation ofchurch and state is absolute. where no Catholic prelate would tellthe President should he be Catholic how to act, and noProtestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom tovote. where no church or churchschool is granted any public funds or political preference, and where no manis denied publicoffice merely because his religion differs from the President whomight appoint him, or thepeople who might elect him.I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish. where no public official either requests or accept instructions on public policy from the Pope,theNational Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source. where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly uponthe general populace or the public acts of itsofficials, and where religious liberty is soindivisible that an act against one church is treatedas an act against all.For while this year it may be a Catholic againstwhom the finger of suspicion is pointed, inother years it has been and may someday be again a Jew, or a Quaker, or a Unitarian, ora Baptist. It was Virginia's harassment of Baptist preachers, for example, thatled to Jefferson's statute of religious freedom. Today, I may be the victim, but tomorrowit may be you untilthe whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped apart at a time of greatnational peril.Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance willsomeday end, where all men and allchurches are treated as equals, where every man has the same right to attend or notto attend the church of his choice, where there is no Catholic vote, no antiCatholic vote,no bloc voting of any kind, and where Catholics, Protestants, and Jews, at boththe lay and the pastoral levels, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works inthe past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood.That is the kind of America in which I believe. And it represents the kind of Presidency in which I believe, a great office thatmust be neither humbled by making itthe instrument of any religious group nor tarnished by arbitrarily withholding itits occupancy from themembers of any one religious group. I believe in a President whose views on religion are his own private affair, neither imposed upon him by the nation, nor imposed by the nation upon him as a condition to holding that office.I would notlook with favor upon a President working to subvert the first amendment'sguarantees of religious liberty. nor would our system of checks and balances permit him to do so. And neither doI look with favor uponthose who would work to subvert Article VI of theConstitution by requiring a religious test, even by indirection. For if they disagree with that safeguard, they should be openly working to repeal it.I want a Chief Executive whose public acts are responsible to all and obligated to none, whocan attend any ceremony, service, or dinner his office may appropriately require of him to fulfill. and whose fulfillment of his Presidential office is not limited or conditioned by any religious oath, ritual, or obligation.This is the kind of America I believe in andthis is the kind of America Ifought for inthe South Pacific, and the kind my brother died for inEurope. No one suggested thenthat we might have a divided loyalty, that we did not believe in liberty, or that we belonged to a disloyal group that threatened I quote "the freedoms for which our forefathers died."And in fact this is the kind of America for whichour forefathers did die when they fled here toescape religious test oaths that denied office tomembers of less favored churches when they foughtfor the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom andwhen they fought atthe shrine I visited today, the Alamo. For side by side with Bowie andCrockett died Fuentes, and McCafferty, and Bailey, and Badillo, and Carey butno one knows whether they were Catholics or not, for there was no religious test there.I ask you tonight to follow in that tradition to judge me on the basis of 14 years in the Congress, on my declared stands against an Ambassador to the Vatican, against unconstitutional aid to parochial schools, and against any boycott of the public schools which I attended myself. And instead of doing this, do not judge me on the basis of these pamphlets and publications we allhave seen that carefully select quotations out of contextfrom the statements of Catholic churchleaders, usually in other countries, frequently in othercenturies, and rarely relevant to any situation here. And always omitting, of course, the statement of the AmericanBishops in 1948 which strongly endorsed ChurchState separation, and whichmore nearly reflects the views of almost every American Catholic.I do not consider these other quotations binding upon my public acts. Why should you?But let me say, with respect to other countries, thatI am wholly opposed to the State beingused by any religious group, Catholic or Protestant, to compel, prohibit, or prosecute the free exercise of any other religion. And that goes forany persecution, at any time, by anyone, in anycountry. And I hope that you and I condemn with equal fervor those nations which deny their Presidency to Protestants, and those which deny itto Catholics. And rather than cite themisdeeds of those who differ, I would also cite the record of the Catholic Church in such nations as France and Ireland, and the independence of such statesmen as De Gaulle and Adenauer.But let me stress again that these are my views.For contrary to commonnewspaper usage, I am not the Catholic candidate for President.I am the Democratic Party's candidate for President who happens alsoto be a Catholic.I do notspeak for my church on public matters. and the church does not speak for me. Whatever issue may come before me as President, if I should be elected,on birth control,divorce, censorship, gambling or any other subject, I willmake my decisionin accordance with these views in accordance with what myconscience tells me to be in the nationalinterest, and without regard to outside religiouspressure or dictates. And no power or threatof punishmentcould cause me to decide otherwise.But if the time should ever come andI do not concede any conflict to be remotely possiblewhen my office would require me toeither violate my conscience or violate the nationalinterest, then I would resignthe office. and I hope any conscientious public servant would dolikewise.But I do not intend to apologize for these viewsto my critics of either Catholic or Protestantfaith. nor do I intend to disavow either my views or my churchin order to win this election.If I should lose on the real issues, I shall return to my seatin the Senate, satisfied thatI'd tried my best and was fairly judged.But if this election is decided on the basis that 40 million Americans losttheir chance of being President on the day they were baptized, thenit is the whole nation that will be the loser, in the eyes of Catholics and nonCatholics around the world, in the eyes of history, and in the eyes of our own people.But if, on the other hand, I should winthis election, then I shall devote every effort of mind and spirit tofulfilling the oath of the Presidency practicallyidentical, I might add, with theoathI have taken for 14 years in the Congress. For withoutreservation, I can, “solemnly swear thatI will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and willto the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitutionso help me God.”。

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