I heard the inaugural address I have always dreamed of hearing a few Sundays ago.

[ehrnst]

A few Sundays ago, the Minister of our UU Congregation gave "his" inaugural address upon the occasion of his election as President of the US. It was interrupted buy applause several times, and received a standing ovation from our congregation, and I have never felt more proud of being a UU.

http://www.uucava.org/sermons/102608_new_age.htm

"01 20 09 - A New Age"

My fellow Americans.

Today, as I am inaugurated as the forty-forth president of the United States, I want to express my deep gratitude for being elected to this high office during one of the most difficult times in our nation's history. Yes, let us look to this day, a day of hope, a day of change for our nation.

I also want to give thanks to my new religious community, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Virginia, and my spiritual advisor and speech writer, the Rev. Michael McGee. Be assured that my conversion to Unitarian Universalism will not affect my administration's commitment to the separation of church and state – in fact, this is one of the tenets of Unitarian Universalism – but as with all of our faiths, mine will be an essential source of inspiration and support for me in the days to come. And boy will I need it!

For too long fear has reigned in our nation, fear of those who are different, fear for our families future, fear for our nation and planet.

Let me be honest: I will not be the savior of our country – that is beyond any individual's ability – but I will do whatever is in my power to renew faith in our capacity to overcome the many obstacles that prevent us from being the great nation we can be.

As frightening as this time is, I believe that it offers us great opportunities to renew, reinvent, and restructure our nation.

We have the opportunity to cast aside the dysfunctions of our economic and political system and to build a new society that will live out the highest values and principles of our nation's heritage and our collective faiths. To do that we must set aside our differences and pull together as a people, as red states and blue, white collar and blue collar, gay and straight, all faiths and races.

We cannot face the dangers of the future unless we are united in our vision and prepared to sacrifice equally to accomplish that vision.

Here is what I hope we can achieve in the next eight years.

My first priority will be to uphold my constitutional responsibility to protect the American people from enemies, foreign and domestic.

The previous administration sought to protect us from an exaggerated threat of Islamic terrorism while making us vulnerable to the very real threats of economic and ecological collapse, the lack of adequate medical care, and the dehumanization of minorities.

This government will make it our highest priority to protect the most vulnerable in our society, and I'm not talking about bankers, stock brokers, and CEOs. I'm talking about our children, the elderly, the poor, and minorities. The way these citizens are treated is a direct reflection of our very soul as a nation, and we have not been doing well.

From this day forward every decision we make as a government will be made with our children and the next seven generations as the primary concern. We will not pass on our indebtedness, our wars, and a depleted planet to those who come after us, but instead we will leave a legacy of abundance, peace, and ecological balance.

Our goal will be to provide for every child a home to live in, adequate food and nutrition, medical care, and a quality education. Every available resource will go to achieving this goal, and we will not stop until we succeed.

It is unacceptable that one in five American children lives in poverty. It is unacceptable that one million children are homeless.

It is unacceptable that nearly 10 million children are uninsured.

It is unacceptable that even one child goes to bed hungry much less the millions who suffer from an inadequate diet, malnutrition, or chronic food shortages.

Let us use this economic crisis to reject an economy based on the fear of not being able to provide for your family and the greed of a few who have great power over the many. No longer will corporations accumulate massive wealth for a few at the expense of the poor. No longer will corporations manipulate profits without strict regulation by the government. No longer will corporations use corruption to take advantage of the public. And no longer will corporations use quasi-legal bribery to elect and support those who run for office. Corporations will be accountable to our communities because a democracy is based on the affirmation that those who are most affected by a decision should be the ones to make that decision.

I will gather together the best economists in the world along with religious, political, and social leaders to redesign our economy with new priorities. Instead of accumulating wealth at all costs and producing possessions that we don't need, our economy will ensure that all people who are able to work have jobs that will enable them to support their families and with those jobs access to good health care and decent housing.

My administration will implement the two-percent solution: 2% of every dollar in the national budget, or roughly what we have already wasted on the Iraq invasion and occupation, will go to the four biggest issues threatening the national security and prosperity of the United States: universal health care; equal education for all, a living wage for all, and sustainable reliable pensions for all.

This is also an opportunity for America to rejoin the international community. We must reject our role as planetary bullies and become full and cooperative partners with the nations of the world. To do that we must commit ourselves to never again invading another nation preemptively. We must commit ourselves never to deprive others of their basic human rights. We will never participate in torture again, and our base at Guantanamo will be turned over to the people of Cuba as an offer of friendship after many years of isolation. No longer will 9/11 be used as a rationale for defeating terrorism by becoming more like them.

I will immediately sign the Charter of the Rights of the child. Our nation will join the International Criminal Court and abide by their rulings. And I hereby issue an official apology to the world for the debacle in Iraq, and we commit to helping rebuild that devastated nation. No longer will American foreign policy act more in the interests of international corporations than democratic ideals.

And we will no longer support a globalization strategy that increases the economic advantages of the most powerful nations at the expense of those who have little power and money.

Two billion human beings live on less than $2 a day, and almost a billion children live in poverty. This is the war we must fight, the war against worldwide poverty and deprivation if we wish to be the moral leaders of the world. And we will spread democracy not with the barrel of a gun but by modeling democracy at its best.

I believe our greatest hope for peace and prosperity is the United Nations. Though the UN is flawed, it's our best possibility for working in cooperation with the rest of the world. By paying in full all of our dues from the past and the present, and by working to end the veto power of a handful of the most powerful nations, we will help enable this great organization to resolve many of our planet's problems. Our military will be withdrawn from Iraq as quickly as possible, and we will ask the UN to deploy peacekeeping troops to end the bloodshed in that country and to arbitrate a peaceful end to all hostilities in Iraq as well as the rest of the Mideast.

Our planet Earth is also in great peril, but we now have the opportunity to develop a new relationship with our environment that will not only save us from extinction but will greatly enrich our lives. We will not pass this crisis on to the next generation. We must recognize global change as the most critical issue of our time.

But it will not be easy. It will require a new spirit of humility, sacrifice, and a wise plan for the future.

No longer will we measure prosperity by how much natural capital we re able to burn and how many smokestacks we re able to build without consideration of the biological diversity we are destroying and the manufacture of toxic wastes that requires thousands of generations to dissipate. No longer will we practice inter-generational tyranny by leaving behind a toxic, depleted, insecure, world for those who follow us.

Instead we will develop a strategy for change that grows out of humility and a love for all the children of all the species of all time.

To do this we need to recognize that the Earth is a mega-organism upon which all of us depend for our survival. And we will listen to the native peoples who remind us that as a living part of the earth, we cannot harm her without hurting ourselves.

This will take a radical transformation in our spirit and life style.

We will commit to decreasing our nation's carbon footprint by 10% a year for the next 10 years so that we will be independent of fossil fuels by that time. We will do that by taxing carbon output and giving generous tax breaks to alternative forms of energy development.

I've learned from the activist Van Jones that it is possible to fight pollution and poverty at the same time. As he suggests, we will "green the ghetto first" by training low-income citizens to build urban farms, rooftop gardens, and solar energy machines.

"If we are willing to invest in new clean and green jobs, we'll save money and the soul of the country." We will leave no people behind in our economy or our nation. We will rebuild and green New Orleans and the inner cities.

All of us must do our part to make these changes. I would like to recognize one group that should be a model for us all. The Green Sanctuary Task Force of my own Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington has worked hard to green their church and their community and for their work they have just been awarded the Green Sanctuary certification by the Unitarian Universalist Association. Let's congratulate them! They will celebrate that great achievement at the First Friday service on November 7, and they've invited the entire planet.

In this time of crisis we have the opportunity for a new American Renaissance that once again celebrates science and the arts, affirms all faiths and races, and envisions a single interconnected civilization emerging on Earth. No longer will our country be a place where, “One of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the great struggle for independence.” All of our citizens are invited to the table to have conversations about the future of our country and how we can affirm the personhood of every individual.

I ask you to stand up for the millions of people in our nation and the billions in the world who are being denied their personhood on a daily basis: people of color, women, children, gays, the poor, immigrants, those with minority religious or political beliefs. We need the courage to defend the personhood of all people and to promote the sacredness of all human beings. Gay people will have the right to marry in America. Immigrants whether legal or illegal will be treated with dignity and respect, and we will tear down any and all walls that separate them from the rest of society. Institutional racism will be dismantled as quickly as possible. We will no longer kill people to teach people not to kill. And women will continue to be able to choose whether they give birth or not.

Yes, change is coming. A new Renaissance is coming. This is a time of great challenge and opportunity. We have the opportunity to change the world into a beloved community where the inherent worth and dignity of every person is affirmed, where we will take our place in the world community and in the interdependent web of all existence. I invite all Americans to join me in this great adventure.

May the Spirit of Life bless America and the Earth!

http://www.uucava.org/sermons/102608_new_age.htm