Today President Obama signed an order establishing a White House office of faith-based initiatives called the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He said that it was proper for the government to be providing help to Americans but the change will not come from government alone. He said the program would not show favoritism to any religious group and would adhere to the separation of church and state.
He said this at the National Prayer Breakfast:
"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 man." 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 Confucious 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."
Even though faith too often has been used "as a tool to divide us from one another," there is no religion in the world that is based on hatred.
COEXIST
4 comments:
you only live once......
That's certainly a positive step. It's more than we're getting out of Stephen Harper.
Kat
Diane -
Certainly a good starting point - now let's see if people can walk the walk and not just talk the talk.
squawk
Oh how I agree. The Bible says God IS love. Would that all the people of the world could understand and embrace this! If anyone preaches hate, he is not talking about God.
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