79-09-B4
- Main Page \ Reagan Radio Commentaries \ 1979
| << Previous Broadcast | Next Broadcast >> |
A Tale of Two Countries[edit]
Transcript[edit]Once, Joseph Stalin is said to have dismissed the Vatican by contemptuously asking, "How many divisions does the Pope Have?" Well, in recent weeks that question has been answered by Pope John Paul II . It has been a long time since we've seen a leader of such courage and such uncomprising dedication to simple morality; and to the belief that right does make might. On our TV screens we've seen the reaction to this kind of leadership. Wherever he went in his native land, the people of Poland came forth in huge numbers. There were crowds of 400,000, 500,000, one million and then five million, gathered from miles around even though they don't have the easy means of transportation we have. And they gathered knowing there was every possibility they were risking their livelihood and even their freedom. For 40 years the Polish people have lived under first, the Nazis and then the Soviets. For 40 years they have been ringed by tanks and guns. The voices behind those tanks and guns have told them there is no God. Now with the eyes of all the world on them they have looked past those menacing weapons and listened to the voice of one man who has told them there is a God and it is their unalienable right to freely worship that God. Will the Kremlin ever be the same again? Will any of us for that matter? Perhaps that one man -- the son of simple farm folk -- has made us aware that the world is crying out for a spiritual revival and for leadership. Perhaps this should be a tale of two countries. For on that very day when our newspapers reported that the Pope had been greeted by the largest crowd in his entire visit, they also reported that Mrs. Madelyn Murray O'Hare had launched another attack in here against our Judea-Christian traditions. Mrs. O'Hare, who successfully obtained through judicial rulings a ban on prayer in our public schools, has now decided she can't bear the pain of carrying coins which carry the inscription: "In God We Trust". She cites the Constitutional provision which calls for separation of church and state. Most of her fellow citizens believe the authors of the Constitution simply intended freedom to worship the God of our choice in the manner of our choosing; that we would not permit the establishment of a state church. Mrs. O'Hare invokes the first amendment of the Constitution which gives her the right to express her views and beliefs. It does not, however, give her the right to impose her beliefs on others. And it is that same first amendment that says Congress "shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Our country's motto is "In God We Trust". At the rate we're going, that motto may be the only thing of value on our coins. No one is trying to force this woman to believe in God, although I'm sure there are many who pray for her soul and even now and then, that she'll mind her own business. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
Details[edit]
| |||||||||||
Added Notes[edit] |
