評(píng)論
打印
Joined together
兩者結(jié)合在一起
they form a sacred trust that holds the basis of our democratic society
構(gòu)成了維持民主社會(huì)根基的神圣信賴
But let me tell you that trust is perpetually vulnerable
但我要告訴大家 這種信賴是很脆弱的
to the tyrannical tendencies of monarchs, mobs, and majorities
特別是在君主 暴民 多數(shù)的專橫傾向下
And lately, we have seen those tendencies manifest themselves too often
最近 這種傾向經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)在
both on college campuses and in our society
我們的大學(xué)校園和社會(huì)中
That's the bad news
這是個(gè)壞消息
and unfortunately, I think both Harvard
而且很不幸的是 哈佛
and my own city of New York, have been witnesses to this trend
以及我自己的城市紐約 也都見證過這種趨勢(shì)
First, for New York City
首先 在紐約市
Several years ago, as you may remember
你們可能記得 幾年前
some people tried to stop the
有些人強(qiáng)烈反對(duì)
development of a mosque a few blocks from the World Trade Center site
在世貿(mào)中心舊址幾個(gè)街區(qū)遠(yuǎn)的地方建一座清真寺
It was an emotional issue
這是一個(gè)情感問題
and polls showed that
民意調(diào)查顯示
two-thirds of Americans were against a mosque being built there
超過2/3的美國人都反對(duì)在那里建清真寺
Even the Anti-Defamation League
即便是反誹謗聯(lián)盟
widely regarded as the country's most ardent defender of religious freedom
這一被公認(rèn)為全國宗教自由最熱情的捍衛(wèi)者
declared its opposition to the project
也毫不掩飾對(duì)該項(xiàng)目的反對(duì)
The opponents held rallies and demonstrations
反對(duì)者進(jìn)行著集會(huì)和示威
They denounced the developers
譴責(zé)開發(fā)者
and they demanded that city government stop its construction
要求市政府停止這項(xiàng)工程
That was their right and we protected their right to protest
這是他們的權(quán)利 我們保護(hù)他們的抗議權(quán)
But they could not have been more wrong
但他們的觀點(diǎn)絕對(duì)是錯(cuò)誤的
And we refused to cave in to those demands
我們拒絕屈從
The idea that government would single out a particular religion
政府如果單獨(dú)選出某種宗教
and block its believers and only its believers
阻止而且只阻止其信徒
from building a house of worship in a particular area
在特定地點(diǎn)建立宗教活動(dòng)場所
is diametrically opposed to the moral principles that gave rise to our great nation
這絕對(duì)是和偉大美國的道德原則背道而馳的
and the constitutional protections that have sustained it
這應(yīng)是憲法保護(hù)所不允許的
Our union of 50 states rests on the union of two values
美國這個(gè)五十州聯(lián)邦依賴于兩大價(jià)值的結(jié)合
freedom and tolerance
自由和寬容
