Bush Step Down And Take Your Program With You!

Rev. Lake's speech as given at the Washington, DC national World Can't Wait demonstration on February 4, 2006.

Let us have a moment of silence in honor of the life and contributions of Coretta Scott King.

Thank God for our ancestors! Thank God for those who came before us!

We're here! It's been a long journey of road blocks, set backs, successes, meetings, and collaborations, but we're here. We are here standing up for our right to free speech. We are here standing up for our right to protest wars of aggression. We are here standing up for all those who support what we are doing, but are unable to be with us today. We are here, and we beieve. We believe we can make a difference. We believe that together we can drive Bush and everything he represents out of our house.

On November 2nd in Chicago when I first spoke at a World Can't Wait rally, I was struck by the people. I saw people in wheel chairs, and people in strollers. I saw people carrying oxygen tanks, and people carrying school books. I saw people representing all colors and backgrounds coming together with one thing in mind: We were determined to put an end to the way our country was being defiled. It was then that I knew I was part of a historical moment.

Over the weeks of the hard work, exhausting trips, and endless meetings that brought us to this point, I came to know our movement from the inside out. I came to know the people connected with our movement. Everyday people. Courageous people. People who were risking their personal safety to help sustain our movement. People who made financial sacrifices to work toward making today a success. I met people who have been working to end oppression and war most of their lives. Some had even passed the tradition of dissent on to the next generation in their families. Often these people, my colleagues in dissent, opened their homes and their lives to me, a stranger. They did this because they believe. They believe we can all have peace, justice, and equality in this world. They believe in what America actually stands for. We believe in what America actually stands for.

The Religious Reich and its president would have us believe in hate and homophobia. Just yesterday, there was a story in the news about an 18 year-old boy in Massachusetts who violated a gay bar and attacked three people with a gun and a hatchet. This is hate! This is homophobia! This is the kind of country the Religous Reich and its president stands for.

We believe in what America stands for. We believe in a better world, all while we know America is heading for disaster.

The Religious Reich and its president would have us believe in misogyny and the oppression of women. They are working to add an amemdment to our Constitution that will impose their version of family and marriage on the rest of us. They claim that civil marriage is a tradition that should be protected. Their marriage is a tradition. It is a tradition based on misogyny. Their marriage is a tradition that comes from the time in history when men legally claimed women and children as property. Biblical marriage is the same. It comes from the religious traditions by which men gave themselves the divine authority to claim women and children as property. This is the kind of tradition the Religious Reich and its president wants to change our Constitution to uphold.

We believe in what America stands for. We believe we can change, all while we know that everything is stacked against such change.

The Religious Reich and its president would have us believe in aggression and war. They use the "T" word to justify taking away our right to free speech, our right to disagree, and our right to assemble. When we come together to express our dissent, we face being herded into pens by the police. We face being accosted by the authorities for having the nerve to hand out fliers. When we come together to express our dissent, we face being threatened with arrest for standing on public sidewalks. This is the kind of country the Religious Reich and its president represents.

We represent what America stand for. We believe that everyone has the right to voice an opinion without fear of reprisal. We believe that oppression can be brought to an end, even as we see evidence of oppression all around us.

The Religious Reich and its president would have us believe in racism and religious intolerance. We all know about Katrina and how the neglect of the poor and black areas brought about the death and suffering of thousands of people. How many of us know about the thousands of Arabs and Muslims who have been arrested or deported soley because of their ethnicity or religious beliefs. This is racism! This is religious intolerance! This is what the Religious Reich and its president stands for.

We believe in what America stands for. We believe that neither the color of your skin, your ethnicity, nor your religious affiliation should make you guilty by association. We believe in America. It is up to us to stop the Religious Reich and its president from dictating what we should believe. It is up to us to stop them from changing our Constitution so that it supports their hateful brand of religiosity.

It is up to us to stop racism.
It is up to us to effectively address misogyny.
It is up to us to stop toture.
Stop intimidation.
Stop the spying.
Stop the lying.
Stop the aspiring theocrat.
Stop the pollution of our planet.
Stop the war.
Stop inequality in health care.
Stop the decline of our educational institutions.

It is up to us to stop the disrespect of our elders.
Stop the verbal and physical violation of our women and our girls.
Stop the degradation and contamination of our men and our boys.
Stop the decay of our government.
It is up to us to work for prison reform.
It is up to us to stop fanatics from imposing abstinence as the only answer to the spread of HIV and AIDS.

It is up to us, the believers, to stop Bush and all those who keep him in power through their silence, inaction, and back-room collaborations.

Bush, we have a message for you! We believe in America. We believe in what America stands for. We hold the moral high ground. We damand that you leave! We damand that you step down. We demand that you take your program of hate, misogyny, homophobia, religious oppression, aggression, destruction, exploitation, racism, and neglect with you.

Because we can't wait any longer. We won't wait any longer. The world can't wait any longer.