We Are America: Rev. Lake's speech in DC

I’d like to start with a moment of silence in honor of Coretta Scott King, a woman who stood for gay rights and the rights of all people.

Thank God for our ancestors. Thank God for the people who come before us.

We're here. It's been a long journey. Road-blocks, set backs, accomplishments, but we're here. We are here standing for our right to free speech. We are here standing for our right to protest wars of aggression. We are standing up for those who support us, but who are no longer able to be with us for whatever reason. We are here, and we believe. 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 rally for World Can't Wait, 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. And we were here for one thing: to demand that our country stop being defiled by President Bush and all who keep him in power.

Over the weeks of the hard work, and exhausting trips, and endless meetings, and all the things that we had to do to bring us to this point, I came to know our movement inside out. I came to know the people connected with our movement. Everyday people. Courageous people. People who were risking their personal safety to sustain our movement. People who made financial sacrifices to work toward making today a success. 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, and justice, and equality in this world. They believe in what America actually stands for. We believe in what America actually stands for. We believe.

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 Religious Reich and their president stands for.

We believe in what America actually 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 amendment 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. It 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 actually stands for. We believe we can change, all while we know that everything is stacked against that 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. We face being accosted by the police because we have the nerve to hand out fliers. This is the kind of country the Religious Reich represents.

We represent America. We represent America. 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 poor and black areas brought about the death and suffering of thousands of people. But how many of us know about our Muslims brothers and sisters who have been arrested or deported solely because of their ethnicity and 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 what America stands for. 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 torture.

Stop intimidation.

Stop the spying.

Stop the lying.

Stop the aspiring theocrat.

Stop the pollution of our planet.

Stop the war.

Stop the inequality in health care.

Stop the decline of our educational system.

Stop the disrespect of our elders.

It is up to us stop the verbal and physical violation of our women and our girls.

It is up to us stop the debasement and contamination of our men and our boys.

It is up to us to stop the decay of our government.

It is up to us to work for prison reform.

It is up to us to stop the fanatics from imposing ‘abstinence only’ as the answer to 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.

I have a message for Bush. Bush, we believe in America. We believe in what America stands for. We hold the moral high ground.

We demand that you leave.

We demand that you step down.

We demand that you take your program of hate, your program of misogyny, homophobia, religious oppression, aggression, destruction, exploitation, your program racism, and neglect with you.

Copyright 2006, Reverend Deborah Elandus Lake