“People of faith should not invoke the power of the state to decide what everyone can believe or think or read or do. In such cases, like abortion or prayer or prohibition or sexual identity, the proper role of religion is to appeal to the free conscience of each person, not the coercive rule of secular law.” PeopleThinkingShouldBelievePersonsStatesLawPrayerRolesCasesAtheismIdentityConscienceAppealsAbortionSecularProhibitionInvoke Author:Edward Kennedy
“I believe that religious witness should not mobilize public authority to impose a view where a decision is inherently private in nature or where people are deeply divided about whether it is... Americans are plainly and persistently divided about abortion and the fiat of government cannot settle the issue as a matter of conscience or of conduct.” PeopleShouldBelieveMatterGovernmentI BelieveReligiousDecisionViewsIssuesAtheismAuthorityConsciencePositive AtheismWitnessSettlingAbortionDivided Author:Edward Kennedy
“If Saddam's regime and survival are threatened [by invasion], he will have nothing to lose, and may use everything at his disposal... If weapons of mass destruction land on Israeli soil, killing innocent civilians, the experts I have consulted believe Israel will retaliate, and possibly with nuclear weapons... Nor can we rule out the possibility that Saddam would assault American forces with chemical or biological weapons.” IfsBelieveMayUseForceLosesLandPossibilityWeaponsSurvivalMassDestructionKillingIsraelNuclearInnocentExpertsSoilChemicalsRegimesNuclear WeaponsThreatenedAssaultSaddamCiviliansInvasionIsraeliWeapons Of Mass DestructionMass DestructionNothing To LoseBiological Weapons Author:Edward Kennedy
“My father enabled me to really believe in myself. And yet I've heard very similar stories - from many, many people. It's the way he approached his life. The way he approached his life - he was the eternal optimist. He was the most optimistic person that I've ever known. Even in the face of this diagnosis with cancer, he was filled with optimism about what he could do and what he could accomplish.” PeopleBelieveFatherOptimismCancerAccomplishOptimisticOptimist Author:Edward Kennedy
“The stark and tragic images of human suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina have reminded us yet again that civil rights and equal rights are still the great unfinished business of America. The suffering has been disproportionately borne by the weak, the poor, the elderly and infirm, and largely African-Americans, who were forced by poverty, illness, unequal opportunity to stay behind and bear the brunt of the storm's winds and floods. I believe that kind of disparate impact is morally wrong in this, the richest country in the world.” WorldBelieveKindCountrySufferingOpportunityI BelievePoorPovertyEqualWeakIllnessCivil RightsTragicFloodEqual RightsEqual OpportunityKatrinaHuman SufferingHurricane Katrina Author:Edward Kennedy
“I believe that the Constitution is not hostile to the idea that national problems can be solved at the national level through the cooperative efforts of the three coequal branches of government, the Congress, the executive and courts. But not every president, not every legislator and not every judge agrees that the federal government has the power to address and to try to remedy the twin national problems of poverty and access to equal opportunity.” TryingBelieveProblemOpportunityI BelievePresidentEffortPovertyJudgingEqualConstitutionAgreeTwinsEqual Opportunity Author:Edward Kennedy
“We know the future will outlast all of us, but I believe that all of us will live on in the future we made.” KnowsBelieveMadeI BelieveCompassionStewardshipPublic LifeLiberty And Justice For All Author:Edward Kennedy
“For all my years in public life, I have believed that America must sail toward the shores of liberty and justice for all. There is no end to that journey, only the next great voyage. We know the future will outlast all of us, but I believe that all of us will live on in the future we make.” KnowsYearsBelieveEndsAmericaNextI BelieveJusticeLibertyJourneyShoreSailSailingVoyagesPublic LifeLife JourneyLiberty And JusticeJustice For AllLiberty And Justice For All Author:Edward Kennedy
“Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized – the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old... When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception.” ShouldBelieveHumansLooksChildrenWarEnoughMomentsWantedCertainI BelieveGrowsBornHuman BeingsResponsibilityPracticeRightsGenerationsStageErasHuman LifeDecentConceptionHaltThis GenerationUnwanted Author:Edward Kennedy
“Earlier this week ... scientists announced the completion of a task that once seemed unimaginable; and that is, the deciphering of the entire DNA sequence of the human genetic code. This amazing accomplishment is likely to affect the 21st century as profoundly as the invention of the computer or the splitting of the atom affected the 20th century. I believe that the 21st century will be the century of life sciences, and nothing makes that point more clearly than this momentous discovery. It will revolutionize medicine as we know it today.” KnowsBelieveHumansTodayScienceI BelieveWeekCenturyComputerDiscoveryTasksScientistMedicineInventionCodeAccomplishmentAffectedAtoms21st Century20th CenturyDnaSequenceCompletionUnimaginableSplitting Author:Edward Kennedy
