Text of John Kerry's Speech on Faith

And, amidst the howling wind and rushing flood waters, you could practically feel Americans' emotional recognition -- our shock -- at just how far we still have to climb to fulfill our Christian responsibility to care for the worst off among us. Jesus told us "Whatever you do to the least of these, you do unto me," but when the great flood of our time came, we weren't ready. Interestingly, the most rapid and effective response came from the faith community, but as a country, we left people to die on rooftops and in hospital beds. The failure should sting and it should shame all of us, but it should also bring a renewed sense of mission: We've lapsed in our covenant between the people and the government, between rich and poor people and between rich and poor countries, that nobody should be left behind. No American, no country, no human being.

You -- each of you -- can do something about this and get involved in a multitude of ways including joining something like the ONE Campaign. And for those who ask the inevitable question, 'why does that matter to me here at home as a citizen of our country?' With the right political leadership, we can end extreme poverty in your lifetime if we commit the resources to do it.

Evangelical Christians have honored the best traditions of Christianity and of patriotism in tirelessly fighting to end the genocide in Darfur. I've often referred to the words of the Epistle of St. James 2:17: "faith without works is dead" -- and Christian work in Darfur -- day in and day out to make sure that "never again" isn't just a convenient lie we tell ourselves to sleep better at night- is the embodiment of that Christian -- of that American -- ideal.

Christians like Rick Warren are also working to fight AIDS. How can we sit idly by when this plague of our time sweeps across the world? How can we not do everything in our power to make sure that our life-saving treatments are spread far and wide to those in need? There are forty million cases today, and last year 3 million people died from AIDS. Jesus did not "heal the sick" only if they had the money to pay for it, only if they could afford antiretroviral drugs -- no, he sought out people in need. And we need to do the same today.

A second common challenge arises from the deep concern virtually all people of faith are enjoined to maintain toward sustaining and protecting God's first creation. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians 10:20 says, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything on it." The Prophet Isaiah (66:2) says, "has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?"

These days we face problems on a biblical scale -- floods, storms, plagues, the destruction of entire cities. And it is my belief that confronting manmade climate change is, in the long run, one of the greatest challenges we face.

Evangelicals talk about "creation-care" -- that any damage that we do to God's world is an offense against God. God called us to be stewards of the earth and its creatures, and since most of the climate change problem is human induced, its' pretty clear that we haven't done that good of a job.

The warnings are loud and clear for all to see -- rising waters, melting caps, storms of ever-greater proportions, and ironclad scientific evidence.

Surely this is an issue where people of faith can come together and demand action. I can assure you, when I cast a vote in the Senate on environmental issues, I try to act as a steward of the earth.

A third area where we can find common ground is on one of the most emotional cultural issues of all: abortion. Obviously the issue of abortion has been enormously divisive, but there is also no denying there is common ground. There are 1.3 million abortions each year in America.

Everyone can agree that that is too many and on a shared goal of reducing the need for abortion in the first place. And I believe our first step is to unite and accept the responsibility of making abortion rare by focusing on prevention and by supporting pregnant women and new parents.

Even as a supporter of Roe V. Wade, I am compelled to acknowledge that the language both sides use on this subject can be unfortunately misleading and unconstructive. Unfortunately, this debate has been framed in an overly partisan setting with excessive language on both sides -- none of which does justice to the depth of moral conviction held by all. There's been demonization rather than debate. Distrust rather than discussion. Everyone is worse off for it. Instead of making enemies, we need to make progress.