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2018年5月3日，美国华盛顿，美国总统特朗普（Donald Trump）在白宫出席全国祈祷日仪式，并签署《建立白宫信心与机会倡议》宣言。全国祈祷日，定于每年五月的第一个星期四，1952 年由国会确定为节日。每年的全国祈祷日，美国总统都会签署一份公告，鼓励全体美国人在这一天祈祷。
Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Please. Thank you very much. What a day. What a beautiful day. And our country is doing very well. You’ll see some very good announcements very shortly. It’s wonderful to be here on this glorious spring morning as we celebrate the National Day of Prayer at the White House in the Rose Garden. (Applause.) I want to thank Vice President Mike Pence and Karen for joining us. Very special people. Thank you very much. (Applause.) We are truly blessed to have a Vice President and a Second Lady who believe in the power of prayer and the glory of God. And they do believe. I’m with them a lot; they believe. (Applause.) It’s good. Thank you, Mike. Thanks, also, to the members of the Cabinet who have joined us today, along with so many amazing faith leaders from across the country, including my good friend Paula White, who’s done such an incredible job. Paula. Paula. Stand, Paula. Thank you, Paula. (Applause.) And the President of the National Day of Prayer, Dr. Ronnie Floyd. Thank you. Thank you, Doctor. Thank you. Thanks, Ronnie. (Applause.) I especially want to recognize Cissie Graham. And I will now add that word “Lynch” because I always call her Cissie Graham, but it’s really Cissie Graham Lynch. You like it that way better, right? Don’t you think we — I like it that way, too. I like it that way because you’re married to a great gentleman. A fantastic man. So, Cissie, thank you very much for being here. We appreciate it very much. (Applause.) Priest Narayanachar, Sister Bingham, Chaplain Agbere, Rabbi Shemtov, Cardinal Wuerl, and the Hope Christian Church Choir. I heard you, by the way, right inside the Oval Office. That was beautiful. That was great music. Thank you. Thank you very much. (Applause.) As we gather this morning, our thoughts also turn to the memory of a man who awakened the light of God in the hearts of millions of America’s pastors. And that’s the great, legendary, wonderful Billy Graham. Great, great man. Great. (Applause.) So, Cissie, I want to thank you for carrying on your grandfather’s incredible, towering legacy. Today, we remember the words of Reverend Graham, “Prayer is the key that opens [to] us the treasures of God’s mercies and blessings.” Always beautiful. And when he said it, it meant so much. When I say it, it means something. But I liked when he said it better. (Laughter.) Right? I think he did that a little better than I do. Reverend Graham’s words remind us that prayer has always been at the center of American life, because America is a nation of believers. Right? That’s very true. (Applause.) The prayers of religious believers helped gain our independence, and the prayers of religious leaders like the Reverend Martin Luther King — great man — helped win the long struggle for civil rights. Faith has shaped our families, and it’s shaped our communities. It’s inspired our commitment to charity and our defense of liberty. And faith has forged the identity and the destiny of this great nation that we all love. (Applause.) Americans of faith have built the hospitals that care for our sick, the homes that tend to our elderly, and the charities that house the orphaned, and they minister — and they really do, they minister to the poor, and so beautifully and with such love. We are proud of our religious heritage. And as President, I will always protect religious liberty. We’ve been doing it. We’ve been doing it. (Applause.) Last year on this day, I took executive action to prevent the Johnson Amendment — a disaster — from interfering with our First Amendment rights. I was so proud of that. I’ve been saying from the beginning. You know that. (Applause.) I was saying for a long time we’re going to do that. Across the government, we have taken action to defend the religious conscience of doctors, nurses, teachers, students, and groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor. (Applause.) In January of this year, I was proud to be the first President to stand here in the Rose Garden to address the March for Life. A very special day. (Applause.) And my administration has spoken out against religious persecution around the world, including the persecution of many, many Christians. What’s going on is horrible. And we’re taking action. We are taking action. (Applause.) We condemn all crimes against people of faith, and today we are launching another historic action to promote religious freedom. I will soon be signing an executive order to create a faith initiative at the White House. (Applause.) Thank you very much. The faith initiative will help design new policies that recognize the vital role of faith in our families, our communities, and our great country. This office will also help ensure that faith-based organizations have equal access to government funding and the equal right to exercise their deeply held beliefs. We take this step because we know that, in solving the many, many problems and our great challenges, faith is more powerful than government, and nothing is more powerful than God. (Applause.) With us today is a living reminder of this truth. His name is Jon Ponder, from Las Vegas, Nevada. Where’s Jon? Come on up here, Jon. Get up here, Jon. (Applause.) Jon grew up without his father. As he tells it, “My mother was strong, but she wasn’t able to keep us out of the gangs and off the streets.” Right? Jon was in and out of jail for years until, at age 38, he was arrested for bank robbery. You don’t look like a bank robber, Jon. (Laughter.) He’s come a long way. Jon soon ended up in federal prison, relegated to solitary confinement. That’s where God found him. Jon began to read the Bible and listen to Christian radio. Right? (Applause.) Incredible. One morning, at 2 a.m., he woke up to the voice of the great Billy Graham. Reverend Graham’s words came through the airwaves, “Jesus wants to be Lord of your life.” That night, Jon dedicated his life to Christ. (Applause.) He spent the rest of his time in prison praying, studying the Bible, and bringing the Lord to his fellow inmates. The day after Jon’s release, a visitor knocked on his door. It was the man who put him in jail, FBI Special Agent Richard Beasley — who is here. Richard. Come on up, Richard. (Applause.) “I want you to know that I’ve been praying for you very strongly,” he said, that, “God called me to the FBI in part because of you, Jon.” The two are now lifelong friends. Jon, do you like him?
PONDER: I love him. THE PRESIDENT: You love him? That’s nice. (Applause.) That’s beautiful. Jon runs a ministry that has helped more than 2,000 former inmates rejoin society, and he’s the talk of the country. The job Jon does is incredible. Jon and Richard, you are a living testament to the power of prayer. (Applause.) Your story reminds us that prayer changes hearts and transforms lives. It uplifts the soul, inspires action, and unites us all as one nation, under God. So important. And we say it here. You know, a lot of people — (applause) — they don’t say it. But you know what? They’re starting to say it more. Just like we’re starting to say, “Merry Christmas” when that day comes around. (Applause.) You notice the big difference between now and two or three years ago? It was — Paula, it was going in the other direction rapidly. Right? Now it’s straight up. Our country was founded on prayer. Our communities are sustained by prayer. And our nation will be renewed by hard work, a lot of intelligence, and prayer. (Applause.) Today we gather to remember this truth: We thank God for the faith of our people. We praise God for the blessings of freedom. And we ask God to forever bless this magnificent land that we all love so much. America, thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States. Thank you, everybody. (Applause.) Thank you very much.
非常感谢大家，谢谢。多么美好的一天啊！我们的国家做得很好。你们很快就会看到一些好消息了。 在这美好的春日，我们在白宫玫瑰花园一起庆祝全国祈祷日，这真是太棒了！（掌声） 我要感谢副总统迈克·彭斯和他的夫人凯伦的到场。真的是很特别的人，谢谢你们。（掌声）我们真的很荣幸拥有一位相信祈祷的力量和上帝的荣耀的副总统和第二夫人。他们真的信。我和他们相处了很久，他们真的信。（掌声）这很好，谢谢你，迈克。 我还要感谢今天到场的内阁成员，以及来自全国各地的了不起的信仰领袖们，包括我的好朋友宝拉·怀特，她完成了非凡的工作。宝拉，站起来。谢谢你，宝拉。（掌声）还有这次全国祈祷日的主席，罗尼·弗洛伊德博士。谢谢你，博士。（掌声） 我特别想要认识珍妮·格拉罕（译注：葛培理的孙女）。我现在要加上“林奇”这个词，因为我经常称呼她为茜茜·格拉罕，但她其实叫茜茜·格拉罕·林奇。你更喜欢这样叫你，对吧？你不觉得我也喜欢这样叫你么。我喜欢这样叫因为你嫁给了一位优秀的绅士，一个了不起的人。茜茜，谢谢你今天的到来。非常感谢。（掌声） Narayanachar祭司、宾汉姆姊妹、Agbere 牧师、Shemtov 拉比、Wuerl 枢机，还有“希望基督教会唱诗班”。顺便说一句，我在椭圆办公室里听过你们的歌唱。那真的很动听，真是美妙的音乐。谢谢，非常感谢。（掌声） 今晨，我们齐聚一堂，我们也追忆一位点燃数百万美国人心中的上帝之光的牧师。他就是伟大而传奇的葛培理。伟大、多么伟大的人。真的伟大。（掌声）茜茜，我想感谢你继承了你祖父那非凡的、令人仰望的遗产。 今天，我们还记得葛培理牧师的话：“祷告是我们打开上帝怜悯和祝福的宝藏的钥匙。”一直都那么美好。他说这句话意味深长，我说这句话的时候就差了那么点意思。但我还是更喜欢他说的。（笑声）是不是？我觉得他做得比我好一点。 葛培理牧师的话提醒我们，祈祷一直是美国生活的中心，因为美国是一个信仰者组成的国度（a nation of believers）。是吗？这太对了。（掌声） 信徒们的祷告帮助我们获得了独立，像伟大的马丁·路德·金牧师一样的宗教领袖的祷告帮助我们赢得了民权方面的长期斗争。信仰塑造了我们的家庭和社区。它激发了我们对慈善的承诺，鼓舞我们捍卫自由。信仰还造就了我们所爱的这个国家的认同和命运。（掌声） 有信仰的美国人建造了治愈我们病痛的医院，照料老年人的家园，以及收容孤儿的慈善机构，他们真的救济了穷人。这是多么美好，多么丰盛的爱！ 我们为我们的宗教遗产感到自豪。作为总统，我将永远保护宗教自由。我们一直在行动。我们一直在行动。（掌声）去年的这一天，我采取了行政措施来防止约翰逊修正案——简直是场灾难——干扰我们第一修正案的权利。我为此感到自豪。你知道的，我一开始就在说这件事。（掌声）我很久以前就说过我们要这样做。 在政府里，我们已经采取行动，保卫我们的医生、护士、老师、学生，以及像安贫小姊妹会（译注：一家天主教扶贫组织，主要帮助老年人）这样的团体的宗教良知。（掌声） 今年一月，我很骄傲地成为了第一个站在玫瑰园对 “为生命游行”运动（译注：March for Life, 一个自罗诉韦德案后每年在华盛顿特区举办的游行，抗议堕胎行为及其合法性）的人们讲话的总统。很特别的一天。（掌声） 本届政府强烈反对世界各地的宗教迫害，包括对许多、许多基督徒的迫害。那真的太恐怖了。而且我们还在采取行动，我们正在采取行动。（掌声） 我们谴责一切针对有信仰者的犯罪，今天我们还在发起一项促进宗教自由的历史性行动。我很快会签署一项行政命令，在白宫内创造一个信仰倡议（掌声）谢谢你们。 信仰倡议将有助于我们制定新的政策，以承认信仰在我们的家庭、社区和在这个伟大国家之中的至关重要的作用。该办公室还将确保宗教组织在政府资金和权利方面得到平等的对待，以保守他们强烈的信仰。 我们之所以这样做，是因为我们知道，就解决许多问题和重大的挑战而言，信仰比政府更强大，没有谁比上帝更强大。（掌声） 今天和我们在一起的，还有一位关于这一事实的活的见证者。他叫乔恩·潘达（Jon Ponder），来自内华达州拉斯维加斯。你在哪儿呢，乔恩？来吧，快来这里，乔恩。 乔恩的成长没有父亲的陪伴。正如他所说的：“我的妈妈很强壮，但她没法把我拉出帮派和街头。”是这样吗？乔恩直到 38 岁因抢劫银行被捕之前，一直进出监狱。乔恩，你看起来可不像是个银行劫匪。（笑声）他真的变了很多。 乔恩最后被投进了联邦监狱，被安排单独监禁。在那里，上帝找到了他。乔恩开始阅读圣经、听基督教电台。是吗？（掌声）真不可思议！ 在某一天的凌晨 2 点，他醒来了，听到了伟大的葛培理的声音。葛培理牧师的声音通过电波传来：“耶稣想成为你生命的主。”是夜，乔恩将自己的生命献给了基督。（掌声） 他把他在监狱里的闲暇时间用来祈祷、学习圣经，并将主带给他的狱友。就在乔恩获释后的第二天，有人敲了他的门。这人正是将他投入监狱的 FBI 特工理查德·比斯利。他也在场。到这里来，理查德。（掌声） “我想让你知道我一直非常虔诚地为你祈祷”，理查德说，“上帝把我召唤到 FBI ，某种程度上是因为你，乔恩。”现在他们两人成了一生的朋友。 乔恩，你爱他吗？ （乔恩·）潘达：我爱他。 总统：你爱他？那真的太好了。（掌声）太好了。 乔恩经营着一个已帮助2000 多名前囚犯重返社会的部门，他是我们国家的名人了。乔恩的工作是非凡的。 乔恩和理查德，你们是祈祷的力量的活见证。（掌声）你们的故事提醒我们，祈祷能改变心灵、重塑人生。它提升了灵魂，激发了行动，并将我们团结在一起，在上帝之下合众为一。这很重要。 我们在这里说这些事。你知道，有很多人——（掌声）——他们不说这些。你知道吗，他们也开始说了。就像圣诞节要到来的时候，我们开始说“圣诞快乐”（掌声）你们注意到现在和两三年前的区别了吗？宝拉，它现在正迅速向另一个方向发展。不是吗？现在它直线上升。 我们的国家因祈祷而建立，我们的社区因祈祷而稳固。我们的国家将因努力工作、智慧和祈祷重获新生。（掌声） 今天我们聚集在一起，来记住这个真理：我们感谢上帝对我们的信任。我们赞美上帝祝福我们的自由。我们祈求上帝永远保佑这片我们所热爱的壮丽的土地。 美利坚，谢谢你。上帝保佑你。上帝保佑合众国。谢谢你们诸位。（掌声）非常感谢你们。
President Trump speaks during a National Day of Prayer event in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 3, 2018, in Washington. |
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