Thank you. Please, everyone have a seat. Giving all praise and honor to God, who brought us here this morning. 谢谢大家，请各位就座。我们把一切赞美和荣耀归给把我们带到今晨这里的上帝。
Thank you so much for our two outstanding co-chairs, Louie and Jan. And I have to say, I would have enjoyed a behind-the-scenes look at the two of these folks getting this breakfast organized this morning. But there does seem to be that sibling thing a little bit, Louie. They love each other, but they’ve got to go at each other a little bit. I, by the way, have always found Louie to be unbelievably gracious every time I’ve seen him. Now, I don’t watch TV, I’ve got to admit. 非常感谢两位出色的联合主席路易和简。说实话，我本来会很想看看他们如何在幕后筹办今天的早餐会。你们之间确实有一点兄妹般的相处方式：彼此相爱，却也要互相较劲。我一直觉得路易极其谦和；我不看电视，但他是个善良的人，也是很会讲故事的人。简妮丝刚刚提醒我，我们第一次见面是在我竞选公职初期的一场活动上。
But he is a good man and a great storyteller, and Janice was just reminding me the first time we saw each other was at one of my first events when I first ran for office. 今天能见到各位贵宾和朋友真是太好了。向总统、总理、商界和非营利组织领袖，我亲爱的朋友兼副总统乔·拜登，出席的内阁成员和每天辛勤工作的政府成员，以及我的夏威夷同乡致意。我要说明，我冲浪并不太好，但趴板冲浪还不错。
It’s wonderful to see all of the dignitaries and friends who are here today. To the Presidents, and Prime Ministers, the leaders of business and the nonprofit community; to my incredible friend and Vice President, Joe Biden; to my Cabinet members who are here and members of the administration who do such great work every single day; to my fellow Hawaiian, it is wonderful to see you. I should tell you that my surfing is not that good. I just want to be clear. But my bodysurfing is pretty good. 汉密尔顿：趴板冲浪很有趣。
Hamilton: Bodysurfing is fun. 总统：确实如此。也感谢拉吉·沙阿这位杰出的年轻领袖，以及参与筹办早餐会的戴尔·琼斯和所有人。显然，我也要感谢今天在场的每一位。你们让这次聚会成为可能。
The President: It is. And to Raj Shah, who is just such an incredible young leader and is out there every single day, I could not be more proud of his outstanding leadership at USAID. And it’s a good reminder -- it’s a good reminder of the dedicated public servants that I have the chance to interact with every single day. 还有两件事要感谢。我们为世界各地的军人祈祷，也感谢他们的服务；我们祈求他们平安回到家人身边。
And they do great work, don’t always get a lot of credit, sometimes get subject to the sort of criticism that you do when you’re in public life, but Raj is single-minded in terms of trying to help as many people as possible all around the world and is an extraordinary representative for our country. So I’m very, very proud of him -- although he does always make me feel like an underachiever whenever I listen to him. I’m thinking, I should have been working harder and not slouching. 每次聚会都是一个机会，让我们放下日常生活的匆忙，以谦卑心情停下来，反思真正重要的事情。
Dale Jones and everyone else who worked on this breakfast this morning, thank you, and obviously I’m thrilled to be joined by my extraordinary wife and she does a great job every single day keeping me in line. 在这里，我们放下党派和意识形态的标签，记住我们首先都是上帝的儿女，彼此都以共同的人性相连。
Just two other thank-yous. To our men and women in uniform all around the world, we pray for them. Many of them doing such great work to keep us safe. And then there is one colleague of mine who is missing today. A great friend of mine who I came into the Senate with, Senator Tom Coburn. Tom is going through some tough times right now but I love him dearly even though we’re from different parties. He’s a little closer to Louie’s political perspective than mine but he is a good man and I’m keeping him and his family in my prayers all the time. So just a shout-out to my good friend, Tom Coburn. 在这里，我们感谢上帝在个人信仰旅程中的指引。在我的生命中，他引导我认识服务他人的意义，也让我明白信仰必须通过行动体现。
So each time we gather, it’s a chance to set aside the rush of our daily lives; to pause with humility before an Almighty God; to seek His grace; and, mindful of our own imperfections, to remember the admonition from the Book of Romans, which is especially fitting for those of us in Washington: “Do not claim to be wiser than you are.” 作为美国人，我们确认造物主赋予我们的自由，包括宗教自由。我们有权按照良心寻求上帝，也有责任让他人享有同样自由。
So here we put aside labels of party and ideology, and recall what we are first: all children of a loving God; brothers and sisters called to make His work our own. But in this work, as Lincoln said, our concern should not be whether God is on our side, but whether we are on God’s side. 许多人今天仍在做好事：为应得优质教育的孩子，为需要医疗照护的家庭，为社区中孤独或贫困的人。你们的服务让信仰成为现实。
And here we give thanks for His guidance in our own individual faith journeys. In my life, He directed my path to Chicago and my work with churches who were intent on breaking the cycle of poverty in hard-hit communities there. And I’m grateful not only because I was broke and the church fed me, but because it led to everything else. It led me to embrace Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. It led me to Michelle -- the love of my life -- and it blessed us with two extraordinary daughters. It led me to public service. 通过由梅丽莎·罗杰斯领导的信仰与社区伙伴关系办公室，我们很自豪能与各宗教团体合作，支持服务和社区建设。
And the longer I serve, especially in moments of trial or doubt, the more thankful I am of God’s guiding hand. 我在访问圣地和耶路撒冷时感受过信仰能够带来的爱。那里提醒我们，宗教可以成为和解与和平的力量，也可能被扭曲成分裂和仇恨的工具。
Now, here, as Americans, we affirm the freedoms endowed by our Creator, among them freedom of religion. And, yes, this freedom safeguards religion, allowing us to flourish as one of the most religious countries on Earth, but it works the other way, too -- because religion strengthens America. Brave men and women of faith have challenged our conscience and brought us closer to our founding ideals, from the abolition of slavery to civil rights, workers’ rights. 然而，即使信仰支撑着我们，世界各地的宗教自由仍受到威胁。太多人因自己的信仰遭受迫害，国家仍以宗教名义限制权利或煽动暴力。
So many of you carry on this good work today -- for the child who deserves a school worthy of his dreams; for the parents working overtime to pull themselves out of poverty; for the immigrants who want to step out of the shadows and become a full member of our American family; for the young girl who prays for rescue from the modern slavery of human trafficking, an outrage that we must all join together to end. 今天，我们宣示自己深知的原则：每个人都以独特而尊贵的方式被创造，每个人都享有尊严，任何政府都不能夺走这种尊严。
Through our Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, led by Melissa Rogers, we’re proud to work with you on this and many other issues. And I invite you to join us in a new initiative that I announced in my State of the Union address -- an effort to help more young men of color overcome the odds, because so many boys in this country need that mentor to help them become a man and a good father. 信仰教导我们，面对苦难不能袖手旁观；我们必须成为受压迫者的守护者，帮助饥饿者、受伤者和被排斥者。
I’ve felt the love that faith can instill in our lives during my visits to the Holy Land and Jerusalem -- sacred to Jews and Christians and Muslims. I’ve felt it in houses of worship -- whether paying my respects at the tomb of Archbishop Romero in San Salvador, or visiting a synagogue on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Blue Mosque in Istanbul or a Buddhist temple in Bangkok. 正如我以前说过，我们有时必须与不符合最高标准的政府合作。我们寻求实际进展，但不会放弃促进人权和宗教自由的责任。
And I’ve felt the compassion of so many faith leaders around the world, and I am especially looking forward to returning to the Vatican next month to meet His Holiness, Pope Francis, whose message about caring for the “least of these” is one that I hope all of us heed. Like Matthew, he has answered the call of Jesus, who said “follow me,” and he inspires us with his words and deeds, his humility, his mercy and his missionary impulse to serve the cause of social justice. 这样做并不总是舒服，却是正确的。当我会见中国领导人时，我们谈到普遍人权、少数群体和宗教自由，并继续寻找合作领域。
Yet even as our faith sustains us, it’s also clear that around the world freedom of religion is under threat. And that is what I want to reflect on this morning. We see governments engaging in discrimination and violence against the faithful. We sometimes see religion twisted in an attempt to justify hatred and persecution against other people just because of who they are, or how they pray or who they love. 当我会见缅甸总统时，这个正努力走出长期黑暗的国家，我们鼓励改革、包容和尊重所有公民的权利。
Old tensions are stoked, fueling conflicts along religious lines, as we’ve seen in the Central African Republic recently, even though to harm anyone in the name of faith is to diminish our own relationship with God. Extremists succumb to an ignorant nihilism that shows they don’t understand the faiths they claim to profess -- for the killing of the innocent is never fulfilling God’s will; in fact, it’s the ultimate betrayal of God’s will. 在我们支持以色列人和巴勒斯坦人直接谈判时，我们明确表示，持久和平必须建立在两个民族安全、尊严与自决之上。
Today, we profess the principles we know to be true. We believe that each of us is “wonderfully made” in the image of God. We, therefore, believe in the inherent dignity of every human being -- dignity that no earthly power can take away. And central to that dignity is freedom of religion -- the right of every person to practice their faith how they choose, to change their faith if they choose, or to practice no faith at all, and to do this free from persecution and fear. 更广泛地说，我一直主张，除非保障权利，否则任何社会都不可能真正成功。宗教自由是所有自由的基础。
Our faith teaches us that in the face of suffering, we can’t stand idly by and that we must be that Good Samaritan. In Isaiah, we’re told “to do right. Seek justice. Defend the oppressed.” The Torah commands: “Know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.” The Koran instructs: “Stand out firmly for justice.” So history shows that nations that uphold the rights of their people -- including the freedom of religion -- are ultimately more just and more peaceful and more successful. 展望未来，我们将继续在世界各地维护宗教自由，包括提名下一任国际宗教自由无任所大使，帮助推动这项工作。
Nations that do not uphold these rights sow the bitter seeds of instability and violence and extremism. So freedom of religion matters to our national security. 我们将在世界各地提升同宗教领袖的接触，使其成为外交和公共政策的常规组成部分。
As I’ve said before, there are times when we work with governments that don’t always meet our highest standards, but they’re working with us on core interests such as the security of the American people. At the same time, we also deeply believe that it’s in our interest, even with our partners, sometimes with our friends, to stand up for universal human rights. So promoting religious freedom is a key objective of U.S. foreign policy. And I’m proud that no nation on Earth does more to stand up for the freedom of religion around the world than the United States of America. 与那些利用宗教制造分裂的人相反，让我们更多培育对话，寻找共同点，拒绝以信仰为名的仇恨。
It is not always comfortable to do, but it is right. When I meet with Chinese leaders -- and we do a lot of business with the Chinese, and that relationship is extraordinarily important not just to our two countries but to the world -- but I stress that realizing China’s potential rests on upholding universal rights, including for Christians, and Tibetan Buddhists, and Uighur Muslims. 最后，当我们建设所追求的未来时，永远不要忘记今天仍受迫害的人，包括因信仰而被囚禁的人。
When I meet with the President of Burma, a country that is trying to emerge out of a long darkness into the light of a representative government, I’ve said that Burma’s return to the international community depends on respecting basic freedoms, including for Christians and Muslims. I’ve pledged our support to the people of Nigeria, who deserve to worship in their churches and mosques in peace, free from terror. I’ve put the weight of my office behind the efforts to protect the people of Sudan and South Sudan, including religious minorities. 我们为赛义德·阿贝迪尼牧师祈祷。他在伊朗被关押已超过十八个月，被判处八年徒刑，只因他的信仰和服务。
As we support Israelis and Palestinians as they engage in direct talks, we’ve made clear that lasting peace will require freedom of worship and access to holy sites for all faiths. I want to take this opportunity to thank Secretary Kerry for his extraordinary passion and principled diplomacy that he’s brought to the cause of peace in the Middle East. Thank you, John. 我们也为所有良心犯祈祷，无论他们信仰什么、被关押在哪里；愿他们得到力量，愿家人得到安慰。
More broadly, I’ve made the case that no society can truly succeed unless it guarantees the rights of all its peoples, including religious minorities, whether they’re Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan, or Baha’i in Iran, or Coptic Christians in Egypt. And in Syria, it means ensuring a place for all people -- Alawites and Sunni, Shia and Christian. 在那些和平与恩典的时刻，在信仰受到考验的时刻，我们看见勇气，也看见上帝的同在。
Going forward, we will keep standing for religious freedom around the world. And that includes, by the way, opposing blasphemy and defamation of religion measures, which are promoted sometimes as an expression of religion, but, in fact, all too often can be used to suppress religious minorities. We continue to stand for the rights of all people to practice their faiths in peace and in freedom. And we will continue to stand against the ugly tide of anti-Semitism that rears it's ugly head all too often. 今天，我们谦卑感谢这个国家所珍视的自由。我和大家一起祈求，我们能够成为和平、正义与希望的工具。
I look forward to nominating our next ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom to help lead these efforts. And we’re moving ahead with our new strategy to partner more closely with religious leaders and faith communities as we carry out our foreign policy. And I want to thank Shaun Casey, from the Wesley Theological Seminary, for leading this work at the State Department. Shaun I think is here today and we want to thank him for the outstanding work that he’s doing. Thank you, Shaun. 感谢大家让我有幸在今晨来到这里。我想请各位继续为我们的国家、军人、领袖以及全世界受苦的人祈祷。
So around the world we’re elevating our engagement with faith leaders and making it a regular part of our diplomacy. And today, I invite you to join us in focusing on several pressing challenges. Let’s do more together to advance human rights, including religious freedom. Let’s do more to promote the development that Raj describes -- from ending extreme poverty to saving lives, from HIV/AIDS to combating climate change so that we can preserve God’s incredible creation. 非常感谢大家。
On all these issues, faith leaders and faith organizations here in the United States and around the world are incredible partners, and we're grateful to them. 谢谢大家，愿上帝保佑你们。
And in contrast to those who wield religion to divide us, let’s do more to nurture the dialogue between faiths that can break cycles of conflict and build true peace, including in the Holy Land. 谢谢大家，愿上帝保佑你们。
And finally, as we build the future we seek, let us never forget those who are persecuted today, among them Americans of faith. We pray for Kenneth Bae, a Christian missionary who’s been held in North Korea for 15 months, sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. His family wants him home. And the United States will continue to do everything in our power to secure his release because Kenneth Bae deserves to be free. 谢谢大家，愿上帝保佑你们。
We pray for Pastor Saeed Abedini. He’s been held in Iran for more than 18 months, sentenced to eight years in prison on charges relating to his Christian beliefs. And as we continue to work for his freedom, today, again, we call on the Iranian government to release Pastor Abedini so he can return to the loving arms of his wife and children in Idaho. 谢谢大家，愿上帝保佑你们。
And as we pray for all prisoners of conscience, whatever their faiths, wherever they’re held, let’s imagine what it must be like for them. We may not know their names, but all around the world there are people who are waking up in cold cells, facing another day of confinement, another day of unspeakable treatment, simply because they are affirming God. Despite all they’ve endured, despite all the awful punishments if caught, they will wait for that moment when the guards aren’t looking, and when they can close their eyes and bring their hands together and pray. 谢谢大家，愿上帝保佑你们。
In those moments of peace, of grace, those moments when their faith is tested in ways that those of us who are more comfortable never experience; in those far-away cells, I believe their unbroken souls are made stronger. And I hope that somehow they hear our prayers for them, that they know that, along with the spirit of God, they have our spirit with them as well, and that they are not alone. 谢谢大家，愿上帝保佑你们。
Today we give humble thanks for the freedoms we cherish in this country. And I join you in seeking God’s grace in all of our lives. I pray that His wisdom will give us the capacity to do right and to seek justice, and defend the oppressed wherever they may dwell. 谢谢大家，愿上帝保佑你们。
I want to thank all of you for the extraordinary privilege of being here this morning. I want to ask you for your prayers as I continue in this awesome privilege and responsibility as President of the United States. May God bless the United States of America, and God bless all those who seek peace and justice. 谢谢大家，愿上帝保佑你们。