President Biden’s speech from Independence Hall and the “soul” of America
The Daily Article
The Denison Forum
4.9 • 576 Ratings
🗓️ 2 September 2022
⏱️ 8 minutes
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Summary
President Joe Biden delivered a speech last night from Independence Hall in Philadelphia, saying that the “soul” of the nation is under threat from MAGA Republicans. The Republican National Committee, in turn, called Mr. Biden the “divider-in-chief.” When political parties see the other as a hostile threat, how can Christians live and speak such that America can renew its moral and spiritual commitments without further strife and division?
Author: Jim Denison, PhD
Narrator: Chris Elkins
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Today is Tuesday, September 2nd, 2022, and this is the Daily Article podcast. |
| 0:09.5 | Today's article is written by Dr. Jim Denison and narrated by Chris Elkins of the Denison Forum. |
| 0:15.5 | President Joe Biden delivered a speech last night from Independence Hall in Philadelphia. |
| 0:24.6 | I've been where he stood and was deeply moved by the experience. |
| 0:30.6 | It was here at the birthplace of America that the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. |
| 0:33.5 | Eleven years later, in the same room, delegates to the Constitutional Convention created the United States Constitution. |
| 0:41.3 | In many ways, their work defined what the President called the Soul of the Nation, |
| 0:47.2 | which he defined as the breadth, the life, and the essence of who we are. |
| 0:52.4 | In his view, that essence is under threat from what he called MAGA Republicans who, and I quote, |
| 1:00.9 | are determined to take this country backwards, backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, |
| 1:06.8 | no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love. |
| 1:12.0 | He added that they promote authoritarian leaders and they fan the flames of political |
| 1:18.0 | violence that are a threat to our personal rights to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, |
| 1:24.2 | to the very soul of this country, end quote. In response, the Republican National Committee called Mr. Biden the Divider in chief and |
| 1:34.6 | described the Democratic Party as one of divisiveness, disgust, and hostility towards half the |
| 1:41.3 | country. |
| 1:42.5 | Unsurprisingly, when Republicans and Democrats were asked in a new |
| 1:46.8 | Quinnipiac poll, do you think the nation's democracy is in danger of collapse? 69% from each party |
| 1:55.6 | said yes. As I noted yesterday, our nation's founders were convinced that personal virtue is indispensable to political unity. |
| 2:05.0 | I would add today that the men who gathered in Independence Hall were equally convinced that religious commitment was foundational to personal and public virtue. |
| 2:16.1 | It was in Independence Hall that George Washington was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in 1775. |
| 2:24.0 | When he delivered his farewell address in 1796, after his second term as president, |
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