Obama Says Religious Faith Sustains Him Amid Challenges

In remarks at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, President Barack Obama said challenges he has faced during the past two years, including the U.S. economic recession, have strengthened his religious faith. Mr. Obama also spoke¹ about the national political discourse², and about the violence in Egypt.
The prayer breakfast has been attended by every sitting president since 1953 when Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House, with guests from some 130 countries along with members of Congress and celebrities³.
Mr. Obama attended his first in 2009, speaking about his personal faith and religious heritage, and announcing establishment of a White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships⁴.
On Thursday, the president began with words to one attendee, astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. The congresswoman is among 13 people wounded in the shootings in Tucson, Arizona, and is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head.
The president also briefly⁵ discussed the violence in Egypt.
"We are also mindful of the violence we are now seeing in the Middle East and we pray that the violence in Egypt will end and that the rights and aspirations⁶ of the Egyptian people will be realized and a better day will dawn over Egypt and throughout the world," said Obama.
In reflective, but often humorous remarks, Mr. Obama said his Christian⁷ faith has been a sustaining force, particularly as he and his wife Michelle have heard their faith being questioned from time to time.
He also referred to the economic hardships millions of Americans face, including those who have lost homes or who are without health care, saying his faith has helped him avoid being overwhelmed as he faced key decisions.
"It is my faith then, that Biblical injunction to serve the least of these, that keeps me going and that keeps me from being overwhelmed," added Obama. "It is faith that reminds me that despite being one very imperfect man, I can still help whoever I can, however I can, wherever I can, for as long as I can and that somehow God will buttress⁸ these efforts."
While he said religious institutions play an important role in helping⁹ the poor in the United States and around the world, the president said the private sector¹⁰ can only do so much. The government, he said, must play a role in a caring and just society.
Mr. Obama also returned to the theme of civility he sounded in remarks last year, and referred to what he called a "bitterly polarized" national political debate.
"Over the past two years the nature of these obligations, the proper role of government has obviously been the subject of enormous controversy," said Obama. "The debates have been fierce as one side's version of compassion¹¹ and community may be interpreted by the other side as an oppressive and irresponsible expansion of the state or an unacceptable restriction¹² on individual freedom."
At a time when people are listening to voices in the media that tend to reinforce existing biases¹³, Mr. Obama said it is useful to remember that "none of us has all the answers" saying the challenge is to balance uncertainty¹⁴ and humility¹⁵ with the need to fight for deeply-held convictions.
"I pray for this wisdom every day," Obama said. "I pray that God will show me and all of us the limits of our understanding and open our ears and our hearts to brothers and sisters with different points of view.? That such reminders¹⁶ of our shared hopes and our shared dreams and our shared limitations as children of God will reveal a way forward that we can travel together."
Organized by the Fellowship Foundation, a Christian group, the prayer breakfast attracts protests from gay rights, atheist¹⁷ and other groups against the involvement of the nation's top political figure in the event.
Last year, protesters demonstrated outside the event alleging¹⁸ the Fellowship Foundation supported a law in Uganda that criminalized homosexuality. President Obama denounced the Ugandan law as "odious¹⁹", and the White House recently issued a statement condemning²⁰ the killing²¹ of Ugandan gay activist²² David Kato.
In remarks to the prayer breakfast, Mark Kelly said his wife Gabrielle Giffords is improving by the day, saying he hopes that the tragic²³ shootings in Tucson help contribute to a greater good and that Americans will "work better together."

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

3 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

4 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

5 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

6 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

7 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

8 buttress   

n.支撑物；v.支持

参考例句：

• I don't think they have any buttress behind them.我认为他们背后没有什么支持力量。
• It was decided to buttress the crumbling walls.人们决定建造扶壁以支撑崩塌中的墙。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

11 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

12 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。

13 biases   

偏见( bias的名词复数 )； 偏爱； 特殊能力； 斜纹

参考例句：

• Stereotypes represent designer or researcher biases and assumptions, rather than factual data. 它代表设计师或者研究者的偏见和假设，而不是实际的数据。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• The net effect of biases on international comparisons is easily summarized. 偏差对国际比较的基本影响容易概括。

14 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

15 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

16 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。

17 atheist   

n.无神论者

参考例句：

• She was an atheist but now she says she's seen the light.她本来是个无神论者，可是现在她说自己的信仰改变了。
• He is admittedly an atheist.他被公认是位无神论者。

18 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

19 odious   

adj.可憎的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• The judge described the crime as odious.法官称这一罪行令人发指。
• His character could best be described as odious.他的人格用可憎来形容最贴切。

20 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

21 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

22 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

23 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。