President Joe Biden acknowledged America’s “really tough, tough differences” but urged lawmakers to practice “dignity and respect” in his remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday morning. He also mentioned “insurrection” in his remarks, discussing “the American story of war and peace, insurrection and stability.”
The event (full video here), held annually each February, is now run by some members of Congress after its founding hosts, the highly controversial and highly secretive far religious right group known as the Fellowship Foundation, or, The Family, ceded control. But as NPR reported, “several of its board members have ties back to the Fellowship Foundation.”
Controversy continues this year, as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson invited the new organizers to hold the National Prayer Breakfast – which technically is now a Christian event – inside the halls of Congress. Some suggest it should be a more pluralistic event and it should observe a clearer line of separation between church and state. Every president since Eisenhower has attended the National Prayer Breakfast, which originally was named the Presidential Prayer Breakfast.
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Citing Scripture Thursday morning, President Biden told the members of Congress, “May God hold you in the palm of his hand.”
“That’s sincerely my prayer to all of you,” added Biden, a devout Catholic who attends church every Saturday afternoon.
“We have really tough, tough differences. We really go at one another. But remember who the hell we are who we are. We’re the United States of America. It is all about dignity and respect. So let’s keep practicing.”
“We’re the beacon to the world. The entire world looks to us that’s not hyperbole. It’s an idea. This idea was made real before the soul became flesh. Before this dream became a fact. It was prayed for it was hoped for and believed. That’s the story of America.”
“History remembers President Lincoln’s first inaugural address, and counseled us the heed, ‘the better angels of our nature,’ better angels of our nature,” President Biden also said. “We do well to remember what he said just a few moments before he concluded the same address at a moment of deep division in our nation. President Lincoln said, ‘we are not enemies.’ He said, ‘we are not enemies. But friends.’ We must not be enemies, he went on to say, I’ve long believed we have to look at each other, even in our most challenging times. Not as enemies. But as fellow Americans.”
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“My prayer,” the President added, “my hope is we continue to believe our best days are ahead of us. But as a nation, we continue to believe in honesty, decency, dignity, and respect. We see each other not as enemies but as fellow human beings. Each made in the image of God each precious in his sight.”
Watch a clip below or at this link.