万维（Creaders.net）网友赵晓来稿
“如果美国不再善良，美国就不再伟大”——昨天拙作发出后，好友成先生温馨提醒，这句话来自里根的演说：
“诚如1983年里根总统在著名的《邪恶帝国》演说中，引用美国建国先贤托马斯・潘恩的箴言： ‘如果美国不再善良，美国就不再伟大’。”
找来了里根“邪恶帝国”的经典演说，里面其实是这么说的：
“阿历克西·德·托克维尔(译注:19世纪法国思想家，《论美国的民主》作者)，他在探究美国走向繁荣昌盛的奥秘时——写道：‘直到我走入了美国的教堂，目睹了美国神职人员的正直虔诚，我才明白了美国崛起的奥秘...美国是一个善良的国家。如果美国不再善良，那她必定衰落。’”
里根引自的是托克维尔！里根想要表明：美国是一个善良的国家。但如果美国不再善良，那她必定衰落！
再次强调：这句话的出处或许重要，但更重要的是准确理解这句话的含意。
让我们细细重温里根的演讲。他谈到的“善良”，显然不是我们中国人通常所理解的人文色彩的“善良”，学雷锋做好事、与人为善之类，而是与“良善”的上帝紧紧相连所生出来的伟大品格：公义、慈爱、怜悯、热爱真理以及寻求在真理里的真自由等等。
这里的”善良“，也绝非今天“白左”表面上的道德高调，而是内心真正对上帝之律法、对真理的谦卑遵守。离开了上帝，人类的所谓善良、公义，都是污秽的衣裳。
“善良”的对立面，是“邪恶”。然而，这个“邪恶”，也不是我们一般人所理解“这人很坏”之类的含意，而是指远离并抵挡良善与神圣的上帝，进而由此产生的“邪恶”，是必须从神学上才能完全理解的意思。
1983年3月8日，美国总统里根在著名的《邪恶帝国》演讲中，就清晰而深刻地阐述了善与恶之间鲜明的对比。他提醒我们，”善良“之所以存在，是因为它植根于对上帝的虔诚信仰；而”邪恶“之所以蔓延，则因人类逐渐远离了对于上帝的信仰。苏联帝国之所以是“邪恶帝国”，不仅是因为他坏，本质是因为它主张无神论，公然抵挡良善的上帝！
远离、拒绝上帝的后果很严重，其中之一是失去自由。里根引用威廉·佩恩所言：“如果我们不在上帝治下，就只能在暴君治下。”里根再三强调，美国建国之初，先贤们明确地将自由、民主的基础，建立在对上帝的敬畏之上。
里根深刻指出：“只有人民有信仰，认可在上帝治下依法生活，自由才能茁壮发展。”当社会抛弃上帝、追逐世俗主义，个体道德便开始堕落，集体的正义感也随之消失。
这些话如同黄钟大吕，敲醒今天多少“理中客”，梦中人、自由派！
从欧陆“启蒙运动”，到中国“五四”时期的“非基运动”，到里根时代，再到我们今天，远离、拒绝上帝，并试图引领乌合之众离开上帝的一直是古今中外的左派精英们。他们离开了上帝去寻找自由与善良，无异于缘木求鱼。
里根在演讲中提及C·S·路易斯的著作《地狱来鸿》，警醒我们最深沉的邪恶往往并非来自集中营、劳改营，正是来自这些衣冠楚楚、沉默不语的“左派精英”们。当良心远离上帝，道德便沦陷为工具。
里根呼吁，善良的人们要起来与邪恶争战！面对当时苏联的威胁，里根明确指出妥协与绥靖政策的愚昧。他深知，人类历史上真正的争战从未仅仅局限于军事，根本上是精神与信仰的较量。他宣称：“我们绝不会放弃自由。我们绝不抛弃对上帝的信仰。”因为他知道，只有坚守在上帝公义的法则之下，才能真正对抗邪恶的力量。
里根的演讲可谓超级醒脑文。40多年弹指过去，这声音从不过时，他清楚地告诉我们：
信仰上帝、亲近良善的上帝，人类才有善良，国家才有善良；
拒绝上帝、抵挡良善的上帝，人类必然堕落，国家走向邪恶。
今天的我们，更加需要听从里根的警醒与呼吁：“没错，你们能改变这个世界。”而改变的力量，必定源自我们对良善上帝的虔诚信仰，及对永恒真理的不懈追求。
附录：里根总统《邪恶帝国》演讲全文
（1983年3月8日，美国总统里根在美国福音派新教协会发表了本篇演说，因在演讲中将苏联称为“邪恶帝国”，故而得名。）
And, Reverend Clergy all, Senator Hawkins, distinguished members of the Florida congressional delegation, and all of you:
尊敬的全体神职人员，哈金斯参议员，尊敬的佛罗里达州议会代表团，全体来宾：
I can't tell you how you have warmed my heart with your welcome. I'm delighted to be here today.
感谢大家的热烈欢迎，我对此受宠若惊，难以言表。我很高兴今天能来到这里。
Those of you in the National Association of Evangelicals are known for your spiritual and humanitarian work. And I would be especially remiss if I didn't discharge right now one personal debt of gratitude. Thank you for your prayers. Nancy and I have felt their presence many times in many ways. And believe me, for us they've made all the difference.
全国福音派新教协会的各位，都因你们高尚伟大的人道主义工作而享誉美名。如果我不在此表达个人感谢，显然有失偏颇。感谢你们的祈福。我和南希(译者注:里根总统的夫人)都能感受到大家的赐福。相信我，大家的祈福真的有用。
The other day in the East Room of the White House at a meeting there, someone asked me whether I was aware of all the people out there who were praying for the President. And I had to say, "Yes, I am. I've felt it. I believe in intercessionary prayer." But I couldn't help but say to that questioner after he'd asked the question that -- or at least say to them that if sometimes when he was praying he got a busy signal, it was just me in there ahead of him. I think I understand how Abraham Lincoln felt when he said, "I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." From the joy and the good feeling of this conference, I go to a political reception. Now, I don't know why, but that bit of scheduling reminds me of a story which I'll share with you.
前几天，我们在白宫东房举行会议时，有人问我，你有没有发现那边的人们都在为你祈祷。我说，“当然了，我不仅注意到了，我还感受到了。我相信祈祷真的有效。”然后他问完后，我没忍住对他说——对我身后的所有人说，如果有人觉得他们的祈福没有用的话，那是因为我站在你前面，不小心把你的福接住了。我觉得，我现在能理解亚伯拉罕·林肯总统说下这句话时的感受了，“我始终坚定着一个信念，那便是我无处可去。”这次会议让我感到很开心，但在这之后，我很快就要带着这种心情前往一次政治接待会。我也不知道为什么，这个日程安排让我想起了一个笑话，我讲给你们听。
An evangelical minister and a politician arrived at Heaven's gate one day together. And St. Peter, after doing all the necessary formalities, took them in hand to show them where their quarters would be. And he took them to a small, single room with a bed, a chair, and a table and said this was for the clergyman. And the politician was a little worried about what might be in store for him. And he couldn't believe it then when St. Peter stopped in front of a beautiful mansion with lovely grounds, many servants, and told him that these would be his quarters.
一个福音派牧师和一个政客同时抵达了天堂的大门。做完必要的手续后，圣彼得负责安排二人的事务，并带他们去看看自己的住所。他先是把二人待到一个狭小的单人间，里面只有一张床，一把椅子和一张桌子，圣彼得说，这是牧师的房间。然后政客立马就开始慌了，心想自己的房间得是个什么样。然后圣彼得把他带到一间大豪宅，里面有漂亮的草坪，还有许多仆人，圣彼得告诉他，这是他的住所，他当场目瞪口呆。
And he couldn't help but ask, he said, "But wait, how -- there's something wrong -- how do I get this mansion while that good and holy man only gets a single room?" And St. Peter said, "You have to understand how things are up here. We've got thousands and thousands of clergy. You're the first politician who ever made it."
他忍不住问道，“这，怎么可能呢——肯定是搞错了——那位善良的牧师只能住在一个单人间，我为什么能住豪宅？”然后圣彼得说，“你不了解天堂这边的情况。天堂里的牧师多得数都数不清。但是政客里，你还真是第一个上来的。”
But I don't want to contribute to a stereotype. So I tell you there are a at many God-fearing, dedicated, noble men and women in public life, present company included. And yes, we need your help to keep us ever-mindful of the ideas and the principles that brought us into the public arena in the first place. The basis of those ideals and principles is a commitment to freedom and personal liberty that, itself is grounded in the much deeper realization that freedom prospers only where the blessings of God are avidly sought and humbly accepted.
但是我并不想宣扬这一刻板印象。所以我想跟大家讲述一些信仰虔诚、高贵奉献的男女政治家的故事，当然，这些人也包括在场的各位。是的，我们需要大家的不断提醒，才能不忘步入政坛伊始所怀揣的理想和原则。这些理想原则的基础，便是为自由事业和个人自由英勇献身，而自由事业本身想要发展繁荣，就必须根植于虔诚信仰上帝，谦卑接受上帝赐福的土地。
The American experiment in democracy rests on this insight. Its discovery was the great triumph of our Founding Fathers, voiced by William Penn when he said: "If we will not be governed by God, we must be governed by tyrants." Explaining the inalienable rights of men, Jefferson said, "The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time." And it was George Washington who said that "of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports."
美国的民主制度实验正是在这一基础认知上进行的。我们的开国元勋们都意识到了这关键一点，威廉·佩恩曾说过：“如果我们不在上帝治下，就只能在暴君治下。”杰斐逊总统在解释天赋人权时，说过，“上帝赋予我们生命的同时，也赋予了我们自由。”乔治·华盛顿总统也说过，“在所有走向繁荣的因素和习惯中，宗教与道德都是必不可少的支持。 ”(译者注：出自华盛顿总统告别演说)
And finally, that shrewdest of all observers of American democracy, Alexis de Tocqueville, put it eloquently after he had gone on a search for the secret of America's greatness and genius—and he said: "Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the greatness and the genius of America. . . . America is good. And if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
最后还有观察美国民主制度的集大成者，阿历克西·德·托克维尔(译者注:19世纪法国思想家，《论美国的民主》作者)，他在探究美国走向繁荣昌盛的奥秘时——写道：“直到我走入了美国的教堂，目睹了美国神职人员的正直虔诚，我才明白了美国崛起的奥秘...美国是一个善良的国家。如果美国不再善良，那她必定衰落。”
Well, I'm pleased to be here today with you who are keeping America great by keeping her good. Only through your work and prayers and those of millions of others can we hope to survive this perilous century and keep alive this experiment in liberty, this last, best hope of man.
而今天，我很高兴能和各位见面，正是各位让美国保持善良，从而使她伟大。美国，这一自由制度的伟大实验，这一人类文明的最后希望，想要能度过这一风起云涌的一个世纪，离不开在场各位和成百上千万信徒的努力工作和虔诚祈祷。
I want you to know that this administration is motivated by a political philosophy that sees the greatness of America in you, her people, and in your families, churches, neighborhoods, communities—the institutions that foster and nourish values like concern for others and respect for the rule of law under God.
我要告诉各位，本届政府正是从你们人民，从你们的家庭、教堂、街区和社群——这些群体组织一直捍卫着美国“上帝至上，法律至上”的价值观，我们正是从中看到了美国伟大的奥秘，从而确立了我们的执政理念。
Now, I don't have to tell you that this puts us in opposition to, or at least out of step with, a prevailing attitude of many who have turned to a modern-day secularism, discarding the tried and time-tested values upon which our very civilization is based. No matter how well intentioned, their value system is radically different from that of most Americans. And while they proclaim that they're freeing us from superstitions of the past, they've taken upon themselves the job of superintending us by government rule and regulation. Sometimes their voices are louder than ours, but they are not yet a majority.
但是，想必我无需多说，大家也知道，我们的观念与当前盛行的现代世俗主义处于对立面，起码是二者不怎么合得来，他们决定抛弃美利坚文明的立足根基，抛弃我们久经历练的价值观。无论他们本意多么美好，他们激进的价值理念已让他们和大多数美国人泾渭分明。他们嘴上说着要破除迷信，解放思想，身体上却做着让政府主权压过人民主权的工作。即便有时他们的声音会盖过我们，但是他们终究不是多数。
An example of that vocal superiority is evident in a controversy now going on in Washington. And since I'm involved, I've been waiting to hear from the parents of young America. How far are they willing to go in giving to government their prerogatives as parents?
当前华盛顿正在争论的话题，就是他们声浪盖过我们的典例。自从我了解到该话题以来，我就一直想听听美国年轻人父辈们的声音。他们愿意将自己身为父母所具有的权利，从中挑选出部分转交给政府吗？
Let me state the case as briefly and simply as I can. An organization of citizens, sincerely motivated and deeply concerned about the increase in illegitimate births and abortions involving girls well below the age of consent, sometime ago established a nationwide network of clinics to offer help to these girls and, hopefully, alleviate this situation. Now, again, let me say, I do not fault their intent. However, in their well-intentioned effort, these clinics have decided to provide advice and birth control drugs and devices to underage girls without the knowledge of their parents.
我简明扼要地举个例子。有一个公民组织，他们十分关切婚外孕问题和未满堕胎同意年龄女孩的堕胎问题，他们不久前建立了一套全国诊所网，为这些女孩提供帮助，以缓解这一现象。我再次强调，我相信他们的意图是好的。虽然他们好心，但是他们为未成年女孩提供了各种建议、避孕药和避孕措施，但却未经其父母同意。
For some years now, the federal government has helped with funds to subsidize these clinics. In providing for this, the Congress decreed that every effort would be made to maximize parental participation. Nevertheless, the drugs and devices are prescribed without getting parental consent or giving notification after they've done so. Girls termed "sexually active"—and that has replaced the word "promiscuous"—are given this help in order to prevent illegitimate birth or abortion.
联邦政府这几年都在加大资金投入，以纠正诊所的此类情况。与此同时，国会也通过法令宣布，会让尽可能父母参与此类问题。但是未经父母同意、未通知父母就提供避孕药、避孕工具的现象依然存在。有些姑娘喜欢用“性活跃”一词——代替我们常说的“滥交淫乱”——而她们就是上述诊所的目标人群，以减少出现婚外孕和堕胎情况。
Well, we have ordered clinics receiving federal funds to notify the parents such help has been given. One of the nation's leading newspapers has created the term "squeal rule" in editorializing against us for doing this, and we're being criticized for violating the privacy of young people. A judge has recently granted an injunction against an enforcement of our rule. I've watched TV panel shows discuss this issue, seen columnists pontificating on our error, but no one seems to mention morality as playing a part in the subject of sex.
我们会为这些诊所发放资金补贴，前提是他们在提供避孕措施后，必须通知女方父母。我国一家巨头报社在写稿时，发明了“告密制”一词来抨击我们，说我们侵犯了青年人的隐私权。近期还有一名法官发布了法院警告令，反对我们这一措施的实施。我看电视上，还有节目邀请许多作家，自顾自地批评政府在性问题上的不当举措，但是却对其中的道德问题只字不提。
Is all of Judeo-Christian tradition wrong? Are we to believe that something so sacred can be looked upon as a purely physical thing with no potential for emotional and psychological harm? And isn't it the parents' right to give counsel and advice to keep their children from making mistakes that may affect their entire lives?
难道千年来的犹太基督传统都是错误的吗？难道我们真的应该相信，有那么些事情已经神圣到了不可侵犯，只要其不造成实质伤害，我们就要彻底忽略其潜在的心理健康危害，是这样吗？难道父母没有权利给予自己的孩子建议，防止他们犯下后悔一生的错误吗？
Many of us in government would like to know what parents think about this intrusion in their family by government. We're going to fight in the courts. The right of parents and the rights of family take precedence over those of Washington-based bureaucrats and social engineers.
我们政府中的许多官员都很想知道，父母怎么看待政府插手他们的家庭事务。我们会在法庭上为父母发声。我们坚持认为，父母的权利、家属的权利比那些高居华盛顿的官僚和社会改良家更加重要。
But the fight against parental notification is really only one example of many attempts to water down traditional values and even abrogate the original terms of American democracy. Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. When our Founding Fathers passed the first amendment, they sought to protect churches from government interference. They never intended to construct a wall of hostility between government and the concept of religious belief itself.
但是，对我们传统价值观的攻击，甚至是企图颠覆美国民主制度初始条规的企图还有许多，反对父母知情权只是其中一种形式。只有人民有信仰，认可在上帝治下依法生活，自由才能茁壮发展。我们的开国元勋通过第一份宪法修正案，为的就是防止政府干涉攻击宗教事务。而不是要让政府和宗教走向敌对。
The evidence of this permeates our history and our government. The Declaration of Independence mentions the Supreme Being no less than four times. "In God We Trust" is engraved on our coinage. The Supreme Court opens its proceedings with a religious invocation. And the members of Congress open their sessions with a prayer. I just happen to believe the schoolchildren of the United States are entitled to the same privileges as Supreme Court Justices and Congressmen.
宗教贯穿了我国历史和美国政府。《独立宣言》中曾不下4次提到至高上帝。我国的货币上都赫然印着“信仰上帝”。最高法院都要先进行宗教祷告，才能正式开始司法程序。国会议员们在就任时也要向上帝祈祷。我就认为，美国上学的孩子们同样应该享有信仰上帝的权利，就像最高法院法官和国会议员一样。
Last year, I sent the Congress a constitutional amendment to restore prayer to public schools. Already this session, there's growing bipartisan support for the amendment, and I am calling on the Congress to act speedily to pass it and to let our children pray.
去年，我在国会提出了一份宪法修正案，旨在恢复公立学校的祈祷制。而本届国会上，支持该修正案的两党议员数量不断增加，我在此呼吁国会尽快通过该修正案，让我们的孩子早日向上帝祈祷。
Perhaps some of you read recently about the Lubbock school case, where a judge actually ruled that it was unconstitutional for a school district to give equal treatment to religious and nonreligious student groups, even when the group meetings were being held during the students' own time. The first amendment never intended to require government to discriminate against religious speech.
兴许大家不少人最近都听说了拉伯克校园案，学校平等对待信仰宗教学生和无神论学生，竟然被一位法官裁定为违宪，甚至学生私下在私人聚会时，都不许发表宗教言论。宪法第一修正案的意图，从来都不是让政府干涉人民的宗教言论。
Senators Denton and Hatfield have proposed legislation in the Congress on the whole question of prohibiting discrimination against religious forms of student speech. Such legislation could go far to restore freedom of religious speech for public school students. And I hope the Congress considers these bills quickly. And with your help, I think it's possible we could also get the constitutional amendment through the Congress this year.
丹顿和哈特菲尔德两位参议员已经在国会上提议采取立法措施，全面禁止政府干涉学生的宗教言论。该法令会保护公立学校内学生的言论自由和信仰自由。因此我希望国会尽快审议此类法令。而且在大家的帮助下，我相信我们有望在今年让国会通过宪法修正案。
More than a decade ago, a Supreme Court decision literally wiped off the books of 50 states statutes protecting the rights of unborn children. Abortion on demand now takes the lives of up to one and a half million unborn children a year. Human life legislation ending this tragedy will some day pass the Congress, and you and I must never rest until it does. Unless and until it can be proven that the unborn child is not a living entity, then its right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness must be protected.
十多年前，最高法院通过了的一项决议，实际上剥夺了全美50州所有未出生儿童的人权(译者注:指1972年罗诉韦德案，致使美国全境废除堕胎禁令，该判决已于2022年被推翻)。现在每年因放开堕胎而失去生命的儿童数量达到了150万。我们的救命法案会终结这场悲剧，终有一天，此类法案会在国会上通过，而在那一天来临之前，我们绝不停止斗争。除非有证据证明，未出生的孩子不是活体，不是活生生的人命，否则他们的生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利就必须得到保障。
You may remember that when abortion on demand began, many, and, indeed, I'm sure many of you, warned that the practice would lead to a decline in respect for human life, that the philosophical premises used to justify abortion on demand would ultimately be used to justify other attacks on the sacredness of human life—infanticide or mercy killing. Tragically enough, those warnings proved all too true. Only last year a court permitted the death by starvation of a handicapped infant.
大家应该还记得，在堕胎放开时，许多人都警告称，这种行为会导致对人类生命的漠视，这种放开堕胎的思想，最终会一发不可收拾，导致更多杀人悲剧发生——比如杀婴或安乐死。而很遗憾，大家的警告全部应验了。就在去年，某地法院眼睁睁看着一个残疾婴儿被活活饿死。
I have directed the Health and Human Services Department to make clear to every health care facility in the United States that the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 protects all handicapped persons against discrimination based on handicaps, including infants. And we have taken the further step of requiring that each and every recipient of federal funds who provides health care services to infants must post and keep posted in a conspicuous place a notice stating that "discriminatory failure to feed and care for handicapped infants in this facility is prohibited by federal law." It also lists a 24-hour, toll-free number so that nurses and others may report violations in time to save the infant's life.
我已经向卫生和公共服务部下达指示，昭告全美的医保机构遵从《1973年康复法》，保护全体残疾人士不受区别对待，当然也包括婴儿在内。我们也采取了进一步措施，要求全国所有接受联邦资助的婴儿卫生机构，在显眼位置张贴上标语“根据联邦法律，本机构严禁因歧视残障而拒绝养育婴儿”。标语旁还必须附上24小时机构热线，这样护士或者其他人发现了违法行为之后，才能及时报告，挽救婴儿的生命。
In addition, recent legislation introduced in the Congress by Representative Henry Hyde of Illinois not only increases restrictions on publicly financed abortions, it also addresses this whole problem of infanticide. I urge the Congress to begin hearings and to adopt legislation that will protect the right of life to all children, including the disabled or handicapped.
此外，伊利诺伊州的亨利·海迪众议员近期在国会提案，要求不仅要大力限制公共机构的堕胎，而且还要还把堕胎问题称为“杀婴问题”。我督促国会召开听证会，并采取立法措施，保护全体儿童的生命权，包括残障儿童。
Now, I'm sure that you must get discouraged at times, but you've done better than you know, perhaps. There's a great spiritual awakening in America, a renewal of the traditional values that have been the bedrock of America's goodness and greatness.
我知道，大家现在比较气馁，但是大家或许不知道，你们做出的实际贡献超乎自己的想象。美国人民正在觉醒，美国传统价值观正在复兴，它们将构成美国善良伟大的根基。
One recent survey by a Washington-based research council concluded that Americans were far more religious than the people of other nations; 95 percent of those surveyed expressed a belief in God and a huge majority believed the Ten Commandments had real meaning in their lives. And another study has found that an overwhelming majority of Americans disapprove of adultery, teenage sex, pornography, abortion, and hard drugs. And this same study showed a deep reverence for the importance of family ties and religious belief.
前不久，华盛顿调查理事会的一份报告显示，美国人比全世界所有国家都更加虔诚；95%的调查参与者表示自己信仰上帝，大多数人认为摩西十戒对他们的生活意义非凡。另一份调查报告中，绝大多数美国人都对通奸、青年性爱、色情作品、堕胎和毒品持反对态度。这份报告还表明，美国人民十分重视家庭纽带和宗教信仰。
I think the items that we've discussed here today must be a key part of the nation's political agenda. For the first time the Congress is openly and seriously debating and dealing with the prayer and abortion issues—and that's enormous progress right there. I repeat: America is in the midst of a spiritual awakening and a moral renewal. And with your biblical keynote, I say today, "Yes, let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream."
我认为，我们今天讨论的事务必须被提上国家政治议程，而且要是重中之重。这会是国会有史以来首次公开严肃就祈祷问题和堕胎问题进行讨论决议——而这标志着我们事业向前迈进一大步。我重申：美国人民已经觉醒，我们会重拾精神道德。在此，我借用《圣经》中的名句，“惟愿公平如大水滚滚、使公义如江河滔滔。”
Now, obviously, much of this new political and social consensus I've talked about is based on a positive view of American history, one that takes pride in our country's accomplishments and record. But we must never forget that no government schemes are going to perfect man. We know that living in this world means dealing with what philosophers would call the phenomenology of evil or, as theologians would put it, the doctrine of sin.
很显然，我刚才谈论这一新政治社会问题，是站在肯定美国历史的角度上，我对美国的历史和成就感到深深自豪。但是我们要牢记，政府再怎么做，也不可能让人尽善尽美。我们都知道，人生于世，就注定要对抗哲学家口中的“邪恶现象”，或者神学家口中的“罪恶教条”。
There is sin and evil in the world, and we're enjoined by Scripture and the Lord Jesus to oppose it with all our might. Our nation, too, has a legacy of evil with which it must deal. The glory of this land has been its capacity for transcending the moral evils of our past. For example, the long struggle of minority citizens for equal rights, once a source of disunity and civil war, is now a point of pride for all Americans. We must never go back. There is no room for racism, anti-Semitism, or other forms of ethnic and racial hatred in this country.
而世界上，罪恶和邪恶横行，我等手握《圣经》，信仰天主的信徒正在全力以赴地对抗他们。我们国内当然也有邪恶问题尚未处理。美国之所以伟大光荣，就是因为我们过去能驱散道德罪恶。比如说，我们曾长期为少数族裔公民争夺平等权，为此导致了国家分裂和一场内战，但是今天的美国人为此感到自豪。我们绝不能跟随历史倒退逆流。我们不允许种族主义、反犹主义等民族种族仇恨思想荼毒这个国家。
I know that you've been horrified, as have I, by the resurgence of some hate groups preaching bigotry and prejudice. Use the mighty voice of your pulpits and the powerful standing of your churches to denounce and isolate these hate groups in our midst. The commandment given us is clear and simple: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
我知道大家很担忧，我也是一样，这些宣扬保守偏见的仇恨组织卷土重来，让我们感到坐立难安。我们要运用教堂教会神圣强大的声音，谴责并阻绝这些散播仇恨的害群之马。《圣经》戒条已经给了我们简洁明了的指示：“要爱人如爱己。”
But whatever sad episodes exist in our past, any objective observer must hold a positive view of American history, a history that has been the story of hopes fulfilled and dreams made into reality. Especially in this century, America has kept alight the torch of freedom, but not just for ourselves but for millions of others around the world.
尽管历史上发生了许多不幸，但任何一个客观学者，都会对美国历史持肯定态度，我们国家的历史就是一群人满怀希望，将梦想变为现实的过程。尤其是本世纪以来，美国就一直捍卫着自由火炬，自由的光芒不仅闪耀着美国，还照亮了世界数以亿计的人民。
And this brings me to my final point today. During my first press conference as President, in answer to a direct question, I pointed out that, as good Marxist-Leninists, the Soviet leaders have openly and publicly declared that the only morality they recognize is that which will further their cause, which is world revolution. I think I should point out I was only quoting Lenin, their guiding spirit, who said in 1920 that they repudiate all morality that proceeds from supernatural ideas—that's their name for religion—or ideas that are outside class conceptions. Morality is entirely subordinate to the interests of class war. And everything is moral that is necessary for the annihilation of the old, exploiting social order and for uniting the proletariat.
而这就引出了我今天要谈论的以后一点。在我就任总统之后的首个新闻发布会上，我在回答记者的问题时说道，苏联领导人不愧是合格的马列主义者，他们公开宣称，自己只认可能够推进他们事业的道德理论，即世界革命。我要声明一下，我只是在引用他们精神领袖列宁的原话罢了，列宁在1920年曾说过，他们否定一切唯心主义理念道德——这个词就是他们对宗教的称呼——也不承认阶级理论之外的任何思想。道德要为阶级斗争而服务。只要能打破旧剥削世界，团结无产阶级，没有什么事情是不能做的。
Well, I think the refusal of many influential people to accept this elementary fact of Soviet doctrine illustrates an historical reluctance to see totalitarian powers for what they are. We saw this phenomenon in the 1930s. We see it too often today.
我想，很多有头有脸的大人物都难以接受苏联主义的这一本质，这也证明了，历史反对极权主义。我们早在30年代就观察到了这种历史大势所趋。现在这一趋势愈加明显。
This doesn't mean we should isolate ourselves and refuse to seek an understanding with them. I intend to do everything I can to persuade them of our peaceful intent, to remind them that it was the West that refused to use its nuclear monopoly in the forties and fifties for territorial gain and which now proposes 50-percent cut in strategic ballistic missiles and the elimination of an entire class of land-based, intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
这不代表我们就应该与他们分道扬镳，不再寻求与他们和解。我会竭尽所能让苏联相信我们的和平意愿，并提醒他们，四五十年代的时候，拥有核垄断优势的是西方，当时没有利用核优势侵占他国领土的也是西方，现在提出削减50%战略弹道导弹的还是西方，提议彻底销毁各级路基中程核导弹的也是西方。
At the same time, however, they must be made to understand we will never compromise our principles and standards. We will never give away our freedom. We will never abandon our belief in God. And we will never stop searching for a genuine peace. But we can assure none of these things America stands for through the so-called nuclear freeze solutions proposed by some.
但与此同时，苏联也必须清楚，我们在原则问题上绝不会妥协让步。我们绝不会放弃自由。我们绝不抛弃对上帝的信仰。我们绝不停止寻求真正和平。但我们仅靠某些人提出的所谓核冻结方案，是没办法捍卫美国所象征的一切的。
The truth is that a freeze now would be a very dangerous fraud, for that is merely the illusion of peace. The reality is that we must find peace through strength.
事实是，核冻结会营造一种危险的和平假象。我们必须以实力捍和平。
I would agree to a freeze if only we could freeze the Soviets' global desires. A freeze at current levels of weapons would remove any incentive for the Soviets to negotiate seriously in Geneva and virtually end our chances to achieve the major arms reductions which we have proposed. Instead, they would achieve their objectives through the freeze.
如果冻结核武器的同时，也能冻结苏联人征服世界的野心，那我当然双手赞成。现阶段水平的武器冻结，只能让苏联在日内瓦会议上更加轻蔑傲慢，从而不利于我们提出的主要军备削减计划。这反而会帮助苏联达成他们的目标。
A freeze would reward the Soviet Union for its enormous and unparalleled military buildup. It would prevent the essential and long overdue modernization of United States and allied defenses and would leave our aging forces increasingly vulnerable. And an honest freeze would require extensive prior negotiations on the systems and numbers to be limited and on the measures to ensure effective verification and compliance. And the kind of a freeze that has been suggested would be virtually impossible to verify. Such a major effort would divert us completely from our current negotiations on achieving substantial reductions.
苏联拥有规模巨大、难以比拟的常规军事力量，核冻结能让苏联大展拳脚。美国及其盟国的国防力量缺乏必要的现代化军事改革，我们落后的军队愈加脆弱，核冻结也将使得我们的军事改革难以开展。何况要实现真正的核冻结之前，我们还得进行数不清的谈判，商议核武限制制度，核武限制数量，采用什么方法确保核冻结行而有效，怎么让各国遵守相关规定。这种核冻结恐怕是根本不可能实现的。而且还会分散我们的精力，让我们难以完成当前的军备削减谈判。
A number of years ago, I heard a young father, a very prominent young man in the entertainment world, addressing a tremendous gathering in California. It was during the time of the cold war, and communism and our own way of life were very much on people's minds. And he was speaking to that subject. And suddenly, though, I heard him saying, "I love my little girls more than anything——" And I said to myself, "Oh, no, don't. You can't—don't say that." But I had underestimated him. He went on: "I would rather see my little girls die now, still believing in God, than have them grow up under communism and one day die no longer believing in God."
很多年前，我曾听过一位同在娱乐圈，且年少有为的父亲在加州大型集会上演讲。当时已是冷战时期，共产主义和美国生活方式正在思想界一决高下。这也是他当时演讲的主题。但我突然听到他说了这么一句话，“我爱我的女儿，胜过世间一切——”当时我就想，“啊，别来这一套吧。你可别——别说你会为了她而屈服。”但我低估了他。他接着说：“但我宁可让我的女儿在仍信仰上帝时离开人世，也不愿让她在共产主义无神论世界中苟活。”
There were thousands of young people in that audience. They came to their feet with shouts of joy. They had instantly recognized the profound truth in what he had said, with regard to the physical and the soul and what was truly important.
那场集会上有成千上万青年人。现场爆发出山呼海啸般的掌声。他们当即认识到，他所言便是真理，跟肉体比起来，灵魂才是真正可贵的。
Yes, let us pray for the salvation of all of those who live in that totalitarian darkness—pray they will discover the joy of knowing God. But until they do, let us be aware that while they preach the supremacy of the state, declare its omnipotence over individual man, and predict its eventual domination of all peoples on the Earth, they are the focus of evil in the modern world.
当然，我们为所有不幸生活在极权主义黑暗统治之下的人民祈祷，愿他们早日得到救赎——愿他们早日享受到信仰上帝的福祉。但在那之前，我们必须警惕他们宣扬的国家至上思想、国家高于个人思想，以及他们声称自己终将赤旗插遍全球的野心，他们便是当代邪恶的集中体现。
It was C.S. Lewis who, in his unforgettable "Screwtape Letters," wrote: "The greatest evil is not done now in those sordid 'dens of crime' that Dickens loved to paint. It is not even done in concentration camps and labor camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried and minuted) in clear, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice."
C·S·路易斯在他的永世经典之作《地狱来鸿》中曾写道：“现在，世间最大的悲剧不是狄更斯笔下那些衣冠禽兽的暴行。也不是集中营和劳改营中的苦难。这些只是悲剧带来的结果。最大的悲剧，是那些在办公室正襟危坐，打扮得衣冠楚楚之人，他们目睹一切，却一言不发。”
Well, because these "quiet men" do not "raise their voices," because they sometimes speak in soothing tones of brotherhood and peace, because, like other dictators before them, they're always making "their final territorial demand," some would have us accept them at their word and accommodate ourselves to their aggressive impulses. But if history teaches anything, it teaches that simple-minded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly. It means the betrayal of our past, the squandering of our freedom.
因为这些“衣冠楚楚之人”选择“一言不发”，因为他们喜欢高歌和平与四海兄弟情，因为他们和此前的独裁者们一样，反复提出“最后的领土主张”，有些人就让我们相信他们的话，学会适应他们的侵略欲望。但是历史最起码告诫了我们这一教训：不能一厢情愿地对敌人采取绥靖政策，这种行为愚不可及。这是对我们历史的背叛，这是对我们自由的亵渎。
So, I urge you to speak out against those who would place the United States in a position of military and moral inferiority. You know, I've always believed that old Screwtape reserved his best efforts for those of you in the church. So, in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride—the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil.
所以我希望大家，再遇到有人说美国军事力量虚弱，或美国站在了道义对立面，就大声反驳他们。众所周知，我一直相信，魔鬼无法施展全力，是因为大家在教堂的祈祷。所以，在大家讨论核冻结时，一定要注意不被自负心态诱惑——有些人会误导大家，仿佛我们置身这场斗争之外，他们会称美苏双方有同等错误，而丝毫不提及历史事实和那个邪恶帝国的欲望，他们会简简单单地说，这场军备竞赛是一场大误会，从而使大家放弃这场正邪之间的斗争。
I ask you to resist the attempts of those who would have you withhold your support for our efforts, this administration's efforts, to keep America strong and free, while we negotiate real and verifiable reductions in the world's nuclear arsenals and one day, with God's help, their total elimination.
某些别有用心的人不希望大家支持政府的事业，大家一定不要被这种说辞所误导，我们要维护美国的自由和力量，与此同时，我们也会就如何真实有效地削减世界核武库进行谈判会晤，直到全面销毁核武器，愿上帝保佑我们。
While America's military strength is important, let me add here that I've always maintained that the struggle now going on for the world will never be decided by bombs or rockets, by armies or military might. The real crisis we face today is a spiritual one; at root, it is a test of moral will and faith.
美国的军事力量固然重要，但我要补充，我一直认为，现在全世界进行的这场斗争，其决定因素从来都不是导弹炸弹，军事力量只是次要因素。我们现在面临的真正危机，来自思想领域；归根结底，这场斗争，就是检验双方谁的道德感更强，信仰更坚定。
Whittaker Chambers, the man whose own religious conversion made him a witness to one of the terrible traumas of our time, the Hiss-Chambers case, wrote that the crisis of the Western World exists to the degree in which the West is indifferent to God, the degree to which it collaborates in communism's attempt to make man stand alone without God. And then he said, for Marxism-Leninism is actually the second oldest faith, first proclaimed in the Garden of Eden with the words of temptation, "Ye shall be as gods."
惠特克·钱伯斯(译者注:苏联叛逃间谍)，他对上帝的信仰使得他曝出了我们时代最大的悲剧之一，希斯—钱伯斯案件(译者注：苏联大肃反时期，钱伯斯叛逃美国，并供出潜伏在美国的间谍同事阿格斯·希斯)，他曾写过，西方世界面临的巨大危机，与对上帝信仰的漠视有直接关系，共产阵营会趁此机会，建设出一个人类独尊的无神论世界。他还说，马列主义其实算是世界第二古老的邪教，仅次于伊甸园中“你们便如神”的邪教。
The Western World can answer this challenge, he wrote, "but only provided that its faith in God and the freedom He enjoins is as great as communism's faith in Man."
而西方世界可以应对这次挑战，他写到，“但有个前提，那就是西方世界对上帝的信仰、对上帝恩惠自由的信念，不能逊色于共产主义世界对人类的信念。”
I believe we shall rise to the challenge. I believe that communism is another sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages even now are being written. I believe this because the source of our strength in the quest for human freedom is not material, but spiritual. And because it knows no limitation, it must terrify and ultimately triumph over those who would enslave their fellow man. For in the words of Isaiah: "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increased strength. . . . But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary. . . ."
我相信，我们要直面这场挑战。我相信，共产主义是人类历史又一个本不该出现的悲剧，而时至今日，它已经步入末路。因为我们对人类自由的追求，不是一场物质追求，而是精神追求。因此其前途无量，力量无穷，能震慑住那些企图奴役自己人类同胞的坏人，能帮助我们最终战胜他们。这早在以赛亚的话语中，就有预示：“疲乏的、他赐能力。软弱的、他加力量...但那等候耶和华的、必从新得力、他们必如鹰展翅上腾、他们奔跑却不困倦、行走却不疲乏...”
Yes, change your world. One of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Paine, said, "We have it within our power to begin the world over again." We can do it, doing together what no one church could do by itself.
没错，你们能改变这个世界。我国开国元勋之一托马斯·潘恩曾说过，“我们有能力打造新世界。”(译者注:出自托马斯·潘恩《常识》)我们有这个能力，但是任何教会单打独斗都是不行的，我们必须齐心协力。
God bless you, and thank you very much.
愿上帝保佑大家，谢谢。
