good time to let you know i hate giving commencement addresses. i really do. the graduates and their families simply want to get on with it. the only worse thing than sitting through commencement address is having to sit there and address by a politician. [laughter] all i can say about that is it sucks to be you right now. [laughter] i thought about lecturing you to going out into the world of working hard and all of that stuff. but i got bored with that. i thought about giving a speech about all the great things that are happening in louisiana, but i knew you would be bored with that. i thought about giving a speech telling you if you like your health care plan, you could keep your health care plan. [laughter] but i decided i do not want to lie to you today. [laughter]

debt is good? you only need to know that if you're going to work for the government in d.c. my parents immigrated to this great country nearly half a century ago. they came without much, but they had heard about the idea of america. that is what america really is. it is an idea and a central tenet of that idea is freedom. when my folks arrived in louisiana in 1971, by mother was pregnant with me. i was what you would politely called a free existing condition. [laughter] my dad did look around for a handout for the government to pay the hospital bill. he worked out paying for me on an installment plan.

shortly after was born, he asked if they would take me back if he skipped a payment. they said no. [laughter] he knew the idea of america was that if you work hard, if you apply yourself, you will be successful. when he got to baton rouge, he got a job and went through the yellow pages and looked up company after company. he finally wore a guy down on the phone from the railroad company. it is pretty amazing. my dad has got an accent. not a southern accent like me, but an accent. he not only convinces guide to high him, but he told the guy who said you could start on monday, i don't have a car drivers license. you had to pick me up on the way to work monday morning. [laughter] i could tell you lot of other amusing stories about my folks

adjusting to life in america. i want to fast-forward to the most significant thing that has happened to me. it happened when i was a child. a friend i knew gave me a rather odd christmas present that year. he gained my very first copy of the bible. some can later, girl and you invited me to church. here i was looking for a date and you must use looking to save my soul. i found the gospel message intriguing good i will be honest, i was skeptical. i'm an analytical soda person. i decided to investigate all of these fanciful claims. i started reading this bible and often times hiding in my closet not sure how my parents would respond. the short story is this -- i read the words of jesus christ and i realize that they were true. i used to say that i found god, but i think it is more accurate to say that he found me. it happened because there were people brave enough to preach the gospel in my life good many

years later, i became a candidate for political office. when i may 1 debates i got this question -- what was the single most important moment in your life? i had just endured endless hours of debate prep sessions with my political consultants and staff. that is wasted around and be savagely grilled by the people that you pay come you clinical consultants and staffers. i knew exactly what they hoped i would say. i should try to appeal to female voters and offer a touching story when i asked for my wife's hand in marriage and the birth of our first child, a baby girl. yes, those were great moments, but i decided to do something new in politics. i told the audience the truth that day, that the most significant moment in my life was a moment that i accepted jesus christ as my personal lord

and savior. [applause] my political consultants began shifting uncomfortably in their seats. i have got to make, i enjoyed that moment. i thought of matthew 10:33 ss whoever denies me before men, i've will also deny him before my father who is in heaven. or romans 1:16, the power of god brings out the celebration and everyone who believes. they say college is an intellectual pursuit involving reason and logic. i went to brown university. it is a place that prides itself on intellectual reasoning. one of the good things about going to brown as i was quickly able to become president of the college republicans on campus. the only other republican student brown became the vice president. [laughter]

some kids go off to college and they lose their way. you become convinced that their faith is not intellectual pursuit. nothing could be further from the truth. reason and logic lead to truth. reason and logic lead to god. there's a general view among many elites in america that the truly enlightened folks realize that all of the state and religion stuff is just quaint and antiquated thinking from an earlier era or that it is a nice and wrestle place for those who are not as right or intellectual periods as they are. again, nothing could be further from the truth. true intellectual curiosity will lead to an understanding of our creator. i have noticed examples of this elitist if you of faith with the national political reporters. usually from places like boston or new york or washington, d.c. they would come to interview me in my first years as governor.

during his interviews, they would say something like this -- governor, you are a smart guy. we know you went to brown. tell me, how is it you call yourself pro-life? how do you say you oppose gay marriage? how do you oppose gun control? be honest. you're just saying that to get elected in the deep south, right? of course, i like to have fun with these reporters. i would lean over and whisper number 10 to confide in them and say, just between us, do me a favor -- tell your editors the bad news. tell them i absolutely believe everything i said. [applause] those interviews ended rather abruptly. they never came back after that for some reason. i want to shift gears and talk straight with you about the world we live in and the culture to which our students are about to the into. the world is

increasingly hostile to matters of faith. american culture is in many ways become a secular culture. at a minimum, it you are going into world that is far more secular than the one your parents entered. a few months ago, i had the opportunity to speak at the reagan library out in california. i talked about the silent war on religious liberty in america today. the decoration independent says we are nation constituted with the laws of nature and of nature's god. we are people endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights. let me make this explicit -- the source and justification for the very existence of the united states of america is and always has been contingent upon the understanding of man as a created being where the greater infused him with his rights. for me, i'm a catholic christian.

my parents are hindus. there are so many more with the rich keep the street of faith. i know men and women -- with the rich tapestry of faith. i know men and women who look to the majesty of the world and wondered and inwardly seek the author of it all. these days we think this diversity of the leaf is tolerated under our law and constitution -- believes is tolerated under our law, but that is wrong. this diversity is the foundation of our law and constitution. america does not sustain and create things. faith created and sustained america. [applause]

america did not have been religious freedom amended america. president john adams in 1798 road to the massachusetts militia meant to remind them that our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. it is wholly inadequate to the government than any other unit in 1798, this is simple, commonsense. in 2014, were forced to confront a question that would have been on thinkable to president adams and many others throughout history. what happens when our government decides it no longer needs a moral and religious people? today the american people are mired in a silent war. it is a war against the propositions on the declaration of independence. it is a war against the spirit that motivated abolitionism.

it is a war against the soul of countless acts of charity. it is a work as a conscience that drives social change. there is the war against the heart that binds our neighborhood together. it is a war against america's best self and best moments. it is a war. a silent war against religious liberty. this war has been waged in our sports and the halls of political power. it is pursued with graham and relentless determination a group of like-minded elites determined to transform our country from a man sustained by faith and where faith is silenced and privatized and circumscribed. their vision of america is not the vision of the founders. it is not even a vision of 10 years ago. it is a vision in which individuals devotion to almighty god is afforded about as much respect as a casual hobby and is not as many rights and protections.

these elites faced little opposition. my question to our graduates is -- would you be a part of that? margaret thatcher famously said this -- america was created by philosophy. the secular elite understands this just as well as she did. they know that to take over america, they must make war on this philosophy. a real undercurrent dropping fraction debate in a number of areas of policy. why is this happening? what does it mean for the country and the people of faith. it is a representative fundamental challenge for our american identity and exceptional history that makes our nation great? incident three storylines playing out in our state and the highest -- all of them have overlapping effects.

first, the freedom to exercise your religion the way you run your business large or small is under assault. you likely heard obama demonstration's take in a hobby lobby. their battle against present obama's contraception mandate will end up at the supreme court decision. they filed suit after being told they would be fined $1.3 million per day if they didn't pay for this type of insurance. hobby lobby is nothing less than an all american success story. the sound of the company was launching oklahoma in 1970 with nothing more than a $600 loan and a workshop in a garage. today they have 588 stores and 47 -- in 47 states. they have many full-time employees. they have expanded to have a christian supply shop that sells bibles and opening up another 35 stores in seven states of the

most 400 more employees. as his entrepreneurship at its best. a family-owned business that went from $600 in a garage to do companies that employ almost 14,000 people full-time across the country. through it all, hobby lobby has retained the guiding principles of the devout founders. the statement begins with a bible verse and they are closed every sunday. they're committed to honoring the lord by being generous players and paying well above minimum wage and increasing the salaries for years in a row even in the middle of a recession. none of this it to the obama administration. they say that fateful business owners cannot operate under the assumption in which they can use their moral principles to guide the way their places of business spend money. according to administration legal argument, the family that owns hobby lobby is not protected by the first amendments are free use of

exercise. that is part of the amendment tested congress will make no law prohibiting the free exercise religion. the obama administration and attorney general eric holder argue that hobby lobby is a for-profit secular employer and a second entity by definition is not exercisable religion reared a federal judge agrees. does he have the lobby is a secular corporation in which there are no right to be guided by the religious belief of their ownership. keep in mind that hobby lobby was arguing that so-called morning-after pill should be illegal or banned for doing anything to prevent their employees from being the small cost of such bills. they just have a moral problem paying for something they view as inherently against the deeply held beliefs. the obama administration ignored these beliefs and treats them as little more than an inconvenience to their ever-expanding regulatory state.

let's be clear that this is bigger than hobby lobby. the administration argument strikes at the core of our understanding of free exercise of religion. this could have enormous from vacations for religious business owners across the country. under the obama regime come you the protection of the worst amendment as an individual you see, but instance you start a business, you lose those protections. that brings us to the second front in the silent war. the assault on our freedom of people of faith to form organizations work alongside others who share our views. this brings us to another case but evolved around a lutheran academy fired teacher. the obama administration does that she margaret claiming that job regulations prevented the academy from being able to fire anyone over a year friends in beliefs. the lawyers of the vomitus ration and far beyond issues of

that case and advanced a legally absurd position that there is no general exception. thankfully administration's extreme position had a 9-0 decision opposing its perspective. [applause] for the time being, the government doesn't get to decide who gets to preach the gospel. the important thing to note is that the government wanted to make that decision. i do not know but you, but that is truly offensive and frightening. administration advance that extreme argument because it is consistent with the view of many on the left, particularly legal scholars. the government must worship first is government.

that our rights are filled by washington as they see fit shared this is the big inning. there's a bigger threat -- the assault of your freedom expression in all areas of life. they propose altering the definition of marriage. it would require churches and other congregations to essentially close their doors to outsiders and stop providing services to the community and close off their facilities so that other nonprofits and church groups in order to to prevent being provided to have same-sex ceremonies. they would drive churches to have to eliminate classes and day schools and counseling and fellowship hall meetings and soup kitchens and much more. in other words, this law and others like it would require believers to essentially choose to break their deeply held illogical beliefs or to give up their daily activities of

evangelism and retreat from public life and sacrifice the property rights. this is the next stage of the assault and it is only getting in over one majority of those in religious denominations in america is more than half the country. members of organizations -- all of those two nominations would be targeted in large and small decrease in the coming years. churches in america, would they be able to remain in a public square at a time when their views on sin are in direct conflict with the culture? when expressing those views would be seen as "hateful speech behind religious protections"? this war on your freedom to express will only to continue. it will continue because of a wrong concept.

the concept that religious freedom means that you have the -- it is is begun that you're right only begin and end in the pew. this is absolutely ridiculous. we as christians and americans have the right to practice our faith and to protect our conscience no matter where we happen to be. [applause] but it is also important that we must keep paper spec on the silent war. it is certainly a challenging time to be a believer in america, but we must also consider the plight of levers around the world today. christians are being slaughtered by radical islamist for their beliefs. it is a time of enormous a pupil where they can leave the church

been burned or they can put you on the wrong side of a gun. the cross is laid on every christian. it begins with a call to abandon the attachments of the world. when christ calls a man, he bids them to come and i. around the world, many christians are living out that call. that is a shooting war over religion and not a silent one. in america, we should be grateful that the laws and principles put in place by the founders, men like george mason and james madison and patrick henry who understood the importance of religious liberty have endured for so long. they are the reason america has come so far. it is those same principles that guide us farther still cared was both that understand that powers derived from the people and not from government. calvin coolidge understood this in his own time. we live in an age of science and the value of material things.

this did not great our declaration. our declaration created them. the things of the spirit come first. unless we cling to that, all of our material prosperity will turn to a barren scepter in our grass. he was right. the things of the spirit do come first. we must act now to protect them. the temptation to ask richard and his fractious battles from practical terms, it would only matter to those who value religious freedom and that was won over the course of centuries of persecution and blood. we should not surrender without a fight. the word religious they would is a war over free speech. without the first, there is no such thing as a second. this is not a battle any of us would have chosen. it is one we should join and do so gladly with our heart and mind set on things above.

i really just liberty should not be linked to the ever-changing opinions of the public. the contrary, we must understand that our freedom of conscience protects all americans of every persuasion here it is unmistakable that most of the obama administration's attacks on religious liberty are aimed at conservative christian. the fact is that our religious liberties were designed to protect people of all faiths the best described as an evangelical catholic, and extended families quite diverse when it comes to matters of faith. our liberties would mean equal protection for all. third, for those of you who follow pop culture, you might have taken note of the recent -- duck dynasty and the producers and broadcasters for the duck dynasty show.

you had noticed one of the first and the loudest and most aggressive defenders are the robertson family and the governor of louisiana. [applause] you may think i was defending them simply because on the governor of their home state, louisiana. you might have thought i defended them because my boys are huge fans of the show. you would have an wrong about that. of course, they can choose what to put on the air. there was a time when liberals in this country believed, but that is increasingly not the case for the modern left in america.

the modern left is growing tired of debates. the new strategy simply to try to silence their critics. these left is a newly mobilize and did all they could not to debate the issues, but rather to attempt to silence the robertsons. as you well know, the same thing happened this week with another demonstration of intolerance from the entertainment industry. hgtv was working on featuring twin brothers who graduated right here from liberty university in 1988. i would like to ask them to stand up. let's have a round of applause for their courage and their grace. [applause] hgtv canceled their show this week allegedly because they learned that one of the brothers protested the democratic party convention and the other protested at an abortion clinic. if i are the them have dated at

a conservative convention, -- if either of them had road tested at a conservative convention, they probably would have gotten a raise. there is intolerance. to paraphrase, a liberal is someone who -- the modern left is completely intolerant of the views of the people of faith. they want a completely secular society where people of faith keep their views to themselves. ronald reagan's that freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. it must be fought for and defended constantly each generation.

churches in america are not being burned to the ground. christians are not being slaughtered for their faith. there's no comparison to the persecution of people of faith inside our borders and outside. we have established that our culture has taken a secular turn. we have established the persecution of christian is on the rise throughout the world. to establish religious liberty here is under siege. we have established that the left is no longer wanting a debate and simply wants to silence us. now what? what do we do about it and what should you do about it? you should be optimistic and be of good cheer. this is an exciting time to be a believer. it is true that christians are the last group that it is ok to discriminate in america. so what? if god is with us, who could be against us? [applause]

to the graduates, couple of last words of advice -- don't see yourself as a victim. america has enough people seeing themselves as victims. go out into this world that need you more than ever before. you should be bold in your faith and embrace opportunities to stand up for the truth. just like those people in my life, you never know who you might be landing the seed of the gospel that could change someone's life for all eternity. god bless you. congratulations on your graduation carried god bless -- congratulations on your regulation. god bless and cancellations -- and congratulations to the class of 2014. [cheers and applause]

>> the massachusetts governor spoke earlier this month at the undergraduate commencement ceremony at the university of massachusetts in amherst. he calls on the students to become good citizens by supporting clean energy initiatives. governor patrick is scheduled to leave office in january when he finishes his second term. this is 15 minutes. addresses climate change and [applause] >> thank you. chairman thomas the members of the board of trustees, members of the faculty and staff, senator rosenberg, representatives, honorees, distinguished guests, family and friends, and the proud and

worthy members of the u mass class of 2014 -- [cheers and applause] >> congratulations for reaching this milestone and thank you for having me. the main event is dating in hand the degree for which you had worked hard for. i'm aware of that and how important it is for me to get on and off as quickly as possible. i get it. the main question is what is next? from the time you were little, some and had almost certainly been asking you what you wanted to be when you grow up. it is what adults ask kids, especially parents of their own kids. the kids answer wi g