Joined together

两者结合在一起

they form a sacred trust that holds the basis of ourdemocratic society

构成了维持民主社会根基的神圣信赖

But let me tell you that trust is perpetuallyvulnerable

但我要告诉大家 这种信赖是很脆弱的

to the tyrannical tendencies of monarchs, mobs, and majorities

特别是在君主 暴民 多数的专横倾向下

And lately, we have seen those tendencies manifest themselves too often

最近 这种倾向经常出现在

both on college campuses and in our society

我们的大学校园和社会中

That's the bad news

这是个坏消息

and unfortunately, I think both Harvard

而且很不幸的是 哈佛

and my own city of New York, have been witnesses to this trend

以及我自己的城市纽约 也都见证过这种趋势

First, for New York City

首先 在纽约市

Several years ago, as you may remember

你们可能记得 几年前

some people tried to stop the

有些人强烈反对

development of a mosque a few blocks from the World Trade Center site

在世贸中心旧址几个街区远的地方建一座清真寺

It was an emotional issue

这是一个情感问题

and polls showed that

民意调查显示

two-thirds of Americans were against a mosque being built there

超过2/3的美国人都反对在那里建清真寺

Even the Anti-Defamation League

即便是反诽谤联盟

widely regarded as the country's most ardent defender of religious freedom

这一被公认为全国宗教自由最热情的捍卫者

declared its opposition to the project

也毫不掩饰对该项目的反对

The opponents held rallies and demonstrations

反对者进行着集会和示威

They denounced the developers

谴责开发者

and they demanded that city government stop its construction

要求市政府停止这项工程

That was their right and we protected their right to protest

这是他们的权利 我们保护他们的抗议权

But they could not have been more wrong

但他们的观点绝对是错误的

And we refused to cave in to those demands

我们拒绝屈从

The idea that government would single out a particular religion

政府如果单独选出某种宗教

and block its believers and only its believers

阻止而且只阻止其信徒

from building a house of worship in a particular area

在特定地点建立宗教活动场所

is diametrically opposed to the moral principles that gave rise to our great nation

这绝对是和伟大美国的道德原则背道而驰的

and the constitutional protections that have sustained it

这应是宪法保护所不允许的

Our union of 50 states rests on the union of two values

美国这个五十州联邦依赖于两大价值的结合

freedom and tolerance

自由和宽容