Marathon Pundit: Video: Ronald Reagan's 1983 Easter and Passover Address

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Video: Ronald Reagan's 1983 Easter and Passover Address

Ronald Reagan was a deeply religious man. Watch as our 40th president delivers his April 2, 1983 weekly radio address where he celebrates both Easter and Passover.

The Cold War was particularly intense in 1983, as we are reminded when Reagan notes the desire for freedom in Poland and East Germany.

Nelle and Ronald Reagan's church,
Tampico, IL, Feb. 6, 2011

As we look around us today, we still find human pain and suffering, but we also see it answered with individual courage and spirit, strengthened by faith. For example, the brave Polish people, despite the oppression of a godless tyranny, still cling to their faith and their belief in freedom. Shortly after Palm Sunday Mass this week, Lech Walesa faced a cheering crowd of workers outside a Gdansk church. He held his hand up in a sign of victory and predicted, "The time will come when we will win."

Recently, an East German professor, his wife, and two daughters climbed into a 7-foot rowboat and crossed the freezing, wind-whipped Baltic to escape from tyranny. Arriving in West Germany after a harrowing 7-hour, 31-mile journey past East German border patrols, the man said he and his family had risked everything so that the children would have the chance to grow up in freedom.

He concludes with reflections on faith.

Nearly 2,000 years after the coming of the Prince of Peace, such simple wishes may still seem far from fulfillment. But we can achieve them. We must never stop trying.

The generation of Americans now growing up in schools across our country can make sure the United States will remain a force for good, the champion of peace and freedom, as their parents and grandparents before them have done. If we live our lives and dedicate our country to truth, to love, and to God, we will be a part of something much stronger and much more enduring than any negative power here on Earth.

That's why this weekend is a celebration and why there is hope for us all. Thanks for listening, and God bless you.