In his second inaugural address, before a crowd half the size of those at his first inauguration, President Obama rose briefly to the heights of rhetoric. He affirmed the enduring strength of our Constitution and the promise of democracy. As he continued his 18-minute speech, he reiterated the themes of his campaign. Some may be inclined to agree with him that “an economic recovery has begun.”
Three years after he wrote the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson drafted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. With the assistance of James Madison, the bill became law on January 16, 1786. The law guaranteed that all individuals have the natural right to exercise their religious beliefs.
The last pagan emperor of Rome, Julian the Apostate, had no misgivings about the power of the Christian faith. Despite fierce persecutions, Christians were increasing in number. The emperor understood that the Christians were eroding the imperial authority neither by force nor by political power.
Life in ancient Rome was cheap. Gladiators turned war into a cruel sport. Just below the surface of the parades and the pomp of these games, there lurked a low regard for the dignity of the person and the value of human life. Spectators crowded Rome’s Coliseum and cheered as hundreds of gladiators were mauled, mangled and murdered before their eyes.
On March 16, 1964, in a special message to Congress, President Lyndon Johnson said, “Because it is right, because it is wise, and because, for the first time in our history, it is possible to conquer poverty, I submit, for the consideration of the Congress and the country, the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.” This was his famous declaration of war on poverty.