76 Ducere Est Servire: THE LEADERSHIP JOURNAL OF DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY The right to worship freely and safely, that right was denied to Sikhs in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The right to assemble peaceably, that right was denied shoppers in Clackamas, Oregon, and moviegoers in Aurora, Colorado. That most fundamental set of rights to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness— fundamental rights that were denied to college students at Virginia Tech, and high school students at Columbine, and elementary school students in Newtown, and kids on street corners in Chicago on too frequent a basis to tolerate, and all the families who’ve never imagined that they’d lose a loved one to a bullet—those rights are at stake. We’re responsible.20 Children in society should live free from the fear that they will be gunned down in their classrooms. This is a fundamental right imparted by the founding documents of the United States. President Obama’s words displayed moral leadership to the nation through this time of tragedy. There is little doubt that Sandy Hook was a different sort of school shooting. At an interfaith prayer vigil following the shooting, President Obama spoke to what made this tragedy so much different from the other shooting—that it happened to children. It is the job of every person, President Obama said, to make sure that the children in our society are safe and “ready to face the world without fear.”21 He went on to say that this job is not just the parents’ job, but requires the “help of friends and neighbors, the help of a community, and the help of a nation.”22 He continued by calling on all Americans in a way that only the President of the United States can, saying, “We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change … . Surely, we can do better than this. If there is even one step we can take to save another child, or another parent, or another town … then surely we have an obligation to try.”23 In his many addresses to the nation, President Obama displayed moral leadership, calling on the country to change to help all of its citizens to live in a world where they have the freedom from fear.
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