"The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God" - JFK

Here is an excerpt from the first Inaugural Address of John F Kennedy, on January 20, 1961. It bears meditation, and in some ways speaks directly to the unceasing need for all persons to defend the unborn from the tyranny of relativism which threatens to and does erode human liberty, and impoverishes all of God's Creation.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe - the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution ... unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed.

If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

So let us begin anew - remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof.

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.