Both in college and law school, my fascination with Western civilization blossomed….What fascinated me about democracy was that it did not come ready-formed: it had to be invented.That invention was predicated on ideas developed by the great religions. Judaism contributed the notion that God and man enjoy a dialogue, and this leads on naturally to the idea that individuals are worth the Creator's time, that they're worthwhile.
For Christians, God actually became a human being. It's an extraordinary idea: we humans were so valuable that God wanted to walk among us. Christianity spread because other people saw what it did to the lives of Christians. When nonbelievers threw early Christians to the lions, they were stunned by the peace with which the victims accepted their fate. The early martyrs were a tremendous advertisement for the ideas of Christianity. In the same way, Martin Luther King's stand against racism and his use of non-violence were extraordinarily powerful witnesses to the dignity of human beings. It held a mirror up to Americans. It showed them the distinction they were making between their promise of equality and the practice of racism. I began to see law as a way of giving embodiment to the best ideas man has had.
Rudolph W Giuliani with Ken Kurso, Leadership, (London: Time Warner, 2002), 173-174.
Image: “Martin Luther King's stand against racism and his use of non-violence were extraordinarily powerful witnesses to the dignity of human beings.”