Known for delivering great speeches, Antonin Scalia this time spoke at a noted Catholic high school graduation. He did not disappoint, making clear that the U.S. Constitution mandates freedom of religion, but not freedom from religion.
Scalia gave the remarks on Saturday at the Archbishop Rummel [Catholic] High School in a suburb of New Orleans.
“To tell you the truth there is no place for [requiring neutrality regarding religion] in our constitutional tradition. Where did that come from?” he said. “To be sure, you can’t favor one denomination over another but can’t favor religion over non-religion?”
The First Amendment to the Constitution provides, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
Scalia also said there is “nothing wrong” with the idea of presidents and others invoking God in speeches.
The justice told the audience that during the Sept. 11 attacks, he was in Rome at a conference. “The next morning, after a speech by President George W. Bush in which he invoked God and asked for his blessing, Scalia said many of the other judges approached him and said they wished their presidents or prime ministers would do the same,” the Associated Press reported.
“God has been very good to us. That we won the revolution was extraordinary,” Scalia observed to his New Orleans’ crowd. “The Battle of Midway was extraordinary. I think one of the reasons God has been good to us is that we have done him honor. Unlike the… Read More>>