It would appear that Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia has either never read the Constitution, or has read it and decided that only certain parts of it apply.
Scalia was speaking recently at a Catholic school in Louisiana when, according to the Associated Press:
“Scalia said Saturday the idea of religious neutrality is not grounded in the country’s constitutional traditions and that God has been good to the U.S. exactly because Americans honor him.”
But wait. Scalia was far from finished, basically spitting on the Establishment Clause by adding:
“To tell you the truth there is no place for that in our constitutional tradition. Where did that come from? To be sure, you can’t favor one denomination over another but can’t favor religion over non-religion?”
At that point, someone should have stood up and shouted at the top of their lungs, “WTF?! are you talking about? Are you that damn senile?” Sadly, no one did.
So Scalia went on, puking out this:
“God has been very good to us. That we won the revolution was extraordinary. 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 other countries of the world that do not even invoke his name we do him honor. In presidential addresses, in Thanksgiving proclamations and in many other ways. There is nothing wrong with that and do not let anybody tell you that there is anything wrong with that.”
What about the atheists who fought in those wars and battles, Justice Scalia? They didn’t worship God, but they were more than willing to offer their service and their lives for their country. Why would God honor the service of those who don’t believe in him? I’ll wait for a reply.
Let’s take a moment to consider what Thomas Jefferson said about the Establishment Clause:
“I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state.”
Clearly, Justice Scalia has overstayed his welcome on the Supreme Court. Hopefully when a Democrat wins the White House next year, he will do us all a favor, retire, and fade into obscurity. That would give him plenty of time to actually read the Constitution.
Featured Image by Flickr available under a Creative Commons license.
