Shaun Kenney | Politics and Religion in Virginia's Public Square


Monday, January 13, 2003 Justice Scalia spoke briefly at a ceremony commemorating the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom. His speech was nothing short of excellent, and his insistence that the Establishment Clause of the Constitution is erroneously understood and applied is well taken. Justice Scalia, along with Justice Thomas and Father Richard John Neuhaus, are at the forefront of the new conseravtive movement that espouses natural law theory as the foundation of American governance. Simply put, I was honored to march in the parade and listen to Scalia's remarks. "The establishment clause was once well understood not to exclude God from the public forum and political life," Scalia told a crowd of nearly 150 gathered to commemorate the 226th anniversary of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Scalia, whose son Paul is a priest at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Spotsylvania County, said the nation's founding fathers acknowledged a sovereign God in establishing the government--as did the men who framed Virginia's statute in Fredericksburg in 1777. That statute served as the model for the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Scalia concluded his remarks at the Religious Freedom Day observance with a request. "On this day, when we're celebrating our constitutional heritage, I urge you to be faithful to that heritage--to impose on our fellow citizens only the restrictions that are there in the Constitution, not invent new ones, not to invent the right because it's a good idea." My brother Jason seems not to like political weblogs that don't allow comments at the bottom. I'm not so sure I want someone coming onto my website and posting their opinions. Not that other people's opinions aren't valuable (they most certainly are), but political sites are often volatile - and are meant to be so. Giving someone the opportunity to vent on your website may seem charitable, but not altogether appropriate. Now if there was a way to create a posting board (the Free Lance-Star's Fred Talk comes to mind) that would be much more appropriate. But the Movable Type or Blog Back idea is a neat webtrick, but just not the right idea. posted by Shaun Kenney \| 1/13/2003 07:01:00 AM \| 0 comments 0 Comments: Post a Comment Home
	RedStormPAC $ JEFFERSONIAD POLL: Whom do you support for Virginia Attorney General? 1) John Brownlee 2) Ken Cuccinelli View Results About ShaunKenney.com is one of Virginia's oldest political blogs, focusing on the role of religion and politics in public life. Shaun Kenney, 30, lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia. Contact E-mail RSS/Atom Feed The Jeffersoniad Archives March 2002 April 2002 May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 April 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009