Clarence Thomas Endorses Ave Maria School Of Law
Q: When I was a child in parochial school I was told that the Church was
against prayer in public schools. This was actually true to a point.
In those societies in which the Catholics were a minority, the Church
was very much in favor of tolerance and separation of church and
state. We were not told about the Church's policies in Latin America,
Spain, Portugal, Poland etc. In those countries and regions the
Church did all it could, often quite successfully to gain a privileged
position and hold other religions out. For the Catholic Church
freedom of religion is a tactic not a principle. Extreme suspicion of
the hierarchy's motives is not paranoia; based on the Church's
history, it is the only rational position to take.
A:[Thomas called the endeavor "very, very important."
"In our society now we have all these strange things going on," he said.
"Well, what do you expect when there's no right and wrong, there's no up
and down? You have amorality when there's no morality.
"And then we expect all the benefits of a moral society, a society in
which people don't kill each other just because they have a
disagreement."
Added the justice:
"I have never been mugged by people who went to church on Sunday.
I walked to school every day in my Catholic uniform, in Savannah, Ga.,
in the '50s and in the '60s, I was never mugged. And I was a tiny little
guy in the city of Savannah.
"You're trying to bring back what's lost," he said to Monaghan and
Bernard Dobranski, dean of the new school. "That's very important. I
encourage that. My hat's off to this endeavor."
Thomas is the second Supreme Court Justice linked to Ave Maria. Justice
Antonin Scalia consulted with Monaghan and Dobranski in the start-up
phase last spring. ]
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