What is the origin of the phrase, "no government can blatantly favor one faith or church over the others..."

Question

I'm looking for a citation for the source.

"Life's" reply is not an answer to the question. I know the source is attributed to Justice Clarence Thomas. As I indicated I'm looking for a citation for the source of the quote. Life provided a reference to two people who simply quoted Thomas, but provided no citation for the source.

Again, does anyone have a cite for the source of the quote attributed to Justice Thomas?

Answer 1

Looking more closely at this issue, I can see why you want a specific source.

The only person who I can find that claims Justice Thomas said this is Frank J Ranelli, in his piece "One Nation Under “Whose God is it Anyway?” from October 27, 2006. As a columnist, he doesn't seem to feel the need to cite his sources.

And the thing is, IF Justice Thomas did say this, it is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what he has said at other times. Specifically, in the case of Elk Grove v. Newdow he puts in a long opinion about what the constitution has to say about the government's ability to suppress or endorse religion (link 1, below). The specific quote that interests me is this:

"The text and history of the Establishment Clause strongly suggest that it is a federalism provision intended to prevent Congress from interfering with state establishments."

In other words, Justice Thomas is of the opinion that it is PERFECTLY OKAY for any one or even all states to declare a state religion and eforce it. Just not the federal government. In other sections of his opinion on that case, he even says that other decisions which made other forms of religious expression illegal are just plain wrong.

Thus, if he DID make the statement that Ranelli says he did (which I cannot find an actual source for anywhere), it would seem to be contrary to his views expressed when he is actually doing his job. A legally enforced, punishable, state-based religion is apparently peachy keen to him. Yikes.

Answer 2

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a devout Christian man wrote, “No government can blatantly favor one faith or church over the others, or favor belief in God or the Supreme Being over non-believers.”