DC Examiner - "Religious liberty group's director discusses faith, freedom" by Leah Fabel

Feb 22, 2009

Scott Walter

The promise of religious liberty helped build America's foundation, but what exactly it looks like in practice has long been cause for debate.  Scott Walter, executive director of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, engages in that discussion every day through his organization's effort to "protect the free expression of all religious traditions." Prior to his role at the Becket Fund, the 45-year-old Walter served as a special assistant to President George W. Bush, helping to craft policies on immigration, faith-based initiatives and volunteerism.  He shared with us by e-mail the ideas that inspire him.

DC Examiner: Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?

Scott Walter: I am a convert to Roman Catholicism.

DE: The Becket Fund recently fought a legal battle against atheist Michael Newdow in order to allow prayer at the inauguration.  Why should faith of any sort be a part of our public function?

SW: The Becket Fund wasn't a party to Newdow's lawsuit against various government figures at the inauguration, but we did oppose him in the court of public opinion.  His suit was silly; every American president has invoked God at his inauguration.  We joked that the suit resembled a streaker at the Super Bowl: a pale, self-absorbed distraction and if you look closely, you see there isn't much there.  Just as no president should be forced to declare a particular faith at his inauguration, so no president should be forced not to declare his faith.  Our Constitution is not designed to ensure that no religious words are spoken in public, but rather that no religious entity has a monopoly over others.  It's wonderful that Chief Justice Roberts, a Catholic, and President Obama, a Protestant, can peacefully invoke God together during the swearing-in.  And it's even better to see the highest officials of two branches of government publicly acknowledge that our rights come from something much higher than either of them.

DE: In his inauguration speech, Obama notably mentioned non-believers as part of the American fabric of faith.  What is the consequence to our culture of greater inclusiveness of non-believers?

SW: Religious liberty must be enjoyed by all.  That is, by believers of all stripes and by non-believers, too.  This is sometimes hard for us to accept, whatever we believe or don't.  But it explains why the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a nonprofit law firm that works with and employs people of all faiths and none.  It also explains why we have joined the call for Arkansas to remove a forgotten state constitutional provision that penalizes atheists.  No one's conscience should be violated by government coercion.  On the other hand, merely having your feelings hurt doesn't give you a right to coerce others into silence.  An atheist has no right to stop President Obama from mentioning God on the Capitol steps and a non-Mormon would have no right to keep a President Romney from quoting the Book of Mormon.

DE: Thomas Becket was martyred for his resistance to temporal power.  How does his example animate the work of your organization?

SW: First, we hope to achieve at least some of Becket's courage and passion.  In addition, his heroic example inspired people from many nations to defend religious liberty unfettered by governmental intrusion.  We too work around the world, trying to persuade governments and teach lawyers and laypeople to uphold the religious freedoms that have made this nation a beacon of hope and liberty.

DE: At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?

SW: Thomas Aquinas, my patron saint, wrote, "all truth comes from the Holy Spirit," whether or not spoken by a believer.  I especially appreciate the Church's teaching that many of the truths upheld by the Church as "natural law" are also upheld by reasonable people without recourse to revelation.  Indeed, Hadley Arkes, a Jew, persuaded me of the Church's teaching on the right to life.

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