Address at the pre-conference session, ‘After Hobby Lobby: What Is Caesar’s, What Is God’s?’
2015 Petrie-Flom Center Annual Conference
“Law, Religion, and Health in America,”
Harvard Law School
. . . As we ponder, “What Is Caesar’s, What Is God’s?”, I am reminded of a profound quote from one of Virginia’s native sons.
Founding Father James Madison once opined, “Conscience is the most sacred of all property.” And as it relates to our discussion today, I maintain that conscience is most assuredly God’s.
In that vein, I’d like to begin with a personal story which serves as a window into my own conscience.
On the opening day of a new Congress, the vote for Speaker is the first vote held, and it is always by voice vote. Each Member’s name is called out, and he or she shouts out the name of their party leader.
On January 7, 1997 – the opening day of the 105th Congress – we were voting on the reelection of Newt Gingrich as Speaker of the House.
Newt was then under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. The House Democratic whip, David Bonior, had filed most of the eighty-four ethics charges against him, which ranged from accusations that Newt had misused tax-exempt funds to criticism over a lucrative advance he was offered by HarperCollins to write two books.
Eighty-three of the eighty-four charges were ultimately dropped.
However at the time of the vote, the Ethics Committee report had not yet been published.
I felt that I could not, in good conscience, vote for Newt as Speaker until I had seen the report. This turned out to be a very controversial decision. [Full text]