Scalia: radicalist!

According to an editorial in today's Washington Post, Justice Scalia's article in First Things titled God's Justice and Ours. Now, while I disagree with Scalia's take in this article, I do not do so with the contempt and mis-reading which the WaPost's editors do.

My major bone of contention is the Post's apparent assertion that Scalia argues that the source of the government's power is a divine right to rule. This assertion is made in reaction to this statement by Scalia: ""The reaction of people of faith to this tendency of democracy to obscure the divine authority behind government should not be resignation to it, but the resolution to combat it as effectively as possible."

However, an honest and objective reading of this passage in context returns no hint of sinister motives and/or intentions on Scalia's part. Instead, Scalia argues that the authority of the government is more than the sum of the wills of the people who authorize the government to act. And I think he's right.

The editorial makes other claims and arguments about Scalia's article, but the best thing (as always) is to read both for yourself. You be the judge.