What "famous" person said the following?

And I do quote,

"This is not the Old Testament, I emphasize, but St. Paul.... The core of his message is that government--however you want to limit that concept--derives its moral authority from God... Indeed, it seems to me that the more Christian a country is the less likely it is to regard the death penalty as immoral.....I attribute that to the fact that, for the believing Christian, death is no big deal. Intentionally killing an innocent person is a big deal: It is a grave sin, which causes one to lose his soul. But losing his life, in exchange for the next?.... For the nonbeliever, on the other hand, to deprive a man of his life to end his existence. What a horrible act!

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. We have done that in this country (and continental Europe has not) by preserving in our public life many visible reminders that--in the words of a Supreme Court opinion from the 1940s--"we are a religious people, whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being."... All this, as I say, is most un-European, and helps explain why our people are more inclined to understand, as St. Paul did, that government carries the sword as "the minister of God," to "execute wrath" upon the evildoer. "

So, who said this:

a) David Koresh
b) Alan Keyes
c) Antonin Scalia
d) Jerry Falwell

You should be surprise and I really hope deeply disturbed that this is a quote from Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia during a speech given at the University of Chicago Divinity School on the subject of the death penalty in January of 2002. I guess I don't know what I find more confounding about the quotation above but 3 things come to mind:

1. The statement that the more Christian a country is, the less likely it is to regard the death penalty as immoral. Really? I consider myself to be a Christian but if me and Antonin are in any way part of the same club, he has not been talking to the same people I've been. I just got understand how anyone who has any sort of moral compass whatsoever would not find this is to be more than a bit distressing. Not only is Scalia put Christianity and the death penalty in the same breath but he also makes the strong insinuation that for a non believer (whatever that means) to believe in the death penalty is a horrible sin but for a Christian it is OK.
2. The fact that Scalia is giving this speech at all. The definition of objective is defined as being 'uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices.' In this instance, Scalia is obviously not objective at all. In fact, this doesn't sound like a speech but a lecture from a preacher who seems to think they are omniscient. I mean does anyone think this man would vote against the death penalty under any circumstance? As a judge, you are supposed to look at the evidence and make a decision, not rely on your "faith", beliefs or religion. There is no doubt in my mind that Scalia would vote for the death penalty even if the evidence showed that 50% of those that are on death row are innocent. After all, the "minister of God," who I guess is our legal system would get the other 50% of "evildoers."
3. The fact that he uses as a basis for his "beliefs", and make no mistake that there is nothing factual about what Scalia is saying because these are his beliefs, a 1940's Supreme Court opinion in the year 2002. Surely, nothing has changed in the last 50+ years.

A few things to ponder in closing,

• How would you feel if this man was to speak at your son's high school during government or history class? Would you complain?
• What if this man taught Sunday school to your child?
• What do you think this man would do if his son brought home a Jewish woman or man for that matter and introduced him or her as his significant other? Take a minute to laugh because I would love to be a fly on the wall for that introduction.

Well, this man is on the US Supreme Court and has a lot to say about the laws that are passed in this country and that should really bother you.