The eloquent Justice Clarence Thomas recently warned the class of 2016 in a commencement address at Hillsdale College that since “the rising tide of social justice demands run afoul of this nation’s founding principles,” this year’s grads should “prioritize hard work, civic duty and personal responsibility.”
“As you go through life, try to be that person that teaches others how to be better people and better citizens,” Thomas said. “Do not hide your faith and your beliefs under a bushel basket, especially in this world that seems to have gone bad with political correctness.”
Thomas also honored his former colleague of 25 years — the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February — saying they had “made the Court a better place for each other.”
“This has been a most difficult time on the Court,” Thomas said. “When I think of Justice Scalia, I think of the good man I instinctively could trust during my first days on the Court — and those were challenging days. He was, in the tradition of the South of my youth, a man of his word, a man of character.”
“Unapologetically a constitutionalist” now, Thomas appealed to the Founding Fathers’ beliefs of naturally bestowed rights.
“But even though this liberty is inherent, it is neither guaranteed nor assured,” Thomas said. “It was secured by the lives, fortunes, and sacred honor of those who dared to exert that liberty.”
Photo by Cknight70
Photo by Cknight70