William O. Douglas Quotes
We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being.
Douglas, William O. Majority opinion. Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306, Supreme Court of the US, 28 Apr. 1952, p. 313.
Here we have an example of a government that tried to go into the Religion business. They wanted Christian religion but not the Catholic Church which at the time was the only Christian church. Many of the most extreme French revolutionists had a problem with religion. They were personally believers and recognized that most French people were. But the organized Roman Catholic Church was a major ally and supporter of the hated monarchy, and at the time was extremely corrupt at the expense of the people. The nobility were also the highest officials of the church in France. One solution they tried was to have the “people’s government” establish days and methods of worship, an effort that in retrospect appears ludicrous to us today.
William Orville Douglas was an American jurist and politician who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas was confirmed at the age of 40, one of the youngest justices appointed to the court. His term, lasting 36 years and 211 days (1939–75), is the longest in the history of the Supreme Court. In 1975, Time magazine called Douglas "the most doctrinaire and committed civil libertarian ever to sit on the court."
