Faithless

"I do solemnly swear that I will support
the Constitution of the United States
and the Constitution of this Commonwealth,
and be faithful and true to
the Commonwealth of Kentucky
so long as I continue to be a citizen thereof..."

This is the first part of an oath of office required of the Governor of Kentucky, and yesterday, Republican gubernatorial candidate David Williams went a long way toward flaunting it. As President of the Senate and a Constitutional officer himself, one assumes Williams took this same oath. As an attorney, and officer of the court, Williams is honor-bound to uphold the law. But down in the polls, his campaign manager recently departed, and seemingly desperate to try anything, the Bully from Burkesville has apparently stooped to a new low - blaming the department of education (and Governor Steve Beshear, of course) for keeping the faith, following the law, and upholding every citizen's right to be free to worship as they please by not allowing the majority to establish a religion to which all must be beholden.

Perhaps Williams has forgotten that Kentucky was first settled by Virginia Baptists, among others, who were seeking religious freedom in Kentucky because the established Anglican church in Virginia jailed their ministers for preaching without a license. And, of course, the Baptists could not get a license, because they were not Anglican. To be free from that religion, whole congregations of Baptists moved to Kentucky where they earned a reputation for religious tolerance.

This from the Herald-Leader:

Williams blames Beshear

for end of Bell Co. prayer at games

A state lawyer's recommendation that the Bell County school district stop allowing prayer over the public-address system at football games has sparked controversy in Kentucky's gubernatorial election.

Republican David Williams, who is challenging Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear in the Nov. 8 election, urged Beshear in a news release Friday "to denounce this attack on prayer at public functions and lead the efforts of state government to defend our citizens' right to voluntarily pray anywhere they choose."

Williams' campaign on Friday released an email from the state Department of Education to the Bell County school district that said praying before a football game is unconstitutional and the district should "cease this activity immediately."

The email, which cited several court decisions regarding prayer and schools, was written by assistant general counsel Amy Peabody on Aug. 16.

"Even beyond the fact that I believe that the alleged activity actually does constitute unconstitutional endorsement of religion, the effort and expenditure of funds required to defend this practice in litigation will greatly outweigh, and not serve the students of the school district, any perceived constitutional purpose in this activity," Peabody wrote.

Williams responded with typical bluster. But that is not to infer that he doesn't mean it.

"It is a travesty that Gov. Beshear will not stand up for freedom of religion in Kentucky, and instead sides with an organization called 'Freedom From Religion Foundation,' " Williams said. "As governor, I will stand up against out-of-state liberal organizations who want to stomp on our freedom to voluntarily pray in public places."