The Blog

Last month, I had the opportunity to attend the 2008 Witherspoon School conference, an absolutely wonderful week of studying law and public policy from a Biblical worldview.  I am once again grateful for the work Vision Forum Ministries has done in advancing this great kingdom work, reclaiming law for the glory of God.  (Their original Witherspoon School audio recordings played in important role in my interest in the law and my decision to attend law school.)  You can read a full report on the 2008 Witherspoon School here.

You’re all invited to a concert tomorrow night at 7:00 pm featuring the Baroque Festival Orchestra at College Church, Wheaton (see directions here). 

Joel is the concertmaster of the “BFO,” which is the advanced student orchestra under conductor Drostan Hall.  Our good friend Conrad will be making his public performing debut as a harpsichordist (he’s normally on piano) at this concert, playing the continuo part.  The concert will feature Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2.  It would be great to see you there!

This past Sunday evening, my family and Teresa and Sarah Sherry heard Justice Clarence Thomas speak in Chicago at an event hosted by the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation.  It was quite an interesting event. 

Justice Thomas seems like a really personable, humble man.   It wasn’t an in-depth legal discussion, and a lot of the questions were of a more personal nature (based on his new bestselling memoir).  Still, I was impressed with some very clear and concise answers that he gave, in the Q & A time, on subjects such as originalism and international law. 

Here are a few memorable quotes (based on my best recollection of them and some notes I took.) (Note: these are not word-perfect quotes.)

On what it means to be an “originalist”: “At its most basic, there are two ways to interpret the Constitution.  On the one hand, you can look at the document and try to understand the text as it is written, and as it was understood and intended to be understood by its framers.  On the other hand, you can make it up as you go along.” (Applause.)

On the problem with international law: “The question is, how to you decide what countries to reach out to [to find legal principles]? . . . There is a ‘cherry picking’ tendency to reach out to only the countries that agree with you. . . . It’s just another way of making the Constitution say what we want it to.”

On the proper attitude of a Supreme Court justice: “I took an oath to God, not an oath to be God.” 

On the role of clerks: “Your job is to help me fulfill my oath of office.” Justice Thomas went on to talk about the importance of his oath of office - what a great responsibility it is, and how he is so concerned to honor it. 

I thought the last two quotes were particularly notable.  They demonstrate an understanding of the seriousness of oaths which is rarely understood today.  As theologian and philosopher R.J. Rushdoony explained, “[E]very…oath of office in the United states, was in earlier years recognized precisely as coming under the third commandment and, in fact, invoking it.  By taking the oath, a man promised to abide by his word and his obligations even as God is faithful to His Word.  If he failed, by his oath of office, the public official invoked divine judgment and the curse of the law upon himself.” (R.J. Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law 1:111 (1973).)

If I remember correctly, there were about 940 people at the event, and the moderator, Ed Fuelner, said it was the largest Heritage Foundation event ever held outside Washington, DC.  The presidents of both the Heritage Foundation (Fuelner) and the Federal Society (Gene Meyer) were present. 

Afterwards, we had the opportunity to get books signed and meet Justice Thomas briefly.

Little Bear Wheeler has had a significant impact on the Weinberger family.  For me personally, he is one of two people outside our family who has had the most important influence on me (the other is Doug Phillips). 

My parents first heard Little Bear at a homeschool conference, in years when Joel and I were too young to come along.  They came home and told us about a great speaker with a funny name who dressed in historical costumes (Joel and I loved that).  What was particularly amazing to us at the time was that Little Bear gave a message of Scriptural warning on icons of popular culture—including church culture—books, film, television, and music.  A good friend had a video of Little Bear speaking on these subjects, and loaned it to us.  This was the first time Joel and I saw Little Bear.  We had believed a lot of the information Little Bear was speaking on, but had never heard anyone speak on it, put it into words, and take the same stands.  And Little Bear had all the historical trappings to really catch our young imaginations.  We were hooked, and by the time we finally got to meet Little Bear at another homeschool conference a couple years later, Little Bear had already had a huge impact—especially channeling my already-strong interest in history to a new understanding of providential history, infusing a love of historical books, and introducing us to information about courtship.  Little Bear was one of our heroes. 

Through the years, Little Bear has become a dear personal friend and has been a blessing in so many ways.  For the past five years we have had the pleasure of spending a week each year with him and other friends at the family camp he organizes at Horn Creek, Colorado. 

 This year was no exception, and it was extra special traveling there with the Sherrys (for a reason that many blog readers already know about, and the rest will find out sooner or later).  As usual, it was great to spend a week in the beautiful scenery and good fellowship.  Our good friends, Cindy and Stephanie Cone, once again did a great job with the morning women’s sessions.  This year, Teresa and Sarah Sherry joined them for teaching crafts like quilting and stamping.  Joel and Conrad provided prelude music before the evening sessions. We all had what the characters in Pilgrim’s Progress would call “profitable conversations” with many other families at the camp, some of whom we knew from past years, and others who we met for the first time.  And as usual, a highlight of the camp was the evening message series from Little Bear. 

The second item going on in that busy last week of July (for the first, see this post) was Joel’s participation in the Sforzando String Camp.  This was his second time in it, and once again, it was great!

The organizers of this event at Marquette Manor Baptist Church did a great job (again) of bringing together great instructors and a really good group of young musicians, all of whom want to honor the Lord with their music.

The concerts featured a great selection of sacred music, and great classics by Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart.