Henry II of England supposedly said this about Thomas a Becket, archbishop of Canterbury. I know nothing about Robert Blackwell save what is recounted here, but I am convinced that the intrusion of clergy into public life has been the bane of western civilization from the time Constantine took advice from a Spanish bishop; his successors turned the Roman Empire into a regime of religious persecution, ignorance, and ultimate disaster. The GOP to this day allows ignorant clerics from the evangelical right to lecture our people. Jefferson knew this would be a mistake. They GOP has worked to turn Trump into a messiah and possibly a martyr to their false version of truth.

Norman Ravitch *62
Savannah, Ga.