During yesterday's House Judiciary Committee hearing, a former Dept. of Justice employee named Monica Goodling was giving testimony in the fired U.S. attorneys kerfuffle. What is significant for Christians and defenders of the First Amendment is how Rep. Stephen Cohen turned the hearing into an inquisition on the nature of Regent University, a Christian university and Monica Goodling's alma mater. You can view video of the questioning (skip to the 2:45 mark for the exchange) or read the transcript (excerpts below or look for Rep. Cohen's name half-way through the link).
Later in the hearing representatives Forbes and King discussed the successes of Regent and the Christian foundings of both Harvard and Yale. See the excerpts below.
UPDATE: Byron York at National Review Online has a summary of the hearing with Cohen's comments highlighted.
TRANSCRIPT EXCERPTS
REP. STEPHEN I. COHEN, D-TENN.:Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Goodling, I've read your vitae and it says that you grew up and you mostly went -- you went to public schools.Is that K through 12?
GOODLING:Yes.
COHEN:And it says you went to Christian universities in part because of the value they placed on service.
What was the other part, that you chose Christian universities?
GOODLING:I chose them because I had a faith system, and in some cases -- I went to American University for my first year of law school.And then I transferred.
GOODLING:And I enjoyed studying with people that shares a similar belief system that I did.It didn't mean that there wasn't a lot of diversity of discussion, because in some cases I actually found the debate at Regent was much more vigorous than it was at American University my first year of law school.But I enjoyed being surrounded by people that had the same belief system.
COHEN:The mission of the law school you attended, Regent, is to bring to bear upon legal education and the legal profession the will of almighty God, our creator.What is the will of almighty God, our creator, on the legal profession?
GOODLING:I'm not sure that I could define that question for you.
COHEN:Did you ask people who applied for jobs as AUSAs anything about their religion?
GOODLING:No, I certainly did not.
COHEN:Ever had religion discussions come up?
GOODLING:Not to the best of my recollection.
COHEN:Is there a type of student, a type of person that you thought embodied that philosophy of Regent University that you sought out as AUSAs?
GOODLING:In most cases the people at Regent are good people trying to do the right thing who wanted to make a difference in the world.If the question is if I was looking for people like that, the answer is yes.I wasn't necessarily looking for people who shared a particular faith system.I don't have any recollection that that entered into my mind at any point.But certainly there are a lot of people who applied to work for this president because they share his same faith system and they did apply for jobs.
COHEN:Are there a lot of -- an inordinate number of people from Regent University Law School that were hired by the Department of Justice while you were there?
GOODLING:I think we have a lot more people from Harvard and Yale.
COHEN:That's refreshing.
Is it a fact -- are you are of the fact that in your graduating class 50 to 60 percent of the students failed the bar the first time?
GOODLING:I'm not -- I don't remember the statistics, but I know it wasn't good.I was happy I passed the first time.
COHEN:Thank you.That was good.
You mentioned in your opening statement Mr. Charlton was a problem district, based on complaints you'd heard about unauthorized discussion with members of Congress...
REP. J. RANDY FORBES, R-VA.:Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Goodling, many of us feared this day would come, but we did not realize it would arrive so soon, when the fact that someone was a Christian would be the subject of a line of questioning as to how someone performed their job at the Department of Justice or any other agency in the United States government.
It's not a good day, nor a good sign of things to come, and I just hope those individuals watching this across the country realize the sea change that's taken place.
In addition, since my district is contiguous to Regent University, I'd like to point out that not only is the attorney general of Virginia a graduate of Regent University, but this year, Regent University students won the American Bar Association's Negotiation Competition February 11, not only beating out 220 teams, but also beating the former winner, Harvard University.
And the American Bar Association, not exactly a bastion of conservatism, has chosen Regent University to compete internationally in their competition.And that Regent has won the ABA's National Appellate Advocacy Competition 11 out of the last 14 years, including placing first for the best brief.
FORBES:Ms. Goodling, I know it's sometimes difficult, when you sit at a table with a hearing like this, when earlier today, you had dozens of cameras snapping in your face...
REP. STEVE KING, R-IOWA :Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Ms. Goodling, for your testimony here today and for the poise with which you've presenting yourself to this committee. And as I listen carefully to the words that you've chosen, I believe it's anything but scripted.I believe that it's a careful analysis of your memory and as truthful as you can possibly be under any circumstances, let alone the circumstances with about $50,000 worth of camera lenses sitting in front of you.
Just to first reflect upon something that I think was responded to very well by Mr. Forbes of Virginia, but I had gone back in the break and took a look at the founding documents of Harvard University, and I find that Harvard University was founded upon Puritan principles, and I would point out that the founder was John Harvard who was a young minister.
And one of the principles was to be consistent with the Puritan philosophy of the first colonists.Many of its early graduates became ministers in Puritan congregations to advance learning and perpetuate into posterity, quote, dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches.
So Harvard was founded to supplement the ministry itself.And then when I looked back on the founding documents of Yale and I find that they wanted to -- they did establish Yale in 1701 as a result of a conservative reaction by congregationalist leaders worried of what they identified as the increasing departure of Harvard College from its Calvinistic heritage.
(LAUGHTER)
KING:So then I look at Regent University, which Mr. Forbes has so well laid out their credentials and also your credentials simultaneously -- whether it was advertent or inadvertent.
And here I read, Our students, faculty and administrators share a calling founded on biblical principles to make a significant difference in our communities, our cities, our nations and the world.
So I would submit that Regent is a successor to Yale, which is a successor to Harvard, in being founded upon religious principles.And this nation was founded upon religious principles, as was our Constitution.
So I think it is a laudable thing, not a derogatory thing.And we will on this side of the aisle stand up for all of our principles, our constitutional principles and our Christian principles whenever they are challenged or whenever we have the opportunity without them being challenged.
And I thank you for representing an opportunity to do that today.
I just -- so I dove into the serious part of this discussion -- not that that was not, but the more informative part.And that would be, if I could ask to more fully explain to us the procedures that were adopted, and the reasons for them to be adopted, your role and...