This April, Celebrate Faith—We Need It
We are worse off when we seek to remove religion from public life.
“You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.” So started the “Order of the Day” from the “Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force” on June 6, 1944. With a stroke of the pen, General Dwight D. Eisenhower sent the most extraordinary collection of brave young soldiers, sailors, and airmen to execute the famous D-Day operation. It is a day we continue to remember with great honor for the sacrifice that gave the world victory over the Nazis. The order is preserved at the Eisenhower Library as a cherished and important document for our nation.
But if today’s woke forces have their way, we better get the shredder out. You see, the letter not only mentioned prayers, as already noted, but General Eisenhower had the audacity (the cultural insensitivity, really, according to today’s woke mob) to “beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.”
Who does he think he is? What about those who do not share his values? He must be canceled. Erase this letter from history, lest someone, somewhere, see it and is triggered into deep anxiety and depression by its insensitive references to God.
Maybe we can put Vice Admiral Joanna Nunan, Superintendent of the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA), on the case. The esteemed academy recently confronted a similarly emotionally triggering event under her watch and dealt with it swiftly.
Also at that crucial time in 1944, U.S. Maritime Service Lieutenant Hunter Wood painted a beautiful 10-foot by 19-foot painting of Christ watching over a group of seamen adrift at sea. The painting “Christ on the Water” expresses in art form the same sentiment that General Eisenhower invoked in his order, that the Lord may guard over our brave service members. Most Americans of good faith can accept this sort of sentiment from any and all religions as we celebrate our country’s great religious freedom tradition. That is why there has been no problem with the painting being displayed first at the chapel at the USMMA Basic School in San Mateo, California, and then when that campus closed in 1947, as installed in its current location at what served as the interfaith chapel (1942-1961) at the USMMA in Kings Point, New York, which has expanded the room’s use since then.
To the new woke mind though, this feels like sunlight crushingly melting down their sensitivities. They can’t stand it. It doesn’t matter that the great majority of people are okay and, indeed, are comforted by such thoughts of divine intervention in times of great trial. According to the strict tenants of wokeism, no one should be able to see such beautiful depictions of Jesus in a public place. “Separation of church and state!”
All Michael Weinstein, founder and president of the “Military Religious Freedom Foundation,” apparently had to do was send an email to Vice Admiral Nunan, copying woke icon and President Joe Biden’s Department of Transportation under Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who oversees the academy, an immediately a curtain was installed to cover Jesus. When the woke mind says, “jump,” the Biden Administration says, “how high?”
This is why just covering the painting up was never going to be enough. It looks like the painting is now being officially kicked out of the room. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has written a letter to Vice Admiral Nunan inquiring about the situation since there is clearly no violation of the law, despite what the anti-religious freedom forces argue. You can rest assured that the attacks on Christianity will continue as long as the woke Biden Administration rules.
The goal is to humiliate Christians, as they did our Lord. He told us so, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). But we will never be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ “because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16).
April is Faith Month. A time when we celebrate the religious liberty that made our country the freest in the world by displaying the Christian Flag and standing up for our faith. We encourage all people of all religions to do the same. We can honor and respect one another instead of persecuting and canceling those who believe differently than we do.
We have all witnessed how the woke zealotry promising liberation and tolerance has, in reality, become the most intolerant movement in America. We are worse off when we seek to remove religion from public life. Faith undergirds who we are and promotes the best of human nature. The benefits of strong faith are all around us, and we should push back against all efforts to remove that faith from the public square.
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