What do you get when you reverse the historically
famous quote of Patrick Henry who said, “Give me liberty or give me
death.”? You get today’s Henry Patrick
who says, “Give me your death and I’ll deny your religious liberty.”
For far too many years, atheist groups
and other ‘Henry Patrick’s’ have fought to remove religious symbols from public
lands and war memorials. One of the most
recent uproars have come in Coos Bay, Oregon, where the Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a complaint to remove a
cross from the local Vietnam Memorial.
The group says that memorial violates the so-called ‘separation of
church and state’ provisions.
Two congressional Republicans want to
end, once and for all, the attempts of atheist groups and others to remove
religious symbols from war memorials. Rep.
Duncan Hunter of California and Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina have introduced
the “War Memorial Protection Act of 2013,” which they say will create a “foundation
in federal law” for public veteran and war memorials that include crosses or
similar religious items.
“It is our duty to honor our veterans
and their families; and American military memorials around the world stand as
testaments to their sacrifice,” Mr. Burr said in a statement. “Many of our men and women in uniform have
strong religious convictions, often finding that their faith has played a role
in their service. This bill would
recognize their beliefs by ensuring that religious symbols, regardless of affiliation,
are allowed to be part of military memorials.”
As we approach Memorial Day and
decorate our nation’s military headstones … most of which bear a Latin cross …
remember the God-fearing 1% who have served to protect the other 99% from all
enemies – both foreign and domestic.
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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