Saturday, July 16, 2011

Unconstitutional repression of religious expression continues, this time in Houston

National Review Online:


‘Strict Separationism’ Runs Amok 

Houston, we have a problem.


WILLIAM E. SIMON JR. &
MATTHEW J. FRANCK

Arleen Ocasio seems to be setting herself up for a second rebuke from a federal judge. Ocasio has been, since 2009, the director of theHouston National Cemetery, which, at 419 acres, is the second-largest cemetery administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, exceeded in size only by Arlington. Houston National has somewhere in the neighborhood of 70,000 men and women interred there, including several Medal of Honor winners and the congressman who worked to have the cemetery built and recognized as a national one. It is, like all such places, a scene of both sorrow and celebration, of patriotism — and prayer.
Recently, however, Ocasio, the cemetery’s Obama-appointed director, has been credibly accused of engaging in a pattern of censorship directed against private religious expression. The chapel has allegedly been closed, its cross and Bible removed, and it is now said to be used as a “meeting space” when it is unlocked at all. The carillon in the 75-foot bell tower no longer tolls on a regular basis. And members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and the National Memorial Ladies, attending upon the bereaved families and friends at veterans’ funerals, say they have been required to have their prayers pre-approved by Ocasio’s office, and have been told that the words “God” and “Jesus” are not to be used by them if they wish to continue their volunteer service at the cemetery...

This government thug Ocasio (how much ya wanna bet she's an atheist?) requires 'pre-approval' of prayers, and exclusion of "God" and "Jesus" at a national cemetery?

We are in a culture war in this country, and it is a war of religion. On one side are the vast majority of Americans who are traditionally religious, mostly Christian, mostly tolerant.

On the other side is a fringe scattering of atheists,  utterly intolerant bigots. They use every (semi-) legal means at their disposal to censor the free exercise of religion in the public square. They hate Christianity, and they have no qualms at all about censorship and hijacking the legal system to blackmail you.

They need to be confronted and stopped.

No comments:

Post a Comment