Mike Pence took a stand Wednesday to prevent the purge of Christian imagery from Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals.
Fox News reports that in a speech at the American Legion’s National Convention, Pence vowed to fight a lawsuit challenging a Bible display at a New Hampshire VA hospital. The vice president went on to rebuke the “politically correct” Obama administration for removing Bibles from VA hospitals before declaring that “under this administration, VA hospitals will not be religion-free zones.”
“And my message to the New Hampshire VA hospital is: the Bible stays,” Pence said, according to Breitbart.
Pence flips the tables on anti-Christian activists
Pence was commenting on a lawsuit from an anti-Christian group, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), targeting a New Hampshire VA hospital for using a Bible in its public POW display. The litigant, James Chamberlain, is a Christian veteran who said he wanted the display removed out of respect for servicemen and women who are not Christian.
“From our perspective, it’s a repugnant example of fundamentalist Christian triumphalism, exceptionalism, superiority, and domination, and it cannot stand,” said Mikey Weinstein, the group’s founder.
The VA hospital is fighting back, and on Wednesday they received Pence’s full support when he addressed the lawsuit in Indianapolis.
“You might’ve heard even today that there’s a lawsuit to remove a Bible that was carried in World War II from a Missing Man Table at a VA hospital in New Hampshire,” Pence said. “It’s really no surprise because, under the last administration, VA hospitals were removing Bibles and even banning Christmas carols in an effort to be politically correct.”
During the last Administration the VA was removing Bibles & even banning Christmas carols to be politically correct, but under President @realDonaldTrump, VA hospitals will NOT be religion-free zones. Message to the New Hampshire VA: the Bible STAYS! –@AmericanLegion pic.twitter.com/f35NY28Jc5
— Mike Pence (@mike_pence) August 29, 2019
The VA “will not be bullied”
The Bible in question was carried by a POW during World War II, The Washington Examiner reports. The lawsuit claims that the Bible display violates the Establishment clause of the First Amendment by prioritizing one religion over others.
“This lawsuit — backed by a group known for questionable practices and unsuccessful lawsuits — is nothing more than an attempt to force VA into censoring a show of respect for America’s POW/MIA community,” VA spokesperson Curt Cashour told Fox. “Make no mistake: VA will not be bullied on this issue.”
The lawsuit seems to be just another foray in the endless attack on Christian imagery in the public square. Secular organizations have long waged legal warfare to remove religion from public life in the name of the First Amendment. This overzealous, militant atheist lawfare has, shamefully, led to pedantic efforts to remove crucifixes and other Christian monuments to war dead, just because the imagery happens to be Christian.
But it was never the Founders’ intention for America to remove all traces of religion from public life. That America has a Christian heritage and history is simply a fact, and it’s unavoidable that some monuments and symbols will be Christian in nature.
“We will always respect the freedom of religion of every veteran, of every faith,” Pence said Wednesday. And in spite of Democrats’ best efforts, that includes Christians, too.
No comments: