Yesterday we noted a photo of a U.S. serviceman with a rosary hanging from the gun on his tank, and we jokingly suggested that some would complain that it violates the separation of church and state. We should know better than to joke. Here's an actual letter to the editor of the (Madison) Wisconsin State Journal from one Patty Sommer (third letter):
Your front-page photo of the soldier with the rosary hanging off his or her gun shocked and appalled me. I have been against the war in Iraq from the get-go, but I don't think anyone in this country has ever tried to justify it on religious grounds. The image just gives fodder to those who would characterize this war as another Christian crusade against Muslims.
While I hesitate to criticize our troops, that soldier should not have displayed a religious symbol on his or her weapon. Certainly his or her commanding officer should not have allowed it. Absolutely, the Wisconsin State Journal should not have published it. As an American, I am disgusted. As a Catholic, I am outraged and offended. My religion has nothing to do with President Bush's war.
The repetition of "his or her" makes this self-parody even funnier.
Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union announces that it has intimidated the Pentagon into agreeing "to end direct sponsorship of hundreds of Boy Scout units, which require members to swear religious oaths, on military facilities across the United States and overseas."
The ACLU press release quotes the group's Adam Schwartz: "If our Constitution's promise of religious liberty is to be a reality, the government should not be administering religious oaths or discriminating based upon religious beliefs." But of course, the government was doing no such thing; the Boy Scouts are a private group. If you don't like what they stand for, don't join them.
The ACLU used to be so committed to free expression that it would even represent Nazis and Klansmen seeking to express their views. But apparently they draw the line at the Boy Scouts. |
