Thursday, June 30, 2011

Department of Veterans Affairs censoring the words "God" and "Jesus" during funeral services at Houston National Cemetery

Veterans in Houston, Texas claim that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is censoring their prayers by banning the use of the words "God" and "Jesus" during funeral services at Houston National Cemetery.  According to a Fox News story, "Three organizations - the Veterans of Foreign Wars, The American Legion and the National Memorial Ladies -- allege that the cemetery's director and other government officials have created 'religious hostility' at the cemetery and are violating the First Amendment. According to court documents filed this week in federal court, the cemetery's director, Arleen Ocasio, has banned saying 'God' at funerals and requires prayers be submitted in advance for government approval.."

Government approval?

Increasingly we are witnessing hostility from the government toward Christianity.  Military chaplains who object to homosexuality because of their Christian faith are being threatened with court martial.  And while there are those who are attempting to censor Christians and marginalize Christianity, witchcraft and satanism are finding governmental approval.  In fact, the Air Force Academy has opened a chapel for pagans.  See here.

In an article published in Polish in Panorama and written by Dr. J. Coleman, an Intelligence officer, Dr. Coleman is quoted as having said that, "The One-World Government is going to consist of hereditary oligarchs who will divide the power between themselves. There is going to be only one legal religion and only one state church. Only Satanism and Luciferism will be the legal religious subjects in state schools. No other schools (private, Catholic, etc.) will be allowed. All present Christian education systems are going to be destroyed (and the fact is — they are destroyed in the most part) from inside, and become extinct. Satanism is already considered to be a 'true and legal religion'. In fact, in some U.S. military bases, they already celebrate black masses and worship Satan."

We are approaching the day prophesied by Romano Guardini in The Lord, "One day the Antichrist will come: a human being who introduces an order of things in which rebellion against God will attain its ultimate power. He will be filled with enlightenment and strength. The ultimate aim of all aims will be to prove that existence without Christ is possible - nay rather, that Christ is the enemy of existence, which can be fully realized only when all Christian values have been destroyed.." (p. 513).


Inflated in their rebellion against the God-Man, the Sons of Satan, those committed toward the atheistic program of attacking the Church from without and undermining it from within in preparation for the Man-God, will continue to intensify their persecution of craftiness and subversion until it reaches its culmination in an explosion of hate-filled rage which will bear much blood and death. Father Livio Fanzaga, writing about the Antichrist, says that, "Catholicism alone will resist him. How then do we destroy this superstition which alone obstructs the world's self-revelation? How do we destroy this superstition which divides mankind and which prevents man from being truly brotherly and free? The true Antichrist is revealed in the replies to these questions. Here is perceived his profound being as the man of iniquity. He will not tolerate the idea of men who adore any god other than himself. His intolerance obliges him to make an exception to his pacifism and his philosophy of non-violence. He is the greatest pacifist in the history of the human race, but because peace and justice really reign on earth he will make an exception to kill and destroy the great superstition of Catholicism, once and for all time..." (Wrath of God: The Days of the Antichrist, p. 124).

7 comments:

Ted Loiseau said...

I never thought I would see the day when veterans were told they couldn't invoke Jesus' Holy Name at a funeral service. These heroes served their country so nobly and now they are being told by the country THEY SERVED AND SACRIFICED FOR that their Christian faith isn't welcome at a national cemetery.

America is dying a quick death now. It's not the country I grew up in.

Peter said...

Seems a bit silly. Anyway, couldn't they just disregard this silly rule? What's to stop someone saying God or Jesus? So you get your speech/prayer approved, and on the day, you add in the special words. Simple.

Jonathan said...

I agree with the veteran who said "what's happening to our country"? Things are going downhill so fast now. It is as if this nation has placed itself under a curse. Everything is now going wrong: the economy, one war after another overseas, terrorism, rampant unemployment, a collapsing housing market, rampant youth gangs and so on. We are in deep crisis people.

Jonathan said...

See this article:

http://blog.beliefnet.com/
on_the_front_lines_of_the
_culture_wars/2011/06/va
-cemetery-defies-judge-bans-religious-words-from-services.
html

jac said...

Which penalties are scheduled if one doesn't comply and continues to pray God and Jesus namely?
Fines, jail, death?

Paul Anthony Melanson said...

AFA issued a press release today. It reads:

The Department of Veterans Affairs and its Director of the Houston National Cemetery, Arleen Ocasio, are engaging in religious viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, by adding new incidents of religious hostility.

Since taking the directorship of the Houston facility in April, 2010, Arleen Ocasio has used her position to bully Christians, repeatedly trampling on the religious liberties of Veterans of Foreign Wars District 4, The American Legion Post 586, and the National Memorial Ladies.

On March 15, Director Ocasio told Nobleton Jones, Honor Guard Junior Vice Commander, that he couldn't say "May God grant you grace, mercy and peace" to grieving families.

"The hostile and discriminatory actions by the Veterans Affairs officials in Houston are outrageous, unconstitutional and must stop," said Jeff Mateer, Esq., general counsel of Liberty Institute. "Government officials who engage in religious discrimination against citizens are breaking the law. Sadly, this seems to be a pattern of behavior at the Houston VA National Cemetery."

Our friends at Liberty Institute have amended an earlier lawsuit against the VA that states the new violations against religious liberty include:

• VA Forbids Mention of God at Funerals for Veterans and Requires Families to Submit Prayer for Approval to the Government

• VA instructs the VFW and a Private Funeral Home that they may not present the option of prayer to families

• VA Tells Volunteers to Remove "God Bless" from Condolence Cards to Grieving Families
• VA Closes Cemetery Chapel; Uses it for Storage

You can read Liberty Institute's detailed report of Director Ocasio's offenses here:
http://libertyinstitute.org/
current_cases.php?category=
6&article=220

jac said...

I have some difficulties imagining a DVA's censor sharply interrupting a priest's or a relative's speech during funerals because he dared to say "God bless..." or "May God grant you grace, mercy and peace".
Can you imagine that?
In my opinion he would take a big risk to be assaulted by the attendants on the end of the ceremony.
In my opinion so inappropriate and offending directives must be ignored with contempt.

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