'Anti-Christian activist' viciously attacks DOT Sec. Duffy for seeking return of Jesus painting at Merchant Marine Academy



A New York-based activist group successfully pushed in 2023 to have a historic painting depicting Jesus Christ covered up at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, where it had been proudly displayed for 76 years without incident. The alleged motivation behind this act of iconoclasm, which resulted in the painting's exile to the building's flood-prone basement, was to create "a welcoming environment."

When Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy signaled earlier this month that the painting might soon make a triumphant return, Mikey Weinstein, the head of the iconoclastic activist group, let his mask slip, revealing there might be some prejudices lurking behind his iconoclastic campaign.

Weinstein, the president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, whom Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) previously dubbed an "anti-Christian activist," viciously attacked Duffy, Trump supporters, and midshipmen supportive of the painting's return in a statement shared with the Christian Post and the Daily Kos.

"tRump's [sic] Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is clearly bereft of any semblance of morality, ethical standard, or constitutional legality (obviously required with all MAGA filthy, ignorant, hateful, bigoted scum) and is merely throwing rotting dripping, fetid, red meat to the Christian Nationalist MAGA fascists in America, who are clearly sprinkled among the USMVA midshipmen, staff and faculty," wrote Weinstein.

The activist, whose demand in 2023 USSMA Superintendent Vice Admiral Joanna Nunan apparently took seriously, added, "Duffy is simply a stray, feral dog, lifting his leg and urinating a rancid fundamentalist Christian fealty on what MAGA fascists now apparently view as a front yard lawn toy rather than an honored cornerstone of the defense of our constitutionally created secular democratic republic."

The painting

The painting that has Weinstein all bothered is a heritage asset under the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration titled "Christ on the Water."

According to the USMMA, the 10'x19' painting "depicts an image of Jesus and merchant seamen adrift in a lifeboat, presumably after being torpedoed in the Indian Ocean during World War II."

'The painting is perfectly in keeping with the Establishment Clause.'

It was painted on sail canvas by Lt. Hunter Wood in 1944 as a tribute to all merchant seamen.

Wood joined the U.S. Coast Guard with the rank of chief boatswain's mate 10 days after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. He saw action during the invasion of North Africa in late 1942. Wood subsequently served as an artist in the Coast Guard Combat Artist Unit. He later joined the U.S. Maritime Service, with which he remained until the end of the war, advancing to lieutenant commander.

Wood's painting hung for seven decades in the Elliot M. See Room of the USMMA's Wiley Hall, which served from 1942 to 1961 as an interfaith chapel.

The complaint

The academy indicated that in early January 2023, it received a complaint about "Christ on the Water," suggesting it somehow sent an "improper message of preferred faithin violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution."

Weinstein, claiming to represent 18 midshipmen, faculty, staff, and graduates at the academy, demanded in a Jan. 10 letter obtained by the Christian Post that Nunan "expeditiously remove a massive, sectarian painting illustrating the supremacy of Jesus Christ."

"The outrageousness of that Jesus painting's display is only further exacerbated by the fact that this room is also used regularly for USMMA Honor Code violation boards where midshipmen are literally fighting for their careers, and, often even more, as they face the shameful ignominy of potential expulsion with prejudice if found guilty of USMMA Honor Code violations," wrote the activist.

Initially, the academy decided to keep the painting up but discontinue use of the room for official business. Accordingly, members of the community interested in viewing the painting were free to do so. Those who shared Weinstein's hostility were free to avoid the painting altogether.

On Jan. 26, 2023, the academy — which supplies some officers to the U.S. military, at least 70% of which is Christianannounced that it had chosen to cover the painting with curtains and install a plaque describing the work's history.

"The curtains will remain closed when official Academy meetings and events are conducted," said the statement. "This solution balances legal requirements with the concerns of those who have an interest in the painting."

The decision to oblige the iconoclasts prompted a petition and letters to Nunan from various lawmakers, including Banks and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) demanding the painting's unveiling.

Cruz noted:

The relevant constitutional question is whether the Academy's display of the painting meets the requirements of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. As a long-standing display that is consistent with the history and tradition of the United States and its Maritime Service, it clearly does. Under the Supreme Court's standard for long-standing government displays, the painting is perfectly in keeping with the Establishment Clause.

Banks similarly underscored the lawfulness of hanging the painting in the academy, referring to a 2019 Supreme Court ruling that "historic displays with religious symbolism are not a violation of the Constitution."

'Let's let him out! Bring him up!'

Despite the backlash and indications that the removal was wholly unnecessary, multiple sources told Fox News Digital that the painting was moved to a chapel basement prone to flooding.

The return

During his April 4 visit to the academy, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy addressed a room full of midshipmen. During his speech, he signaled support for the painting's return, stating, "Can we bring Jesus up from the basement?"

The audience burst into cheers, while scores of midshipmen leaped to their feet, applauding.

Duffy, a devout Catholic, continued, "Let's not put Jesus in the basement. Let's let him out! Bring him up!"

Since the USMMA falls under Duffy's purview, he is apparently able to restore the painting to its rightful place in the academy — something his predecessor, Pete Buttigieg, proved unwilling to do.

The academy's Christian Fellowship Club launched a petition on April 7 to permanently move the painting into Ackerman Auditorium.

'I think we're returning to objective truth.'

The petition notes that "moving the painting to the Museum damns it. It declares, 'This is who the Merchant Marine used to be once upon a time long long ago.'"

"We declare to you, faculty and staff, that this painting represents the Regiment of Midshipmen today more so than ever before," said the petition. "Here us now: We identify with those sailors."

The tantrum

Unlike those gathered at the academy, Weinstein responded poorly to Duffy's remarks, going so far as to dehumanize midshipmen who dared signal support for the painting's return.

"To the cheering robustious throngs of Christian Nationalist midshipmen at the U.S. Merchant of Venice Academy, and to their dear MAGA fascist cheerleader Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, MRFF commands: 'Side Step HARCH!,' you stinking piece-of-s**t Christian Nationalist insects," wrote the activist.

Weinstein added in his statement that the return of the painting would "spark WORLD WAR 8."

The activist continued ranting in an unhinged YouTube video, where he suggested that midshipmen's cheering of Duffy was a "despicable, shameful disgrace of [their] oath to the U.S. Constitution" and characterized their support for the DOT secretary's remarks as cowardly.

"Jesus Christ represents ideals that are not specific to one group of people or another," Jackson Tolle, a midshipman in USMMA's class of 2026, told the Christian Post. "Ideals of sacrifice, ideals of love, compassion, and empathy; these are ideals and traits that we, as a culture, need to return to."

"Moral relativism has failed the country and the world, more so than any belief system ever really has," continued Tolle. "I think we're returning to objective truth."

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Bibles removed from Easter display at veterans medical center gift shop after atheist group objects to them



Bibles recently were removed from an Easter display at a New Mexico veterans medical center gift shop after the Military Religious Freedom Foundation — an atheist activist group — objected to them.

What are the details?

The MRFF noted Wednesday that it managed to convince leaders at the Raymond G. Murphy Veterans Administration Medical Center in Albuquerque to remove a display of Bibles and related Christian reading materials on "prominent display" in its Patriot Store facility on the first floor of the main medical building.

The MRFF said 10 employees and patients — seven of whom "identify as avid practitioners of the Christian faith" — complained and reached out to MRFF "for help regarding the unconstitutionality of that sectarian Christian literature display; especially as it was juxtaposed right next to an otherwise non-objectionable display of 'secular-ish' chocolate Easter bunnies, related holiday candy. and Easter bunny cutouts, et al."

According to MRFF, the displayed Bibles "completely violated the time, place, and manner restrictions of the VA’s own regulations as well as the No Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights and its construing Federal caselaw."

The Bibles and other religious items were gone within 24 hours of the request, the MRFF added while praising the VA's quick actions.

Hold on a second

The American Center for Law & Justice caught wind of the issue and said it penned a legal letter — dated March 31 — to the interim director of the VA to "inform her that her decision, rather than upholding the Constitution, actually violated it" and "to demand that the display of Christian literature be returned forthwith to the gift shop."

The ACLJ insisted that the Constitution "requires the government to be neutral toward religion, to neither favor it nor inhibit it. By removing only the religious display while leaving the secular display of Easter bunnies, the government singled out religion for special detriment — which it may not lawfully do."

In addition, the ACLJ said "Easter is a time when many Christians exchange gifts. It makes sense for a gift shop to offer the type of items popular at Easter. Offering a religious product that visitors to your gift shop are looking for and wish to purchase — even in a gift shop in a federal facility like a VA Medical Center — does not mean that the government is either endorsing the message contained in the literature offered or favoring the faith group the literature reflects. To suggest otherwise is nonsense."

'Fighting Christian nationalism'

It isn't clear how or if the VA has responded to the ACLJ's demand to place the Bibles back on display in the gift shop. But the MRFF added on its website that the ACLJ is "constitutionally ignorant and religiously bigoted" and that the ACLJ's post about the controversy "repugnantly libels MRFF as 'anti-religion crusaders.'"

The MRFF added that it has "consistently – 24/7/365 – been at the forefront of fighting Christian nationalism in the military and our veterans' facilities."

As readers of TheBlaze are well aware, this is far from the first time the MRFF has raised objections of this sort:

Atheist activist group wants Bible removed from POW-MIA table at naval facility: 'Not every sailor is a white, straight Anglo-Saxon Christian male'



An atheist activist group is ordering a naval facility to remove a Bible from a POW-MIA table as its presence goes against the military's core values and hurts unity, morale, and diversity, Stars and Stripes reported.

What are the details?

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation last week sent a letter to Capt. John Montagnet — commander of Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan — after receiving 15 complaints about the Bible from personnel at the installation, MRFF founder Michael Weinstein told the paper.

The MRFF also sent the letter to Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Harker, Stars and Stripes said.

POW-MIA tables — which honor missing and captured service members — often are set up in military dining facilities, the paper said, adding that official instructions concerning such tables say they must be round and include a white tablecloth, an empty chair, a black napkin, a single red rose, a yellow candle and ribbon, lemon slices, salt, and an overturned wine glass.

Stars and Stripes added that the regulation also says the displays include a Bible to represent "faith in a higher power and the pledge to our country, founded as one nation under God."

Weinstein, an Air Force veteran, told the paper "this is not a move against Christianity, but one toward inclusivity. Not every sailor is a white, straight Anglo-Saxon Christian male."

Weinstein noted to Stars and Stripes that he hadn't received a response from NAF Atsugi as of Monday.

What did the naval facility have to say?

Base spokesman Sam Samuelson told paper Monday he wasn't aware of the letter.

"The POW-MIA table here is a significant legacy display intended to memorialize and honor American POWs and MIAs among a varied military demographic and is certainly greater than the sum of its parts," Samuelson told Stars and Stripes. "We can absolutely balance the larger meaning of the table with appropriate policies and the interests of our diverse base culture."

More from the paper:

Over the past five years, the MRFF's petitions resulted in the removal of Bibles from POW-MIA tables at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; four Veterans' Administration offices in Pennsylvania, Texas and Ohio; and an allergy clinic at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

In 2018, the MRFF filed an inspector general complaint against the Navy over a Bible that was included in a POW-MIA table display at U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa.
 
In May of 2019, the MRFF backed a federal lawsuit filed against the Manchester Veterans Administration Medical Center in New Hampshire for including a Bible on its POW-MIA table following complaints relayed through the foundation.
 
Weinstein said the goal of the MRFF is not to eliminate Bibles, but to promote religious diversity.

'Wrong on every possible level'

"The POW-MIA table is a somber and emotional display," Weinstein told Stars and Stripes. "Including a Bible alienates service members of other cultural or religious groups and is wrong on every possible level. No religious text, not just the Bible, has a place in that display. If the table included a Quran, Book of Mormon, or a Satanist text, there would be blood in the streets."