On behalf of…
Poseidon,
Neptune,
Nun,
Njord,
etc,
(and Aquaman, of course)
and especially Manannán mac LĂr…
I object to this religious bigotry!
On behalf of the US Constitution I object to this.
But he’s just another unqualified appointee making a speech most seniors forget anyway.
While I am a Christian, I do not believe in forcing anyone to follow the path I follow. That is your decision. As for the FRFF and the MRFF, from what I have been to determine from what I have read about them, they do not want “freedom” from religion, they want religion wiped off the face of the earth. Also, they tend to only go after Christians, I have never read where they went after Islam. Evidently, they have spies and trolls that travel around the country, especially small towns, looking for “manger scenes and Christmas trees” in city-owned or sponsored events. They then proceed to threaten very expensive lawsuits that many small towns can’t afford to fight. Just being the Big Bully.
Provide proof.
Yeah I normally research stories better than that, that’s on me. So I went back and watched Duffy’s address and he definitely did not say that “Only Religious Sailors Can Be Good Sailors”. But at the same time, I definitely believe in the separation of church and state, and the below is not called for.
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be nice and number nine there are two kinds of people those who believe in God and
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those who think they’re God there’s something beautiful humbling and properly ordered about a man and woman
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who understand that there is power greater than themselves that everything
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is not in their control and that they are the beloved child of a merciful God
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who hears their prayers and I had 10 but it’s too hot so I’m just going to do nine for you okay
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now before there was GPS technology sailors
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solely relied on key stars to keep them uh to help them navigate where they were
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going sailors rely on the North Star to lead them because the North Star remains
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fixed in the same location throughout the night in the Middle Ages men of the
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sea prayed to the Virgin Mary who they called Stella Marus because she was
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their northstar that pointed them toward God the Father their protector and spiritual destination
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no one knows the unpredictability and storms of nature and life like a sailor
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a good sailor knows that in the end only God can calm the seas and bring them to
43:40
safety so stay faithful and never underestimate the power of prayer
And as a side note: " Who is the goddess Stella Maris?
Interestingly, Stella maris was originally an epithet of the goddess Isis in Roman religion. Like Mary, Isis was a divine mother with a very popular cult, and representations of her with her baby son Horus in Egyptian art to some extent influenced the way early artists showed the Virgin and Child.
In today’s world of all-encompassing shoreside management & administration, the Captain is no longer “seul Mâitre devant Dieu” as the french say…
I expect if you could find instances of Islamic groups trying to codify Ramadan celebrations on public property at public expense, they’d probably be interested in fighting that too.
I’ll have to look around and remember where I read it, but the MRFF’s head honcho Mikey Weinstein is a pretty well-known scumbag who made some unsuccessful attacks in the past on blatantly “your choice to participate” religious functions that took place in the armed forces. Some religious service members were left feeling like they simply weren’t allowed to practice in peace.
I’m a strong believer of separation of church & state. I also prefer the company of an honest atheist compared to the company of a hypocritical Christian. Almost all the atheists I’ve meet have been cool, stand-up people. But I clicked on the MRFF link provided by the OP & could only read 2 paragraphs before X’ing out of that page. Whoever wrote that seems like an A-hole who has created a religion of their own. I really don’t know which is worse, the many righteous indignation Baptists or the few righteous indigestion atheists.
I think it’s true that sailors in peril start praying, despite their previous aversion.
We should also acknowledge the religious origins of many of the longstanding and international traditions and customs of the sea.
Even the British and Dutch respected the Lord’s Day and ceased fighting. The Church Pennant flown then and now during Divine Service aboard warships has two national flags, English and Dutch, making up its halves.
Nevertheless, I agree that coerced religion is wrong.
War story follows.
I well remember Divine Service aboard our flagship at sea with the ship’s company all assembled, band playing and chaplain(s) presiding. This followed “Divisions”, a parade in full dress uniform.
To respect the wishes of the heathens amongst us, the Chief Coxswain prior to the commencement would gruffly in his most contemptuous voice order them to fall out of their divisions and form a squad “over there” as he pointed to a spot of shame a few feet away. “Don’t listen”, he commanded impossibly. “Ship’s Company, off caps, stand at ease” and gave the nod to the XO who gave the nod to the Captain who - given a nod by the admiral - gave the nod to the chaplain(s) who knew the drill and preached to all God’s children equally loudly.
We recited the Naval Prayer, sang the Naval Hymn from memory and received the blessings. Thus cleansed, we enjoyed Sunday Routine.
The number of heathens in future strangely dwindled to nil. Was that a sign?
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Well said
I never did, the one time I felt my ship was truly not going to make it. During that storm we lost the bubble in a 45° wheelhouse clinometer.
Aaaaah, but the good ship came up, I see. So not in nearly enough peril to induce panic-prayer. A stoic response, nevertheless.
My good frigate rolled off the clinometer once. I was in the wardroom and ran up the ships’s side as she rolled and stood one foot either side of the scuttle (port hole) looking seemingly vertically down into green water for what seemed like forever. All the life rafts on that side hydrostatically released and were happily reported by the flagship to have all inflated beautifully.
That reminds me of a famous signal from one British warship to a corvette in company. “Have just seen down your funnel. Fires burning brightly”.
Only because of our diligence in seeing the hatch covers properly secured.
This is all funny until the guys that go to the “right” church get promoted ahead of you.
Unfortunately, this is the way it is & likely always will be. I worked on an FOC AHTS during the Obama years. There were only 5 Americans on board but 1 of them, the relief Capt, was a liberal minded Obama voter. The dumbest thing he ever did was tell those gun toting, camouflage wearing, coonass/rednecks his political persuasion. He didn’t last long. I’ve worked research ships since well before Covid & the dumbest thing a person could do was/is talk bad about the scientific community/governments policies on Covid, transgenderism or say something good about Trump. Those were/are the litmus test to see who belongs on scientific research ships. Bigotry based on religion & ideology is by no means a 1 way street.
Air Force cadets have a whiteboard outside their dorm rooms where they can post their thoughts. One cadet posted Bible verses and Mikey had a hissy and the cadet was told “No, you can’t do that”. Muslim cadets in support of the Christian posted Koran verses and even they were banned. I have read several articles about “Little Mikey” over the years and while I remember the main thoughts of the article, I didn’t “bookmark” them for future reference. Shooter McGavin seems to be saying it best. I did find one reference that after a church was given “government assistance” to start a disaster relief center, the FFRF had a hissy meltdown. After all, when is a disaster relief center ever needed? As a disaster relief volunteer with the NC Baptists on Missions, I spent ten years traveling all over the place. What have “atheist disaster relief” groups ever done? You won’t find one. I never saw one in ten years. Nuff said.