As a former member of Congress, now Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy had a reputation for speaking his mind. Unapologetically pro-life, he regularly chastised colleagues for not standing up for the most vulnerable. From the House floor he talked about the “silent screams” of the preborn.
“Don’t talk to me about cruelty when you look at little babies being dismembered, feeling excruciating pain,” he once declared.
So maybe it’s not surprising that when Secretary Duffy visited the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy last week that he vowed to put back up an historic painting that his predecessor, Pete Buttigieg, had removed.
It’s titled “Christ on the Water” or “Jesus and Lifeboat.”
The painting in question was created in 1944 by U.S. Maritime Service Lieutenant Hunter Wood. Looking for a way to honor Americans lost at sea during World War II, Wood’s art measures 10-feet by 19-feet. He used marine paint, sail canvas and varnish to bring the image to life.
For 80 years, the painting hung in the Elliot M. See Room of the academy’s administration building. Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Foundation and chief crank of any intersection of faith and government, filed a complaint. On Secretary Buttigieg’s order, the painting was first covered and then relegated to the basement.
Thankfully, Secretary Duffy has reversed course.
“Can we bring Jesus up from the basement?” he asked to cheers last week. “Let’s not put Jesus in the basement! Let’s get Him out! Let’s bring Him up!”
One midshipman told the Christian Post, “I remember many times when I used to pray underneath that painting when I was on the verge of failing a class, or I had big tests or I was worried about something. I’ve prayed underneath that painting when it used to be in Wiley Hall. So to me, it’s a very significant, important painting, and I think it’s an important part of the school’s history.”
Another midshipman noted how appropriate it was to have that specific painting in that particular room on campus, the site of hearings for possible honor code violations.
“That room where the painting was held is where the Honor Board meetings were. And people would look up to that painting and say, ‘Everything’s going to be all right. Jesus is looking after me, just like He’s looking after these sailors who are washed up on a boat somewhere in the middle of the ocean.’”
Back when the Academy covered and moved the painting, Senator Ted Cruz wrote a letter to Vice Admiral Joanna Nunan, the Superintendent of the United States Merchant Marine Academy, criticizing the decision.
“I am deeply concerned by your flawed understanding of the First Amendment to our Constitution,” Senator Cruz stated. “The allegation that the painting somehow violates time, place and manner restrictions is an objective absurdity.”
Over the years, radicals have worked overtime to metaphorically and literally relegate Jesus to America’s basement. Secretary Duffy, who is a married believer and father to nine children, understands both the danger and destructiveness of those efforts. He also understands that acknowledging the Christian faith in a public setting doesn’t violate the United States Constitution.
Thank you, Secretary Sean Duffy.
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