Flag-folding Recitations Now Banned At National Cemeteries

So, anyone think Christianity is not under attack?
 

Through thousands of military burials, Memorial Honor Detail volunteers at Riverside National Cemetery in California have folded the American flag 13 times and recited the significance of every fold to survivors of those being laid to rest.
 
The first fold, a narrator tells relatives, represents life, the second a belief in eternal life.
The 11th fold celebrates Jewish war veterans and glorifies the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

A single complaint lodged against the words for the 11th fold recently prompted the National Cemetery Administration to ban the entire recital at all 125 national cemeteries.

A spokesman in Washington said the complaint originated from someone who witnessed the ceremony at Riverside National but would provide no other details and declined to release the directive banning the flag-folding recital, saying it was “an internal working document not meant for public distribution.”
 
Veterans are furious.
 
“That the actions of one disgruntled, whining, narcissistic and intolerant individual is preventing veterans from getting the honors they deserve is truly an outrage,” said Rees Lloyd, 59, a Vietnam-era veteran and Memorial Honor Detail volunteer. “This is another attempt by secularist fanatics to cleanse any reference to God.”
 
World War II Navy sailor Bobby Castillo, 85, another member of Memorial Honor Detail 12, called the federal decision “a slap in the face to every veteran.”
 
“When we got back from the war, we didn’t ask for a whole lot,” said Castillo, who was wounded in 1944 as he supported the Allied landings in France. “We just want to give our veterans the respect they deserve. No one has ever complained to us about it. I just don’t understand.”
 
The pair, part of a team that has performed military honors at more than 1,400 services, said they were preparing to read the flag-folding remarks when workers in a staff car came up to them and stopped them.
 
Charlie Waters, parliamentarian for the American Legion of California, said he’s advising memorial-honor details to ignore the edict, even if it means being kicked out of cemeteries.

“This is nuts,” Waters, a Korean War veteran, said in a telephone interview from Fresno. “There are 26 million veterans in this country and they’re not going to take us all to prison.”

Mike Nacincik, a spokesman for the National Cemetery Administration, said the new policy, which was outlined in a Sept. 27 memo, is aimed at creating uniform services throughout the military graveyard system.
 
He said the 13-fold recital is not part of the U.S. Flag Code and is not government-approved. After the complaint made its way through government channels, Steve Muro, director of field operations, wrote the new policy.
 
Nacincik said that while the flag-folding narrative includes references to God that the government does not endorse, the main reason for the new rules is uniformity.
 
“We are looking at consistency,” Nacincik said. “We think that’s important.”
 
As for comments that the edict is an attack on religious beliefs, Nacincik said, “People are going to have their own views on that.”
 
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller, of Temple Beth El in Riverside, said he understands the government’s decision to ban the recitation but believes it is a quick solution to a complex issue.

“It is a perfect example of government choosing to ignore religion in order to avoid offending some religions,” Miller said. “To me, ignoring religion in general is just as problematic as endorsing any one religion.”
 
“We’re going to fight this tooth and nail, hammer and boot,” he said.
The link is here.

Here’s the banned recital: from Michelle Malkin

Flag folds

These meanings, not part of the U.S. Flag Code, have been ascribed to the 13 folds of American flags at veterans burial services:
 
1. Symbol of life.
2. Symbol of our belief in the eternal life.
3. In honor and remembrance of the veteran departing our ranks who gave a portion of life for the defense of our country to attain a peace throughout the world.
4. Represents our weaker nature, for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him we turn in times of peace as well as in times of war for His divine guidance.
5. A tribute to our country, for in the words of Stephen Decatur, “Our country, in dealing with other countries, may she always be right; but it is still our country, right or wrong.”
6. Represents where our hearts lie. It is with our heart that we pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
7. A tribute to our armed forces.
8. A tribute to the one who entered in to the valley of the shadow of death, that we might see the light of day, and to honor mother, for whom it flies on Mother’s Day.
9. A tribute to womanhood.
10. A tribute to father.
11. In the eyes of a Hebrew citizen, represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon, and glorifies, in their eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
12. In the eyes of a Christian citizen, represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in their eyes, God the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost.
13. When the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost, reminding us of our national motto, “In God We Trust.”

Fellow blogger Brujo Blanco reports:
 
The last government organization I would have expected to take a shot at Christianity is the Veterans Administration. However, it is a government agency and subject to the typical brain cramps of the politically correct.
 
There have been thousands of military burials that have included a flag-folding ceremony. Each time the flag is folded there is a religious recitation. Now because of a complaint this is no longer permitted which has been so ordered by the National Cemetery Association. They have prohibited employees and volunteers from conducting such ceremonies. The complaint regarding this ceremony is the religious content.
 
For those liberals that have not lost a family member or close friend to combat or simply a friend that died on activity duty let me clue you in. When a military man is buried in a national cemetery or elsewhere they generally have a religious ceremony. Now the rule is that this one ceremony can be performed at any graveyard, except for one owned by the U.S. Government.  Wishes of the family or maybe even the dead soldier be damned. We must maintain the fictitious wall of separation between church and state.
 
According to Action Alert, this action has the force of making anti-Christian bigotry the law of the land. The U.S. Government has surrendered to the demand of one anti-Christian secularist. From my perspective this can not be allowed to stand. I personally devoted 22 years of my life to my country and when I die I want my family and friends to talk to God even in the presence of an offended atheist. It’s my funeral and that’s the way that I want it. In fact if given the opportunity I will defy this law. The American Legion has made a decision to do so that that is the way that I like it. The Legion’s official stance is that if the family of a fallen warrior wants the ceremony they will get it regardless of what the Veterans Administration has to say about it.
 
I have reason to identify this situation as anti-Christian and that is because if a Muslim cleric was denied the right to recite a religious ceremony the left would go nuts. Recent history has more than suggested that Christians and their organizations have been taking it in the shorts and other religions have not. There are a number of government run organizations are installing foot washing facilities and other such facilities for Muslims. The U.S. Marines at Quantico for example are building a Mosque. Other religions have to share the chapel but not the Muslims. They are getting what amounts to special treatment.
 
This latest action by the U.S. Government has demonstrated that they are folding to the anti-God squad. Little by little the existence of religion is being erased one inch at a time. The Christians should stand fast on this issue and not settle for any type of compromise. They should defy this action and pray and force the issue. Our constitution guarantees a right to freely practice religion. However,  the courts are allowing religion, Christianity in particular, to be slowly removed from public view. <em>The apparent goal is to get to a point wherein government cannot officially recognize or even acknowledge the existence of religion. If government cannot acknowledge the existence of religion then government cannot protect the right to worship.</em>
 
And if you are angry enough, here is the link to the National Cemetery Administration. 
 
Remember to ask for Mike Nacincik.