Jesus is back – on the walls of the American Merchant Marine Academy.
A sharp turnaround in the Biden administration’s campaign to scrub religious symbols from the public institution, the Secretary of Transport Sean Duffy announced The cover of Jesus’ painting in 2023 last week will restore public opinion. The announcement attracted cheers from the Mariners, merchants who gathered at the academy.
Under previous administrations, erasing Jesus from the wall was only the beginning. But it all changed the moment President Trump took office.
The painting, entitled “Christ on the Water,” dates back to the 1940s and was created to honor the Mariners lost at sea during World War II. However, in early 2023, the Military Religion Freedom Foundation sent a letter to then-Directed Transportation Director Pete Buttigigue, calling the artwork “a sectarian painting that demonstrates the superiority of Jesus Christ,” and Request to be deleted As unconstitutional support for religion.
Naturally, Buttigieg followed. Academy director Joanna Nunan – whose biographies boasted efforts to expand “diversity and inclusion” to the Coast Guard and Merchant Marines – ordered the painting.
US Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and then rep. Jim Banks (R-ind.) denounced Nunan for his “flawed understanding” of the first revision and called on the academy to display the painting. At the time, the academy’s midshipman said that the “awakening” ideology was “It has spread to schools” – And that spread only accelerated under Biden and Battigie.
Duffy’s announcement shows a clear break from that era, showing just how dramatically things have changed under President Trump.
Last week’s announcement was not just a recent move by the administration to protect American religious heritage.
Earlier this month, U.S. Veterans Secretary Doug Collins announced that his office had stepped in to stop a voice code that threatens pastors at Virginia, Pennsylvania Hospital.
Action came after First Liberty Institute and the Independence Law Center I sent a letter To Collins on behalf of the Rev. Rusty Tulvey. A pastor, veteran and former missionary in the Army Reserve, Trubey has been working at Coatesville VA Medical Center for nearly a decade.
In June 2024, as part of his usual duties, Trubey led the Chapel Service and preached from the first chapter of the Romans. After the service, during the cleaning, he was approached by a VA police officer who said a complaint had been filed about his sermon.
After the incident, the VA removed pastor Trubey from his duties, and began an investigation over several months, threatening to mark his permanent record. The VA ultimately dropped the responsibilities, but his supervisors imposed a review process for the sermon, revising the pastor’s SOP and performance plans to push them to limit topics they could preach. If these changes had been in effect, pastors may have faced punishment for preaching in accordance with their religious beliefs.
“There are no national or local policies or standard operating procedures that hinder pastors’ sermons. As long as there were proposed changes to existing policies, these proposals did not advance and were withdrawn.”
He said, “It is a controversial and well-established law that the Constitutional Protection and Religious Freedom Restoration Act delivered sermons alongside church supporters, protecting statements made by all VA pastors.”
Under previous administrations, erasing Jesus from the wall was only the beginning. Eliminating faith from the pulpit soon followed. If the November elections were reversed, all we can do is imagine what the landscape would look like.
But it all changed the moment President Trump took office.
During his first few days, Trump issued executive orders to restore religious freedom and end the federal government’s weaponization against political opposition. This has become increasingly common in the push of the left to force awakened ideology. From the beginning, the administration made it clear that faith was not silent.
That mission never left. The fight to restore our first freedom was unforgiving.
And, many Americans say Amen.
