HUFFINGTON POST – MRFF SENIOR RESEARCH DIRECTOR CHRIS RODDA – Religion in the Military: It’s ‘Tradition’

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A few years back, Congressman Randy Forbes (R-VA) and his Congressional Prayer Caucus made it one of their big issues to protect a “traditional” flag folding ceremony at military funerals. In this ceremony, each of the thirteen folds to fold the flag into a triangle is accompanied by a recitation of a meaning assigned to that fold, several of which are religious — “The second fold is a symbol of our belief in the eternal life,” “The eleventh fold, 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,” and “The twelfth fold, 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.”

In a letter to the Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs, former blue dog congressman and Prayer Caucus member Heath Shuler referred to this religious flag folding ceremony as traditional three times — referring to the scripts for each fold as “the traditional flag-folding recitations,” saying that this “flag-folding recitation is a long-standing tradition,” and asking, “You take a tradition that’s been going on for so long, and because one person doesn’t want to hear ‘God,’ it stops?”

That always seems to be the justification for any government promotion of a religious practice, both in the military and elsewhere: It’s “tradition” — and tradition trumps constitutionality. (continued, click below to learn more)

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