Friday, July 13, 2012

The Catholic Defender: JULY 13, 1917

The following comes from the article, "Lawmakers Says Air Force Class Suspension Over Bible Verses 'Misinterprets' 1st Amendment" reported by THEBLAZE, posted on Sept 6, 2011.

"Back in early August, The Blaze brought you the controversy surrounding a missile training course that the Air Force suspended following complaints about the inclusion of Bible verses in the curriculum.

Now, Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) is asking for a detailed report from the Air Force that explains why the course, entitled “Just War Theory,” was canned (the course was taught at California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base).

Clearly bothered by the Air Force’s willingness to amend the course to remove the Christian passages, Cornyn sent a letter of concern to Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley. In the note, which was given exclusively to Fox News Radio, he wrote:


“…suspending a course like this because of references to religious texts misinterprets the First Amendment.

Although our Founding Fathers rightly included language in the Constitution that precludes the Federal government from establishing an official religion, this language does not, as some have argued, protect them from exposure to religious references.

The First Amendment is intended to guarantee an individual’s right to the free exercise of religion according to his or her conscience.”

(Texas Sen. John Cornyn)Others, of course, disagree with Cornyn’s take on the matter. Despite the fact that the course had been implemented for 20 years without incident, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) says that it violates the constitution’s intent to keep church and state separated.

On the MRFF’s web site, the group — which has taken a hand-on role in this matter – describes itself as follows:

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is dedicated to ensuring that all members of the United States Armed Forces fully receive the Constitutional guarantees of religious freedom to which they and all Americans are entitled by virtue of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

The MRFF filed a complaint back in August on behalf of 31 missile launch officers, threatening to file a lawsuit if the Air Force refused to suspend the course.

Following Cornyn’s letter, there‘s no telling what the Air Force’s response will be. As The Blaze reported last month, David Smith, the spokesman for the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command, says that the MRFF’s concerns have led the military branch to conclude that the inclusion of the Bible verses is an “inappropriate approach” in today’s society".

For many Catholics, July 13,1917 is an important date because this was when the Virgin Mary gave the Children of Fatima the vision of hell. This is as follows:

Sister Lucy describes the vision of hell that Our Lady showed the children at Fatima:
"She opened Her hands once more, as She had done the two previous months. The rays [of light] appeared to penetrate the earth, and we saw, as it were, a vast sea of fire. Plunged in this fire, we saw the demons and the souls [of the damned]. The latter were like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, having human forms. They were floating about in that conflagration, now raised into
the air by the flames which issued from within themselves, together with great clouds of smoke. Now they fell back on every side like sparks in huge fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fright (it must have been this sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they heard me). The demons were distinguished [from the souls of the damned] by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning coals. That vision only lasted for a moment, thanks to our good Heavenly Mother, Who at the first apparition had promised to take us to Heaven. Without that, I think that we would have died of terror and fear."
Sister Lucia continues, "To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays [ROSARY]. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. In Portugal, the dogma of Faith will always be preserved..."

What I find of major concern is that Russia held to an atheistic, communistic ideology wanting to stamp out Christianity.

If we follow what has been taking place in America with the secularization of our schools, government, judicial system, society at large, this is becoming more and more of a concern.

Please pray for America that liberty will be strengthened and maintained.


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