“From our point of view, the purpose of Christmas and its carols is to celebrate and honor the birth of Jesus, and if that goal is taken from us, it is an issue we do not want to be a part of. We do not think it is a good idea to systemically weed out religious Christmas songs from being sung in certain places.”For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:
-- Dan Funsch, Principal, Alleluia Community School
President Obama's VA Strips Jesus & Bible from Chaplains
President Obama's Pentagon Takes Orders from Atheists: Nativity Scenes
President Obama's Pentagon Says Following Jesus' Command is a Court Martial Offense
President Obama's Army Says Christians are Worst Terrorists
President Obama's NASA Ignores God's Creation: Apollo 8 1968
And also read the latest news of the secular rebellion against Christmas.
UPDATE 2/6/14: President Obama, Hypocrite in Chief, Holds Prayer Breakfast
-- From "VA Hospital Bans Some Christmas Carols" by The Associated Press News 12/24/13
The students from Augusta's Alleluia Community School were prevented from singing traditional holiday songs such as "Silent Night" and "O Come All Ye Faithful."
Hospital spokesman Brian Rothwell said in a statement that military service members represent people of all faiths. He said that VA rules on "spiritual care" are in place out of respect for every faith.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Augusta VA won't let carolers sing religious songs" by Wesley Brown, Athens-Banner Herald (Morris News Service) 12/24/13
Alleluia Community School Principal Dan Funsch said he was sad to hear that the Veterans Affairs hospital’s “spiritual care” grants holiday exemption only to Frosty, Rudolph and the secular characters that make up the 12 Days of Christmas.
. . . Funsch said, when he and his students arrived at the hospital Friday, they were handed a list of 12 Christmas songs the hospital’s Pastoral Service had “deemed appropriate for celebration within the hearing range of all Veterans.”
[Hospital spokesman Brian] Rothwell could not provide the date the VA’s ban on religious Christmas songs took effect, but Funsch said that in 2011 and 2012 his students were welcomed without hesitation at the Augusta VA’s Uptown campus as part of a yearly caroling the school does on its last day of classes before the holiday break.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Policy hits a sour note" by Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff 12/26/13
We don’t know the precise religious makeup of the local VA’s patient population. But we would guess that the hospital’s complaint box isn’t stuffed with indignant comments from patients who don’t want to hear Christmas songs. The Alleluia group reported no problems when it caroled at the VA’s Uptown campus in 2011 and 2012.
. . . do veterans really have to be protected from certain holiday singing? Caroling scarcely qualifies as imposing religious persecution. For a sense of perspective, read recent news stories about the bloody, violent purge of Christianity in other parts of the world. On Christmas Day, 15 Christians died in a church bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, where Christianity has been practiced since the first century A.D.
It appears that the VA is trying to outlaw being offended. But after word of the Augusta caroling decision hit national news wires this week, the hospital inadvertently cast a wider net to offend many more people.
To read the entire opinion column above, CLICK HERE.
For further background, read President Obama Redefines 1st Amendment Freedom of Religion and yet President Obama Denies Leading War Against Christianity, and so Congress Responds to Obama's Military Attack on Christians
