Absolutely nothing. If you look closely at the picture above, you will note that all the Marines pictured are bowing their heads. That's because they're praying.
This incident took place at a recent ceremony honoring the birthday of the corps and it has the ACLU up in arms. "These are federal employees," says Lucius Traveler, a spokesman for the ACLU, "on federal property and on federal time. For them to pray is clearly an establishment of religion, and we must nip this in the bud immediately."
When asked about the ACLU's charges, Colonel Jack Fessender, speaking for the Commandant of the Corps said (cleaned up a bit), "Screw the ACLU. God bless our warriors. Send the ACLU to France."
Comments
You know, the truth is that many of those soldiers probably ARE Muslim, WhyNot. They simply bow their heads in prayer as along with their brothers in arms. If the custom of the Marine Corp were to kneel in Muslim fashion, I'm sure the Christians would pray on their knees with the Muslims. I think the point that many people miss here is that we are all children of one God or another -- whether it is Allah, Jehovah, or God. It is perfectly okay to pray. Most of us do it silently at the worst of times; others simply make it a daily exercise in faith. Here in the States, our ACLU has become the "anti-God squad" more than the "American Civil Liberties Union." They are slowly eroding our citizens' right to pray, even though the US Supreme Court itself opens each session with a prayer! The Court itself prays on Federal time and Federal property. Prayer (freedom of faith) is a liberty as well as free speech. It drives me nuts that so many people miss the point!
Now, I'm not a religious person -- don't attend church and am not a Christian -- but I pray. To have someone tell me I can't bow my head (or close my eyes) and say a prayer while standing on Federal property is not my idea of a group that is protecting my Civil Rights. I wouldn't even send the ACLU to France; you guys could do much better than that!