At noon tomorrow, the Wisconsin Department of Justice will host a ceremony at the State Capitol "to honor the memories of murder victims and recognize the impact of homicide on surviving family members and loved ones".  The ceremony is one of several being held across the country as part of a National Day of Rememberance for Murder Victims.

     Unfortunately, an obsession with political correctness coupled with bureaucratic spinelessness has allowed the ceremony to be hijacked by the Freedom from Religion Foundation.  In other words, Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has decided to dance on puppet strings being pulled by the extreme lunatic fringe of society.

     As part of the original ceremony, a religious hymn entitled "This Too Shall Pass" was scheduled to be sung.  The hymn contains the following lyrics: "In the middle of the turbulence surrounding you, These trying times that are so hard to endure, In the middle of what seems to be your darkest hour, Hold fast your heart and be assured;  This too shall pass; Like every night that's come before it; He'll never give you more than you can bear; So in this thought be comforted; It's in His Hands; This too shall pass ... ."

     In addition, a Lutheran Pastor named Charles Peterson (who carries Department of Justice credentials and has been ministering to law enforcement members for decades) was scheduled to give a non-denominational closing prayer.

     This all changed last week when the Freedom From Religion Foundation complained about the hymn and the involvement of Pastor Peterson in the program.  In an especially cruel and typically clueless remark, Annie Laurie Gaylor, the attention-seeking co-president of the group contended that "the lyrics to the religious hymn would offend some in the audience by advancing the idea that the murder of their beloved child was part of the deity's plan!"  Gaylor added: "Grieving and vulnerable families should not be proselytized by state government or be told how or what they are expected to believe".

     Huh? 

     First, it is absurd in the extreme to suggest that a non-denominational closing prayer at a ceremony of this nature would amount to "vulnerable families" being "proselytized".  In fact, I imagine that most will find it odd that this event will include no prayer at all.  Similarly, someone would have to be seriously detached from reality to believe that any normal person would be offended by lyrics of a hymn like "This Too Shall Pass".  As Pastor Peterson noted, people attending an event like this are generally looking for a bit of spirituality.

     What is perhaps most disappointing about this entire affair though is the pathetic response of Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.  Events similar to this one will be going on all across the country tomorrow.  I'm willing to bet that most - if not all others -will contain either a hymn, a closing prayer or both. 

     In crumbling before the complaint by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Van Hollen's spokesperson claims that they don't "want to have an appearance of a potential church-state violation overshadow the event".  Wonderful.  However, by capitulating to the demands of the anti-religion zealots, Van Hollen has handed them a major - and undeserved - victory which now definitely overshadows the event.  Talk about tyranny of the minority!

     The First Amendment to the Constitution says that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof".  It would be interesting to see exactly how the Freedom From Religion Foundation would have claimed that the ceremony as originally constituted would have violated this language.  It would also be interesting to see how the United States Supreme Court would have ruled on the matter - had they chosen to hear the case.

     We'll never know the answer to this question though because Van Hollen's Office caved.  If this is how the Wisconsin Department of Justice is going to operate, maybe Kathleen Falk should have won the election.  I mean, at least it wouldn't have been a surprise to see her go in the tank on something like this.

     When we discussed this on the program, a number of people wanted to know how to contact Van Hollen.  Here's the info if you're so inclined.

     As for Pastor Peterson, he's remarkably well grounded concerning the matter.  When asked about the decision of the DOJ to cancel the prayer, he said "That's fine with me.  That's their loss, not mine". 

     Amen.