“The clergyman who does not put the flag above the church had better close his church and keep it closed.”
—Theodore Roosevelt
Below, the symbol of the marriage of two historically very violent institutions.
“The presence of the national flag beside the tabernacle of worship and of student Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) on the campuses of prestigious Catholic schools says to the worshiper and to the student that military life is as religious as God and as normal as going to school.
“These subtle indirect influences of the military over civilian life are more effective in militarizing society that most others . . . The military at an educational institution infiltrates and spreads its philosophy that violence and killing are the American way as well as the Christian way..
This inevitably leads to the conclusion that force and violence, instead of cooperation through some international organization or reconciliation or admission of fault on either or both sides, will solve the world’s and the nation’s problems.
“Through this process each generation learns to forget the horror experienced in every war and passes on to the next generation stories of glory and of heroes. Thus, most young people, whether Christian or otherwise, are prepared to kill other people when the signal is given.”
—Richard McSorley, S.J., PhD.
-Emmanuel Charles McCarthy
