Back around the fourth of July, many Christians received a double whammy of blasphemy and idolatry because the Fourth of July fell on a Saturday. Some conservative churches held patriotic services on the Sunday before the Fourth of July, and some churches held patriotic services on the Sunday after the Fourth of July, but some churches held patriotic services on both Sundays—hence the double whammy.

This nonsense has now spread to Veterans Day. Because I write about the intersection of politics and religion, I get many e-mails from Christians informing me of the blasphemy and idolatry that occurs in their churches on the Sunday before or after Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Veterans Day.

Because Veterans Day occurred on a Wednesday this year, some churches celebrated it by having patriotic services on both the Sunday before and the Sunday after. This means that Christians had to endure two Sundays of the church building and the grounds decorated with American flags and the flags of the branches of the military, special prayers for the troops and government officials, military personnel wearing their uniforms to church, videos about the military, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in church, veterans recognized, church bulletins with the American flag on the cover, men wearing cross and flag lapel pins, announcements about how U.S. soldiers defend our freedoms, and hymns of worship to the state.

Millions of Americans are virtual prisoners in their homes due to government lockdowns, government-instilled fear, or government-caused unemployment. Isn’t it strange that the more Americans lose their freedoms, the more that churches talk about U.S. soldiers defending our freedoms?

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