Flag Folding Fiasco

I received an email from an old high school friend and wanted to add my two cents. I am urging everyone to please check facts before forwarding emails like this because it can have a great impact on our political state of affairs at a very important time in our country.

The basic premise of the email was that the Veteran’s Administration banned flag folding ceremonies because of a reference to God. This is not true.

Let’s break down the website’s article:

The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued a ban that removes any mention of God from Honor Guard Flag Folding Ceremonies at veterans' funerals. FALSE

In a simple Google search of “VA bans flag folding” I came across an article entitled “VA rescinds ban on flag-folding recitation at veterans' funerals”

The article states that the flag folding ceremonies weren’t banned; it was the recitation that was banned. And why? Not because it made references to God. On the contrary, it was because it made references to “Gods” (plural). Apparently, the handouts of the recitation had a typo that referenced “the Gods Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” It is supposed to read the “God OF Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

From the article: “Washington banned the recital after receiving one complaint about the 11th fold, a tribute to Jewish veterans that "glorifies the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." In detailing its reason for the ban, the government said a handout accompanying the script used at some burial services included a "gross error" that glorified "the Gods Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

In an attempt to cause people to react negatively to the VA, right wing hack Jay Sekulow's website page misinformed and misinterpreted the facts to suit his needs. I say this with confidence because his article states, "We have recently received a complaint sent to the President of the United States that there was a gross error in the handout with reference to the eleventh fold involving reference to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Sekulow omits that the “gross error” was that the “OF” was missing, thereby proclaiming that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all referred to as Gods. He conveniently excludes what the error was in an attempt to make those of us who are religious froth at the mouth in a frenzy and further perpetuate the falsehood.

And ultimately, let's not forget that the Veteran's Administration is being run by the administration of Mensa Man. So even if the allegations were true, who would be to blame?

It only took me 30 seconds to Google the subject of the article and find out the real facts. I ask everyone to please, please, please check your facts before you automatically assume what you read is true. Otherwise we’d all still believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, Barack Obama is Muslim and Anna Nicole married for love.