US Federal Buildings closed for people of faith

Meghan Duke recounts on the First Things webblog how it was that she was denied entry into the US National Museum of Art because she was wearing a pro-life lapel pin. It seems that security guards have been trained to ask all patrons of the museum to remove any item that might be interpreted as being "religious" on the grounds that expressions of faith cannot be demonstrated within publicly owned buildings.

Aside from the fact that to be "prolife" does not require that one necessarily hold religious beliefs, this seems to be just another example of the enmity that is growing between the forces of the state and voices of faith, even within the borders of the country which holds to their "freedom of speech" so forcefully as to vitiate their own electoral campaign regulations to permit the voices of corporations and other groups the spend without limit to ensure that politicians will create legislation that will benefit their benefactors.

It's one of those little paradoxes of life to contemplate: a button (which costs a few pennies to produce) is a threat to civil discourse within the halls of public buildings, but incomprehensible numbers of millions of dollars can be spent by anyone to determine who gets elected to govern the land.

Be careful though. Pondering the logic of such decisions can give a believer a headache.