FFRF Action Fund’s “Theocrat of the Week” is Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, for inappropriately preaching during last week’s Merchant Marine Academy graduation ceremony.
During his commencement address to the graduating class of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Duffy sermonized to more than 200 graduates, delivering a speech that included overt references to religion and the Christian God.
“There are two kinds of people in life,” Duffy declared. “Those who believe in God and those who think they’re God.”
He continued, “There’s something beautiful, humbling and properly ordered about a man and woman who understand that there is a power greater than themselves. That everything is not in their control. And that they are the beloved child of a merciful God who hears their prayers.” Duffy’s remarks suggested that nonbelievers are arrogant and improperly “ordered,” implying that religious belief is a necessary component of humanity.
He added a historical anecdote: “Before the time of GPS technology, sailors solely relied on key stars to help them navigate where they were going. … In the Middle Ages, men of the sea, prayed to the Virgin Mary who they called ‘Stella Maris’ because she was their North Star that pointed them towards God, the father, their protector and spiritual destination.”
Duffy then went on to give a blatantly sectarian message at the public institution’s ceremony: “A good sailor knows that in the end, only God can calm the seas and bring them to safety. So stay faithful and never underestimate the power of prayer.”
After a digression in which he criticized the Biden administration, Duffy once again inserted religion into his speech: “Now, several months ago, I was able to see for myself old tar dripping from the ceilings. I saw dorms rotting with mold. I saw rusty showers with no hot water. And worst of all, I saw Jesus stuffed in the basement.”
Duffy was referring to a 1944 painting titled “Christ on the Water,” once in the Merchant Marine Academy’s interfaith chapel. In 1961, the chapel was relocated, becoming a secular conference room. In 2023, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation advocated for the painting’s removal from the secular space, acting on behalf of concerned complainants. It was moved to the chapel basement temporarily, then later restored by a conservation firm and relocated outside the Academy’s Protestant and Catholic chapels.
Duffy has made the painting a central issue, stressing in May that “we are moving Jesus out of the basement.” This aligns with a broader effort by the Trump administration to reframe enforcement of state-church separation as an attack on Christianity or as “anti-Christian bias.”
Duffy carelessly dismissed and marginalized nonreligious graduates in his speech, insinuating that they are deficient or improperly “ordered.” However, the U.S. military is a secular institution that includes people of many religions and no religion. Duffy and the Trump administration must honor that.
FFRF Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization that develops and advocates for legislation, regulations and government programs to preserve the constitutional principle of separation between state and church. It also advocates for the rights and views of nonbelievers, endorses candidates for political office, and publicizes the views of elected officials concerning religious liberty issues.