The newly restored “Christ on the Water” painting has been returned to a place of prominence at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA), Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy recently announced.
“Jesus is out of the basement!” Sec. Duffy said in a post on X. “I promised you I would restore faith at [USMMA] by returning ‘Christ on the Water’ to its place of prominence, where it belongs after being taken down under Biden and my predecessor.”
“God is good for these Mariners – true FAITHFUL American patriots!” he added.
According to the Department of Transportation (DOT), the painting hung in the Elliot M. See Room of Wiley Hall for nearly 80 years before the Biden administration relocated it to the flood-prone basement of the USMMA’s chapel in 2023.
The painting, also known as “Jesus and Lifeboat,” portrays Jesus guiding sailors through stormy seas. Created by LT Hunter Wood, USMS, in 1944, the painting portrays merchant seamen adrift at sea, presumably after being torpedoed.
Wood created the painting as a tribute to all merchant seamen, especially cadet-midshipmen who were torpedoed during World War II.
The painting’s restoration was celebrated on Monday, September 29, in an unveiling ceremony in Wiley Hall.
“I want to thank Secretary Duffy for his continued support of our Academy and the midshipmen who call this place home,” said USMMA Acting Superintendent Captain Tony Ceraolo in a statement.
He added,
Our purpose today is to preserve a piece of the Academy’s cultural and historical legacy. We honor the past and the resilience of those who came before us.
This painting is about history, remembrance, and hope ensuring that the story of our midshipmen and their wartime experiences remain part of our shared institutional memory.
“Burying this historic painting in the basement wasn’t just a mistake – it was an insult to the faith and legacy of service that built this Academy and our nation,” Sec. Duffy added in a statement.
“By restoring ‘Christ on the Water’ to its rightful place, we sent a clear message to our midshipmen: their Christian faith is a virtue to be proud of, not something to be censored.”
Like clockwork, the Freedom From Religion Foundation promptly objected to the restoration of the painting, arguing that USMMA cadets have the “right to attend the Merchant Marine Academy without being exposed to prominent Christian imagery.” The FFRF asserted that the U.S. Constitution requires the “government to be free from religion.”
In truth, the Constitution demands no such thing.
Previous generations of Americans, from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln to Ronald Reagan, publicly acknowledged our nation’s need for God – and they did so as part of their official duties.
Furthermore, Christianity was instrumental in the founding and creation of our nation. In his book Reading the Bible With the Founding Fathers, Professor Daniel Dreisbach writes, “Twenty-first-century Americans may find it difficult to appreciate the centrality of Christianity and the Bible to many aspects of public life in [eighteenth-century America].”
“This is particularly true of the Bible’s place in the life of the mind,” he adds, continuing,
The Bible and bible-based texts were ubiquitous in elementary and secondary education, and they were of special importance to literacy education.
When studied in higher education today, the Bible is typically reserved for specialty courses on religion and theology, unlike eighteenth-century colleges where the Bible was a key textbook in many courses in the curriculum.
“It is difficult to overstate the place of the Bible in the lives and culture of eighteenth-century Americans,” Dreisbach observes.
We thank Sec. Duffy for returning “Christ on the Water” to its rightful place at the USMMA. His decision is well within the rich Christian history of America.
Related articles and resources:
Three Cheers for Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon Christian Prayer Service
Secretary Sean Duffy: Let’s Bring Jesus Up from the Basement
DOT Secretary Sean Duffy Officially Favors Marriage and Fertility in Federal Policy
Sean and Rachel Duffy: ‘Our Family is Only as Strong as Our Marriage’
Photo from U.S. Department of Transportation.
