Thine Be the Glory

The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima

Churchill Bust Donated to Pentagon by UK Ministry of Defence

From The Churchill Centre

On 6 May a new bust of Winston Churchill was unveiled at the Pentagon by United States Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work and General Sir Nicholas Houghton, Chief of the British Defence Staff. The finished bronze, created at 1 1/2 times life-size, was crafted by British sculptor Vivien Mallock and is a gift from the British Ministry of Defence to the permanent collection of the United States Department of Defense.

The unveiling ceremony was held in the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes and was attended by senior military officers of both nations, including Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Joseph  Dunford, the recently nominated Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, along with the Chiefs of Staff of the Army and Air Force and the Chief of Naval Operations, as well as the British counterparts. In addition to Executive Director Lee Pollock, The Churchill Centre was represented by Trustees Elliot Berke and Paul Brubaker.

In presenting the bust, Sir Nicholas remarked: “How delighted Churchill himself would be to see we are following the final piece of advice that he ever gave to his ministers upon leaving Downing Street for the final time in 1955—‘Never be separated from the Americans.’” The alliance between the United States and Britain is more than just shared national interests, he continued, “it is shared human ideals and a profound trust in democracy.”

In accepting the bust, Secretary Work said: “It is a most appropriate time to celebrate the legacy of Winston Churchill as this Friday we mark the seventieth anniversary of VE-Day, Victory-in-Europe day. Churchill did so much to make that victory possible—along with the British people, who truly gave their blood, sweat, and tears during that titanic struggle of the twentieth century.”

Centre Executive Director Lee Pollock expressed the appreciation of the Churchill family and the artist for the placement of the bust and thanked both Departments, as well as donors Alan Spence and John Michaelson, for making it possible. After noting that Churchill was a graduate of Sandhurst and that his first profession was that of army officer, Pollock concluded: “In years to come, as you walk through this corridor, pause for a moment and think of Winston Churchill. He still has much to say to all of us today, civilian and military alike.”

Daniel Hannan MEP: How the Left’s Hatred Devoured Its Own Election Campaign

By Daniel Hannan

It’s not always about you. The truism is especially worth remembering in the aftermath of elections, when all parties tend to look at the results wholly in terms of their own campaigns. We Conservatives lurched away from everything John Major had stood for after 1997, and then ludicrously over-compensated after 2001, convinced that William Hague’s emphasis on the asylum crisis had lost us the election. In truth, it’s hard to see any campaign having triumphed against Tony Blair at his height. It’s not always about us.

America’s Changing Religious Landscape

Christians Decline Sharply as Share of Population; Unaffiliated and Other Faiths Continue to Grow

The Christian share of the U.S. population is declining, while the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion is growing, according to an extensive new survey by the Pew Research Center. Moreover, these changes are taking place across the religious landscape, affecting all regions of the country and many demographic groups. While the drop in Christian affiliation is particularly pronounced among young adults, it is occurring among Americans of all ages. The same trends are seen among whites, blacks and Latinos; among both college graduates and adults with only a high school education; and among women as well as men. (Explore the data with our interactive database tool.)

To be sure, the United States remains home to more Christians than any other country in the world, and a large majority of Americans – roughly seven-in-ten – continue to identify with some branch of the Christian faith.¹ But the major new survey of more than 35,000 Americans by the Pew Research Center finds that the percentage of adults (ages 18 and older) who describe themselves as Christians has dropped by nearly eight percentage points in just seven years, from 78.4% in an equally massive Pew Research survey in 2007 to 70.6% in 2014. Over the same period, the percentage of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated – describing themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” – has jumped more than six points, from 16.1% to 22.8%. And the share of Americans who identify with non-Christian faiths also has inched up, rising 1.2 percentage points, from 4.7% in 2007 to 5.9% in 2014. Growth has been especially great among Muslims and Hindus, albeit from a very low base.

Read more at Pew Research Center >>