Duffy meets with Christian midshipmen at Merchant Marine Academy

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy marked Easter weekend by honoring the importance of faith with some Christian midshipmen at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, some of whom lately went viral for cheering his call to restore the school’s historic Jesus painting.

In a video taken from his trip to the federal service academy in Kings Point, New York, early this month and posted on Good Friday, Duffy commemorated the important role faith plays in his own life and many others.

On Good Friday, we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus. During my visit to the US Merchant Marine Academy, I spoke with an amazing group of young midshipmen about Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins.

A complaint from ONE “concerned citizen” got the Academy’s beautiful & historic… pic.twitter.com/n66pgSLKOM

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— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) April 18, 2025

The video has prompted renewed pushback from attorney Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, whose recent description of the midshipmen as “Christian nationalist insects” prompted some of them to tell The Christian Post they are praying for him.

‘What guides us?’

Duffy noted in his post that during his visit, he “spoke with an amazing group of young midshipmen about Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins.”

“What guides us? What drives us? What is the purpose?” Duffy asked the midshipmen. “I think on the right path, in the right direction, is my faith.”

“We shouldn’t have to hide our faith, regardless of our religion,” Duffy said in his post.

Duffy’s video followed a viral moment at the USMMA’s annual Battle Standard Dinner on April 3, when midshipmen erupted in applause when he called for the restoration of “Christ on the Water,” a historic 1944 painting that shows Jesus saving merchant mariners lost at sea. One tweet showing their reaction has received more than 620,000 views.

Midshipmen at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy erupted in applause when @SecDuffy demanded a painting of Jesus saving merchant mariners be restored.

The Biden admin put a curtain over the painting before putting it in a flood-prone basement.

“Let’s bring Him up!” pic.twitter.com/qQvLKXKE5r

— Jon Brown (@JonBrownDC) April 9, 2025

The painting was first covered and then moved to the chapel basement following a letter from Weinstein, who issued a “demand” to USSMA Superintendent Vice Adm. Joanna Nunan.

He demanded she “expeditiously remove a massive, sectarian painting illustrating the supremacy of Jesus Christ” from a room in an administrative building where midshipmen are often required to gather.

‘Really humbling’

Stephen Pavlansky, a member of USMMA’s Class of 2025 who featured prominently in Duffy’s Good Friday video, told The Christian Post he was honored to have been given the opportunity to share his faith with the more than 184,000 people who saw the secretary’s tweet as of Wednesday.

Pavlansky, who leads a men’s Bible study that meets Thursday nights on campus, was among the small group of midshipman faith leaders Duffy requested to meet during his tour of the Mariners’ Memorial Chapel, which is dedicated to merchant mariners who gave their lives during the world wars.

In the video, Pavlansky is at the front of the group, eagerly sharing with Duffy some of his favorite passages regarding salvation. He first quotes John 3:16, which he described as “Jesus Christ’s promise to everyone, according to the Bible; and we have the privilege to study that.”

Pavalansky also recited from memory Titus 3:5-6, emphasizing salvation through Christ’s mercy, not through human works.

“It’s the work that Jesus did on the cross, and all we have to do is accept that gift of salvation,” he added to Duffy, who nodded in agreement.

“It was just really humbling to be posted on such a platform, and that [Duffy] thought of it enough to post Scripture; it’s not something you see,” Pavlansky told CP. “To hear God’s greatest promise of salvation quoted is really a blessing.”

‘Use my name’

In response to Duffy’s Good Friday post, which reiterated his call for the Jesus painting to be brought up from the basement, Weinstein sharply criticized Duffy as a “fundamentalist Christian supremacist coward,” according to a statement he provided to CP and published on his website Monday night.

Weinstein also disputed Duffy’s claim that he was the sole complainant, noting his 2023 letter to Nunan claimed to represent 18 midshipmen, faculty, staff and graduates who objected to the painting’s prominence in a hall that has mandatory meetings.

Weinstein’s most recent comments echo those he made earlier this month when he called the midshipmen who cheered the painting’s restoration as “Christian nationalist insects,” “cowards” and “scum,” among other epithets.

Jackson Tolle, a Christian midshipman from the USMMA Class of 2026, said he called Weinstein personally after the attorney issued a press release citing Tolle’s recent quotes to CP in a story about the painting controversy earlier this month.

Tolle played a role in drafting a petition from the school’s Kings Point Christian Fellowship Club, which explained why the image of Christ saving merchant mariners lost at sea is meaningful to their generation, especially in recent years. They are calling for it to be moved to an auditorium.

Without naming him, Weinstein referenced Tolle’s critique of moral relativism and his appeal to Jesus as a universal ideal as rhetoric typical of “Christian nationalist insects.”

Tolle told CP he explained to Weinstein how hurtful his comments were and gave him the chance to take them back — an opportunity the attorney reportedly declined — but noted their conversation remained civil.

“It was entirely civil,” Tolle said. “He thanked me for my civility and not throwing hatred toward him over the phone.”

“I think that a lot of the times when he talks to Christians, they are spewing hatred at him,” Tolle said of Weinstein, whose organization has published multiple volumes of hate mail and threats they claim to have received over the years.

“We should not do that, of course,” he said, adding that he is praying for Weinstein as a person.

“I also told him, ‘When you quote me and call me a Christian nationalist insect, use my name,’” he added.

‘Speak evil of no man’

Pavlansky echoed Tolle, noting the Bible commands an attitude of love even toward one’s enemies, citing Titus 3:1-2, which exhorts Christians “to be ready to every good work, to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.”

Pavlansky said he encourages his friends “to always pray for everyone’s well-being.”

“What did Jesus say? He said to pray for your enemies. Do good to them that persecute you.”

Pavlansky declined CP’s opportunity to comment on USMMA leadership, which has faced accusations of increased “wokeness” in recent years. Even the result of the Jesus painting controversy is much less important to him than ensuring that his “eyes are strictly on the Lord,” he said.

“I’m going to leave politics out of this,” he said. “Ultimately, my walk has not changed.”

Pavlansky also did not attack Weinstein.

When asked if he is praying for the attorney, Pavlansky replied simply with Leviticus 19:18: “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord.”