The Army has come out against a faith-based organization that prints Bible verses on dog tags for soldiers, saying it will no longer be allowed to do so, Fox News reports.
The organization, Shields of Strength, was the subject of a Fox News report in July, which brought it to the attention of the far-left group Military Religious Freedom Foundation. MRFF’s founder and president Michael Weinstein issued a statement demanding that the military sever all ties with Shields of Strength, claiming that their work “poisons the constitutionally-mandated separation of Church and State.”
Subsequently, an email was sent by the Army’s Trademark Licensing Program director, Paul Jensen, to Shields of Strength founder Kenny Vaughan, demanding that he “remove ALL biblical references from all of your Army products.”
Vaughan appeared on Fox News to respond to the attack, calling it “insane” and “incredibly selfish,” while also saying that the situation proved that Weinstein would “rather…raise his own publicity than support our service members,” adding “that’s pretty cowardly and cruel.”
Vaughan said that over 4 million of the dog tags have been produced, and that sometimes soldiers would wait in line for hours to receive one. Vaughn said that “the most valuable thing I have to offer anyone is God’s Word,” and “no one needs it more than a young man or woman fighting for our freedom, and we’re going to fight for them.”