As we noted last month, the Religious Right and their allies in Congress are very angry about a decision by the Defense Department to no longer allow publication of editions of the Bible carrying the official emblems of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.
Now, Rep. Alan Nunnelee (R-MS) has sent a letter to the Defense Department on behalf of himself and several other members of Congress demanding to know “how the decision to revoke this trademark permission was made and what the Department of Defense is doing to ensure that the religious freedom of the members of our military is preserved and protected.”
This morning, Nunnelee was on “Today’s Issues” with Tony Perkins where we asserted that “this is just another example of government assault on religion” while voicing his outrage over the whole thing because “to say that you can’t link your service in the United States Military and the comfort that you find in the Word of God is just absurd.”
And it is absurd … but that is not what anyone is saying, of course; the Defense Department is not telling members of the Armed Forces that they can’t take comfort in the Bible, but merely that B&H Publishing no longer has permission to publish editions of the Bible that bear official military emblems. In fact, a B&H spokesman told Fox News that the company had merely “replaced the official seals with generic insignias [and the Bible] continue to sell well and provide spiritual guidance and comfort to those who serve.”
But for Nunnelee, it is proof that there is clearly an “assault on religious liberty practiced by Christians” which is designed to undermine the Bible:
