The Department of Defense is now facing a religious freedom lawsuit after they managed to create a problem for a Christian-owned company where one did not exist for over 23 years.

Shields of Strength has been told they can no longer offer their military branded dog tags with bible verses – something they have been doing without issue since 1997. The biblical inspired products are so popular that President George W. Bush even requested one in 2003 to honor the first soldier from Operation Iraqi Freedom who was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, CPT Russell Rippetoe, according to their counsel’s website.

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“You are not authorized to put biblical verses on your Army products… For example, Joshua 1:9. Please remove ALL biblical references for all of your Army products,” read a letter from Army Trademark licensing program director Paul Jensen in an August 2019 letter to Shields of Strength.

The complaint was initially filed with the Marine Corps Trademark and Licensing Program in July of 2019 by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

“These Christian proselytizing dog tags are blatantly religious and wholly sectarian in representing solely the Christian faith. Indeed, they each contain a Bible verse along with the official USMC emblem,” the complaint read.

In order to use military emblems on products, it must conform with Title 5 Federal Code Regulation that specifically regulates the use of DoD marks.

“DoD marks may not be licensed for use in a manner that creates a perception of DoD endorsement of any non-federal entity or its products and services,” the law reads. “DoD marks may not be licensed for any purpose intended to promote ideological movements, sociopolitical change, religious beliefs (including non-belief), specific interpretations of morality, or legislative/statutory change…”

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(Excerpt from BizPcReview. Photo Credit: Getty Images)