FRC Requests Communications About Walter Reed Bible Ban Under Freedom of Information Act

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Dec 15, 2011, 03:33 ET

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins submitted a letter to the Department of the Navy yesterday requesting records of communications regarding a policy memo issued by Walter Reed Military Medical Center that would restrict the distribution of religious materials including Bibles to patients by their families. This request was made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

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Two weeks ago, FRC obtained the non-classified, internal memo in which Navy officials had announced that "no religious items (including Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit."

FRC President Tony Perkins made the following comments:

"We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with Walter Reed Military Medical Center in hope of understanding who authorized the Bible ban and why. Although the Center's spokesmen assure us the policy has been rescinded, we have yet to see the revised policy. Until then, we'll push forward with our investigation to see who or what is driving the religious purging," concluded Perkins.

Recent examples of this religious purging under the Obama administration include:

* The Department of Veterans Affairs censors references to God and Jesus during prayers at Houston National Cemetery (6/2011)

* Officials at Health and Human Services denied funding for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' successful program for sex trafficking victims because of the church's teaching on human life (11/2011)

* The Marine Corps consider tearing down a Camp Pendleton cross meant to honor fallen heroes (11/2011)

* Air Force officials strip religious curriculum from a 20-year-old course on "just war theory" (9/2011)

* The Air Force Academy turns its back on needy children because a charity has religious ties (11/2011)

To read the FOIA request in its entirety, click here: http://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF11L31.pdf

SOURCE Family Research Council