Marines

Published On: January 14, 2020|Categories: MRFF's Inbox|2 Comments on Marines|

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My son is a young Marine and How Dare You take away his right for any Biblical reference on his dog tags.

I’m a retired Army Officer and spent 23 years in defensive of spunks like you.

The world needs more Godly influence, so please go somewhere else vs try to hurt our service men and women.

Shame on you..

Response from MRFF Board Member John Compere

On Jan 14, 2020, at 7:00 PM, John Compere  wrote:

First & foremost, thank you for your military service.
 
Please be advised military members may possess & purchase any religious scripture they want. However, a private commercial business cannot illegally profit off of them by misrepresenting & mismanufacturing its souvenir merchandise as official government issued military identification tags in violation of its own licensing agreement with the Department of Defense & applicable regulatory laws. Shame on them. That is why the military stopped it.
Brigadier General John Compere, US Army (Retired)
Disabled American Veteran (Vietnam Era)
Board Member, Military Religious Freedom Foundation (composed of over 80% Christians)
Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Mike Farrell

On Jan 14, 2020, at 7:03 PM, Mike  wrote:

Dear Ms. (name withheld)
You misunderstand. Your son has every right to whatever religious belief he chooses, which is one of the great strengths of this country. Copies of dog-tags with religious messages on them, however, are not allowed because our government does not and cannot endorse a particular faith or belief system. The organization that was selling the dog-tags in question violated its agreement with the armed forces and therefore lost the right to make and sell them.
As a retired Army officer I’m surprised you aren’t aware of the facts in this matter.
No one here is trying to harm our servicewomen and men, so please try to better understand the reality of the situation you’re addressing before leaping to conclusions and heaping shame where the only actual shame lies in lashing out ignorantly instead of finding out the facts.
Mike Farrell
(MRFF Board of Advisors)
Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Martin France
On Jan 14, 2020, at 9:27 PM, Martin France wrote:



Dear Ms (name withheld),

First, I’d like to congratulate you on raising a Marine and for your long and distinguished service to our country.  I hope you don’t mind, but Mikey asked me to respond to your email because he saw that we have something in common–I, too, raised a Marine son and served a full military career (and then some at 37+ years).
As to your comments below, please let me clarify a few points that you may not have caught from whatever source informed you.
1. The Marine Corps emblem, which is NOT found on any official, government-issued dog tags, is a Trademarked item (Like the Coca-Cola script or Apple symbol). That means that any organization that uses it must get the permission of the USMC to do so and then probably pay a fee–especially if they’re doing so as part of a for profit business.
2.  The Marines, being rightfully proud of their Eagle, Globe, and Anchor (EG&A) symbol guard its use religiously.  They don’t want it used on anything illegal, unflattering, or controversial that might harm their image or be seen as Unconstitutional. Could you image it being used by White Supremacists or Islamic Fundamentalists? Not good. On the other hand, they can’t really stop someone from tattooing it onto their arm, because that’s an individual’s right to free speech.
3. The company in question can only use and sell items with the USMC emblem in a manner that the USMC and our DoD feels is proper. Mikey and the MRFF don’t make that decision. The USMC’s lawyers and leaders do.
4. Next, our Constitution, which you so ably defended for 23 years, prohibits the establishment of a state religion or the endorsement of any particular religion by it’s organizations and institutions. It also prohibits the endorsement of no religion over a religion. It’s NEUTRAL on religion. That means that you and your son can have and practice your religion as you see fit while serving, so long as you don’t discriminate against others that may not believe as you do–something I’m sure you honored faithfully.
5. So, taking all of the above into account, the USMC decided that it would no longer allow the company in question to comingle its symbol with Bible verses because it might be perceived as the USMC endorsing one religion or preferring one over another.
Can you and your son find and order faux dogtags with Bible verses on them as personal jewelry? Sure.  You and he can wear them anytime you want, subject to any other uniform regulations. 
Can you get the whole thing (symbol and verse) tattooed on your body? Yep! (Again subject to regulations if you’re active duty)

 

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2 Comments

  1. Infidel for Jesus January 14, 2020 at 10:06 pm

    Dear Marine father, Mikey is a Jezebel anti-Christ bigot and schmuck.
    Semper Fi to your son.

  2. RC January 15, 2020 at 3:16 pm

    Hey Infidel, go pound sand you asshole. The US Constitution and USAF regulations are on OUR side.

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