GOP lawmakers protest removal of ‘God’ from Air Force unit’s patch

by Jeremy Herb and Daniel Strauss - 02/08/12 12:02 AM ET

A group of Republican lawmakers is protesting the removal a reference to God in the patch logo for the Air
Force Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO).

The 35 lawmakers, led by Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.), wrote a
letter to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton
Schwartz urging them to restore the logo with a reference to God.

{mosads}Forbes warned that the action taken by the RCO could set a
“dangerous precedent” when it comes to religion and the military.

“The action taken by the RCO suggests that all
references to God, regardless of their context, must be removed from the
military,” Forbes wrote. “As we are confident that your legal advisors would
not suggest that censorship is required for compliance with the First
Amendment, we ask that you reverse this perplexing decision.”

The patch logo was changed after a military atheist group,
the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, protested the reference
to God on the patch. The patch has a saying on it in Latin, which is common for
military patches, that tranlates to: “Doing God’s Work with Other People’s
Money.”

The saying was then changed last month to say: “Doing
Miracles with Other People’s Money.”

The RCO is an office created in 2003 that expedites weapons
systems and reports to a board of directors that includes the Air Force
secretary and chief of staff.

This isn’t the first time Forbes has gotten invovled with God and the government.

In November, Forbes introduced a bill to reaffirm “In
God We Trust” as the country’s motto. The bill supports showing the motto
in all American public schools and buildings.

In response, President Obama suggested the legislation was a
waste of time.

“I trust in God, but God wants to see us help ourselves
by putting people back to work,” Obama said in November according to the
Richmond Times-Dispatch.

House Republicans also passed a bill last month that allows
for religious symbols to be displayed a military memorials and cemeteries in
response to a federal appeals court decision that found a cross on a San Diego
war memorial was unconstitutional.

The Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.

112th SENT Letter to AF Ab RCO Motto Change

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