COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- A watchdog group says the emblem for Evans Army Hospital violates the U.S. Constitution. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation says it was contacted by Fort Carson soldiers who don't like the symbol.
The group says the cross on the emblem was used by religious crusaders in the Middle Ages, and combined with the phrase "For God and Humanity" it is a violation of the separation of church and state.
The badge was created for Evans Army Hospital in 1969. The Army says the cross stands for medical units and that the phrase For God and Humanity dates back to the ancient doctor Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine.
But the Military Religious Freedom Foundation says it violates the Constitution.
"We think it’s completely unconstitutional on one hand. On the other hand we believe it completely emboldens that we should be rightfully fighting," said Mikey Weinstein, the founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
The foundation says 42 Fort Carson soldiers contacted them to complain about the badge.
The Army says the cross is like those pilgrims used to mark the site of their camp.
"I would consider that to be unbelievable garbage and crap. The pilgrims carrying those crosses were headed down to the Holy Land and engaging in wholesale slaughter of Christians," Weinstein said.
The foundation says when you combine the cross with the Latin phrase For God and Humanity, its not only a violation of the separation of church and state, it looks like the Army is on religious crusade.
The foundation says the soldiers who contacted them were afraid of retaliation from officers so they went to the foundation for help.
"It's a question of what does the Constitution say and the Constitution makes it very clear on what you can and cannot do in this area and we are very happy that these 42 members of the U.S. Army came forward and we can stand up for them," Weinstein said.
Army officials have agreed to review the foundation's complaint.
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