• 
  (Photo: The Christian Post)
  The 2011 NIV Bible was released in stores in March. The updated translation has drawn mixed reviews, with the latest criticism coming from the Southern Baptist Convention.

The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is now changing its tune regarding its controversial Bible ban, denying that it was ever put into action.

The Family Research Council recently contacted the Department of the Navy demanding answers in relation to Walter Reed's Sept. 14 memo. Earlier this month The Christian Post reported that Walter Reed issued a policy memo that restricted the distribution of all religious materials (including Bibles) to patients by their families.

The internal memo stated, "No religious items (including Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit."

Critics were outraged, and the FRC immediately launched a petition to have the ban overturned.

Although the petition was successful and the ban was removed, the Washington, D.C. medical facility is now suggesting the ban never even existed, according to The Washington Examiner. When asked about the ban on religious items, spokeswoman Sandra Dean insinuated that it had never actually been enforced and brushed off criticisms, saying the policy was simply "written incorrectly.”

"Family can and always have been able to bring in any religious materials… It should have been more thoroughly reviewed," Dean added.

Follow us

The FRC has raised a lot of questions regarding the incident, with their president Tony Perkins refusing to ignore the matter.

"We filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Walter Reed Military Medical Center in hope of understanding who authorized the Bible ban and why," Perkins said.

Walter Lee insists it has always welcomed religious items, and that there will not be any restrictions.

"We'll push forward with our investigation to see who or what is driving the religious purging," Perkins added.

The ban was presented before Congress, and ultimately sparked outrage among some members.

This is not the first time that the FRC has accused the US government of religious purging.

On its website FRC lists a series of incidents that allegedly reflect how the government is guilty of religious purging, including an incident involving the Marine Corps and the Camp Pendleton Cross last month.