The Daughters of the American Revolution, one of the nation's oldest patriotic organizations, has erased any mention of Jesus Christ in their official book, removed prayers and poems that reference Christian imagery, and directed members to refrain from praying in the name of Christ, an outraged group of members alleged.

The dispute has been brewing for more than a year when DAR members learned that the newly revised Ritual and Missal books – the primary guide for chaplains – were altered. They noticed that the name of Jesus Christ had been omitted.

The DAR president general did not return calls seeking comment for this story.

The members said DAR leadership made the changes to be politically correct and to accommodate new members of other religious beliefs.

A state chaplain in the organization notified members of their concerns in a newsletter.

"The newly updated Missal and Ritual was written to reflect the desire to be considerate of other belief systems," the statement read. "The Chaplain General uses scripture from both the Old and New Testaments and prays in the name of God without reference Christ. Chapter and district chaplains need to follow the example set by the National Society."

The statement also reminded members to "appreciate the differences in members' religious beliefs and to adapt our rituals and prayers to respect these differences."

That directive has infuriated rank and file members of the DAR – an organization that is deeply rooted in the Christian faith.

Several members of the DAR spoke with Fox News about their concerns – on the condition they remain anonymous.

"They are changing the legacy and intent of the Founding Ladies and rewriting the history of the Daughters of the American Revolution," one member told Fox News. "How dare they? They're supposed to be doing it out of inclusion. To me, it's exclusion. If they are saying it's because of religious tolerance – my question is – if someone is so incensed over the name of Jesus and words like 'white crosses' that reference soldiers who died for America – is it not they who are intolerant?"

"A group of us went through the Ritual and Missal and compared the old version and the new version," another member told Fox News. "Every single prayer closing in the name of Jesus Christ no longer included the name of Jesus Christ."

"For 122 years Christianity was included in the Daughters of the American Revolution," said one member. "Without the name of Jesus Christ it is surely not Christianity. This has never been an issue until December of 2011."

The DAR was founded in 1890 as a non-profit, non-political volunteer women's service organization. Membership is open to any woman who can prove they are a lineal descendant of a patriot from the American Revolution. The organization has 170,000 members in 3,000 chapters.

The members said they tried to bring their concerns to the organization's leadership but were rebuffed.

READ FULL SOURCE ARTICLE: 01/03/2013