25 January 2010
Last week, Defence Minister John Faulkner has ordered the Defence Department to remove references to biblical passages marked on gunsights being used by Australian troops in Afghanistan.
References to New Testament verses were etched onto the gunsights by the American manufacturer, Trijicon, and the department said it was unaware of their meaning at the time of purchase. Trijicon has been inscribing references to Bible verses as part of the serial numbers on its products for more than 20 years, during which time they have been used by Australian troops as well as the US and British militaries.
The Pentagon said it was “disturbed” after reports emerged last week about the inscriptions. Both the US Marine Corps and the Army have launched a review. US Army spokesman Gary Tallman stated, “We were unaware of these coded biblical references until several days ago, the service branch currently has about 100,000 of the scopes in its inventory. It is not the policy of the Department of Defence to put religious reference of any kind on its equipment.”
Rev the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes, Member of the NSW Legislative Council, stated: “I endorse entirely the ADF’s decision to remove the coded Biblical reference to the scopes supplied on Army rifles. They are totally out of order on defence equipment. They could add a potentially damaging element to the Army’s service in the Middle East, bringing thought of religious crusades to the mind of the enemy.”
He explained, “Most Australians could not conceive of a weapons manufacturer adding such coded references to Biblical texts. But teaching in the American Southern States for more than a quarter of a century, alerts me to an American mind set among many conservative Christians and rifle shooters, who mix patriotism, shooting and Christianity together.”
“Unfortunately among many fundamentalist Christians in Australia, there is also to be found a love of patriotism, infantry and shooting, and a belief that Christianity entitles a nation to oppress people of all other faiths”, Dr Moyes continued.
He concluded, “The ADF is right to remove all such offensive references and in doing so they would have the support of all major Christian denominations in Australia, and all Defence Force Chaplains.” END.