WASHINGTON (ABP) — A Baptist leader is calling on President Obama to conduct a formal investigation into revelations that a United States military contractor stamped references to Bible verses on combat rifle sights used, unknowingly, by troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Welton Gaddy, president of the Washington-based Interfaith Alliance, said the episode "is only the latest in a long line of violations of the boundaries between religion and government within the military." He urged Obama to develop guidelines that "ensure that religion no longer plays an inappropriate role in our armed forces."
Trijicon, a defense contractor in Wixom, Mich., said Jan. 21 it would voluntarily remove inscriptions in raised lettering at the end of stock numbers on its Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight. The company also said it would produce modification kits for the 300,000 telescoping sights already in use by the U.S. Army and Marines.
The citations are not obvious at a casual glance. An inscription of JN8:12 refers to John 8:12, where Jesus says, "I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life." Another, 2COR4:6, refers to the Apostle Paul's writing in II Corinthians, "For God, who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness' — he has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ."
According to the Washington Post, Trijicon has been using the Scripture messages for more than 30 years. The company's website is unapologetic about its religious beliefs. "We believe that America is great when its people are good," says a values statement. "This goodness has been based on biblical standards throughout our history and we will strive to follow those morals."
But Gaddy, who also serves as pastor for preaching and worship at Northminster (Baptist) Church in Monroe, La., said in a letter to the president that the verses "clearly violate a government rule prohibiting proselytizing."
"These weapons are being used by American soldiers not only to root out terrorists but also to train Afghan and Iraqi soldiers," Gaddy wrote. "Images of American soldiers as Christian crusaders come to mind when they are carrying weaponry bearing such verses."
Gaddy said the incident "simply adds to the perception that religion rather than national security is at the heart of our military's presence abroad."
In recent years, Gaddy said, the Defense Department used Bible verses on cover pages of government reports, and soldiers stationed in Afghanistan were videotaped talking about distributing Bibles.
"One of the greatest, and arguably most unifying, aspects of being an American is that we are not all members of the same religious tradition or, indeed, of any religious tradition at all," Gaddy said. "The same holds true for the men and women serving in our armed forces."
Gaddy said the action "should be of concern to people of all faiths including Christians, but it is particularly appalling that soldiers who do not practice Christianity have been unknowingly wielding weaponry in service to their country that preaches the merits of a religion to which they do not adhere."
After initial reports surfaced about the sights, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command compared the inscriptions on the Trijicon sights to the "In God We Trust" inscription printed on U.S. currency." Gaddy said unlike the universal phrase on the dollar bill, the New Testament citations are "clearly sectarian in nature."
On Jan. 21, however, Army Gen. David Petraeus, Central Command's top officer, called the practice "disturbing" and called it a "serious concern" to military commanders.
New Zealand, which along with the United Kingdom and the United States purchases sights from Trijicon, said its military would remove the verses immediately.
Robert Parham of the Baptist Center for Ethics said in a Jan. 18 editorial on EthicsDaily.com that Bible verses on sights of U.S. military weapons in Iraq and Afghanistan "reinforce a mistaken perception that American Christianity has a crusade against Muslims — both a public and a stealth war."
He said both President Bush and President Obama have "rightly sought to dispel the notion of a religious war between Christianity and Islam."
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Bob Allen is senior writer at Associated Baptist Press.