Below is an excerpt from a US private that has kept his name and location withheld out of fear for his wife and family. The soldier considers himself a “quiet” Muslim and has not shared his beliefs with his fellows. The letter was originally sent to Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and addresses Bible verses on rifle scopes that demonstrates why the issue matters. This is an example of why faith and the State need to be separate and how far the pentagon has to go to rid the military of officers who view themselves as soldiers for (the Christian) God rather than as representatives of the United States.
“A very senior NCO was yelling at us which is not that unusual. He asked a private what it was that he (the private) was holding in his hand and the private said it was his “weapon” several times to which the senior NCO replied “and what ELSE is it”? Finally, the senior NCO said that the private’s rifle was also something else; that because of the biblical quote on the ACOG gun sight it had been “spiritually transformed into the Fire Arm of Jesus Christ” and that we would be expected to kill every “haji” we could find with it. He said that if we were to run out of ammo, then the rifle would become the “spiritually transformed club of Jesus Christ” and that we should “bust open the head of every haji we find with it.” He said that Uncle Sam had seen fit not to give us a “pussy ‘Jewzzi’ (combination of the word ‘Jew’ and Israeli made weapon ‘Uzi’) but the “fire arm of Jesus Christ” and made specific mention of the biblical quotes on our gun sights. He said that the enemy no doubt had quotes from the Koran on their guns but that “our Lord is bigger than theirs because theirs is a fraud and an idol” … Finally, this senior NCO ended his yelling by warning us that if we did not “get right with Jesus” then our rifles would not provide spiritual strength despite the bible quotes on our ACOG gun sights and that we would be considered “spiritual cripples” to our fellow units and soldiers. He didn’t say it in so many words, but the message was clear; if anything bad happened in a combat situation, it would be the fault of anyone who had not accepted Jesus Chris in the “right way”.
