Reprinted from CNN (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/20/us
.military.bibles.burned/index.html
(CNN)-- Military personnel threw away, and ultimately burned, confiscated Bibles that were printed in the two most common Afghan languages amid concern they would be used to try to convert Afghans, a Defense Department spokesman said Tuesday.
Afghan workers enter a walkway on March 3, 2009, at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.
The unsolicited Bibles sent by a church in the United States were confiscated about a year ago at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan because military rules forbid troops of any religion from proselytizing while deployed there, Lt. Col. Mark Wright said.
Such religious outreach can endanger American troops and civilians in the devoutly Muslim nation, Wright said.
"The decision was made that it was a 'force protection' measure to throw them away, because, if they did get out, it could be perceived by Afghans that the U.S. government or the U.S. military was trying to convert Muslims," Wright told CNN on Tuesday.
Troops at posts in war zones are required to burn their trash, Wright said.
The Bibles were written in the languages Pashto and Dari.
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Where was the outrage? It is not the book burning. Certainly Americans do not consider the Koran more holy than the Bible. It is pure, unadulterated fear!
What is the difference? The Christians will forgive you, the Muslims will kill you!"