Confiscation

First published in Column 8, 27^th February, 1991

The Gulf War has been the cause of some odd happenings, to say the least. One thing that struck my eye was a report regarding the checking of parcels intended for our servicemen and women at the front.

The army, we were told, was setting up a strict security operation to check all gifts sent to New Zealanders serving in the Gulf.

It wasn’t so much the fact that the Army was being strict about what was in the parcels. After all, they had every reason to be concerned about possible terrorist devices.

But it was the three non-terrorist items they specified that rather puzzled me. Why these three things should be lumped together in the first place was a mystery, since they’re hardly fellow travellers at the best of times.

I was also puzzled that one of these items should be confiscated at all.

I guess I can understand the Army’s position on the first item, alcohol. Though are we to believe there’s not a drop of alcohol in the entire Allied forces?

Up to a point I can also understand the Army’s position on pornographic material, though I’d always thought the Army was hardly the place where you’d escape that kind of thing. In fact, from what I’ve seen of the forces, it seems more likely dirty jokes and pictures are in than out.

Perhaps the Army in its wisdom thought alcohol and pornography would be too much of a distraction in the tensions of war. Maybe they thought they’d be offensive to their Arab allies.

However, whatever the reasoning behind these two items, I couldn’t help uttering a cry of disbelief at the the third.

Religious material is being confiscated.

Now I know that until very recently in Russia, and Albania, and Romania, and China, and any number of other places, it’s been top priority for religious material to be confiscated. (And today’s open door in many of these countries may not last.)

However, in New Zealand I was under the impression we were allowed freedom of religion, in spite of the fact that we have become an increasingly secular society over the last few decades. And I thought that would apply even in the Army.

What exactly do they fear here? Surely during a war more than any other time people need to consider where they might suddenly be going.

I know there’s a distinct possibility of each one of us shooting (rather than shuffling) off this mortal coil sooner than we expect, but like small children we think death is light years away.

For those close to a war zone, however, I would have expected that thoughts of imminent death were to be considered rather less casually.

And secular society of not, I’d be surprised if most of those travelling to the Gulf hadn’t some thoughts about the possibility of their not coming back.

The American Army, which you’d hardly reckon was more religious than ours, has requested and received over 964,000 copies of the New Testament, as well as up-to-date devotional books and Christian music tapes.

A few of these might fall into the hands of the Arabs, but it doesn’t seem likely they’re all being parcelled up just to be given away.

Perhaps my interpretation of ‘religious’ is askew. Maybe the Army is concerned someone’s going to sneak large numbers of pocket-sized English translations of the Koran into the parcels so that our boys and girls overseas will be influenced to lay down their weapons and walk over to the Iraqi.

Somehow I doubt it.