U.S. Military using Rifle Scopes Emblazoned with Scripture
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 11:11AM On January 18th, 2010, ABC news released an alarming report stating that thousands of rifle sights used by the military in the combat zones of Iraq and Afghanistan are inscribed with bible verses.
The maker of the sights, Trijicon, has a multi-million dollar contract to manufacture the sights and provide them to Army and Marine Corps units. Rules of conduct, drawn up specifically for the mostly-Muslim combat zones, were put in place in order to prevent the appearance that US Forces are not engaged in a war on terror but are instead operating a crusade against Muslims. The inscriptions on these sights, which are components of weapons of war in a Muslim combat zone, bear references such as “2COR4:6”, which appears to refer to Second Corinthians 4:6 which reads “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”. A spokesman for the manufacturer confirmed the markings are bible verses, states there is nothing wrong with them being there, and dismisses any criticism as comments made by people who are “not Christian”.
While some military spokespersons responded to the report by stating they were unaware of the situation and were looking in to it, other spokespersons stated the bible verses are no different than having “in God We Trust” on our money and failed to see this situation as a problem.
It is my position that having bible verses inscribed on these weapons provides the Taliban and other extremists with a powerful propaganda tool to use against us as we fight terrorism around the world. It is imperative that these sights be replaced and recalled from the battlefield. We are not anti-Muslim crusaders and simply cannot afford to be viewed as such. The states are simply too high.
Posted via email from Anthony's Posterous
Reader Comments (4)
Are these marked with the complete verse? or just the reference to the verse?
If it's the reference, I hardly see any problem, as first the rifle and optic must be captured, I assume that means the soldier is mortally wounded or killed. Then the opponent, let's say he/she is Muslim, they would have to be familiar with the New Testament of the Bible to understand where the reference or verse originated.
As a Marine I was issued a pocket sized New Testament as part of my gear, I also had Christian markings on my Dog tags. That said, after killing a Christian soldier, would the dog tags as well as the pocket Bible not create this same effect? This is truly a nit pick topic.
Thoughts?
Are these marked with the complete verse? or just the reference to the verse?
If it's the reference, I hardly see any problem, as first the rifle and optic must be captured, I assume that means the soldier is mortally wounded or killed. Then the opponent, let's say he/she is Muslim, they would have to be familiar with the New Testament of the Bible to understand where the reference or verse originated.
As a Marine I was issued a pocket sized New Testament as part of my gear, I also had Christian markings on my Dog tags. That said, after killing a Christian soldier, would the dog tags as well as the pocket Bible not create this same effect? This is truly a nit pick topic.
Thoughts?
The scopes only had the reference to the verse, not the entire verse.
There is an important difference between your dog tags and the rifle scope though... YOU got to choose what was placed on your dog tags. A very close friend of mine has dog tags that state he is a "Jedi". As far as your pocket bible goes, you choose whether to keep that or toss it. The difference is that the soldier cannot choose to simply not use his scope, or to get a different scope. And not all of our soldiers, Sailors, airmen and Marines are Christian, nor are they all religious at all. I myself am not religious, and I do take offense to the presence of these scripture references on these scopes. Mostly because they were put their secretly, and deliberately by the manufacturer. This manufacturer has demonstrated they cannot be trusted, and the U.S. Governement should take it's business elsewhere, in my opinion.
I do think we should continue to encourage this sort of open discussion! Thank you for your comment, I look forward to more.
http://armysailor.com/2007/06/03/atheist-officer-resigns-from-the-army/
The scopes only had the reference to the verse, not the entire verse.
There is an important difference between your dog tags and the rifle scope though... YOU got to choose what was placed on your dog tags. A very close friend of mine has dog tags that state he is a "Jedi". As far as your pocket bible goes, you choose whether to keep that or toss it. The difference is that the soldier cannot choose to simply not use his scope, or to get a different scope. And not all of our soldiers, Sailors, airmen and Marines are Christian, nor are they all religious at all. I myself am not religious, and I do take offense to the presence of these scripture references on these scopes. Mostly because they were put their secretly, and deliberately by the manufacturer. This manufacturer has demonstrated they cannot be trusted, and the U.S. Governement should take it's business elsewhere, in my opinion.
I do think we should continue to encourage this sort of open discussion! Thank you for your comment, I look forward to more.
http://armysailor.com/2007/06/03/atheist-officer-resigns-from-the-army/