Slashdot Mirror
US Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret Bible Codes
Trijicon, a Michigan company that makes high-powered rifle sights for the military, has come under fire for inscribing coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ on their products. The sights contain references to Second Corinthians 4:6, "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" and John 8:12, "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." The company has acknowledged that it adds the biblical codes to the sights sold to the US military, but says there is nothing wrong or illegal about adding them. Spokespeople for the US Army and the Marine Corps both say that they were unaware of the biblical markings, and are discussing what steps, if any, to take. I personally think this is ridiculous. Everyone knows that Jesus was such a good shot he never used sights.
By reinforcing the notion that the US and other NATO forces engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan are in fact "Crusaders" there to forcibly convert people to Christianity. There have been a few comments of a religious nature from US commanders in the past that probably helped reinforce the other sides propaganda efforts but this goes a step further. What more proof that we are engaged in fighting "Islam" the religion (and not Islamist terrorists) do you need to give to Al Qaida propagandists? What about the Muslim (or any other non-Christian religion) members of the US/NATO forces who suddenly discover they have been using a weapon with a religious quote that they might find personally find offensive?
You will never win the hearts and minds of a population by making them think you are there to completely uproot their lives, starting with telling them their religion is wrong, and that getting your help is conditional on them converting to your religion. What you will do is help create even more opposition to your presence.
I think the directors of this company should be fined the entire cost of the items sold to the military so far, from their own personal pocketbooks. What a hairbrained assinine and offensive stupid thing to do. I hope they pay for it.
"The first time I got drunk, I got married. The second time I bought a chimpanzee, after that I stayed sober" Arian Seid
Most hardcore religious types typically seek to impose their beliefs on everyone else. If they can't do it overtly, they'll adopt this kind of passive aggressive nonsense to get their way. Telling of their convictions is the fact that while they say they've done nothing wrong, they never bothered to tell the army exactly what they were getting.
The rifles should all be refunded. They've essentially all got graffiti on them.
May the Maths Be with you!
Here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8468981.stm
Seems the issue came up when some muslim members of the forces complained and asked why these inscriptions were there. Article has some good comments.
Why is this in Idle btw? Its not all that geeky but its not trivially unimportant either.
"The first time I got drunk, I got married. The second time I bought a chimpanzee, after that I stayed sober" Arian Seid
The manufacturer put abbreviated Scripture references on its parts. So what? If you didn't know anything about the Bible, it could easily be seen as just another part number. They're not forcing anyone to read the Bible or look up the Scripture reference. If a manufacturer wanted to put HHGTTG42 or THX1138 on parts or some other geeky reference, people would think it's cool. It's just as cryptic to anyone without "inside knowledge", but since it's a Bible reference, everyone gets their undergarments in a twist. It's not an endorsement of Christianity as an official religion by any government.
Do they produce grenades (hand), holy, Antiochish, blowing thine enemies to bits in Thy mercy for the purpose of?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOrgLj9lOwk
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Haraam does not apply to Hindus. It is an Islamic concept.
And while vegetarianism is considered a good thing among Hindus, eating meat is not expressly forbidden. Cows represent motherhood so beef is generally off the menu.
That still leaves lamb and chicken.
Oh man, I totally want a saag gosht now.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
If US dollars were signed with "In God We Trust", why US weapons cannot contain Bible citations?
Because it is wrong, insulting and unconstitutional to sign US dollars with "In God We Trust". The same goes for government-issued weapons.
It is free expression on Trijicon's part, but whether the US military should be purchasing rifles inscripted with references to Bible verses is another issue entirely.
For the most part, Trijicon sells "night sights": tritium lit, light amplification, etc. Given that, their choices of quotes (about shining light) seem apropos. If it had been a Shakespeare quote about light, would anybody be complaining? Before crying about religious oppression, realize that the Bible is a work of literature. Quotes from it are not necessarily for religious purposes.
If you really want to get upset about something military related, might I suggest the expense of trillions of borrowed dollars to kill unthreatening foreigners and police the world?
I have Trijicon tritium sights on most of my pistols, and a Trijicon ACOG on one of my AR-15s. I've never noticed the quotes (I'll look tonight), but they haven't subliminally converted me to Christianity yet. The only people who really have any justification to complain would be the customers, and most gun owners I know (Christian or not) wouldn't care.
It first appeared on our money during the Civil War. I think it is clearly unconstitutional and should be removed.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
The company may make their part numbers however they like. These references are part of the part number for the scopes. They have used these for years. This was posted on message boards 5 years ago. And the part numbers have been since the inception of those models. The company makes tritium illuminated sights. And all the bible references in the part numbers contain references to "light". The only story here is that ABC news doesn't have a clue about religion.
Actually, that is how they are inscribing the verses. Only there is no colon, so JN316. And they put a bunch more alphanumerics in front of it, so AB123456JN316. And they call it a part number, and the whole string can be used to identify the part.
A company wants to end all its part numbers in a veiled reference to New Testiment verses? What's the big deal.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
It makes no mention of which god
What a typical passive-aggressive red herring. If you don't even know which god they're talking about, how can you possibly trust him/her/it?
You most certainly *do* know which god they're talking about, and so does everybody else.
So the question is, does it really matter? Seriously, why does everyone get their panties in a bunch over stupid crap like this.
I don't know. Let's imagine the reaction if someone were to actually to enforce the Constitution and remove it. The din of twisting panties across this great nation would be deafening.