US Military Weapons Bear Bible Verse References
Intolerance + Bigotry, Religion & Culture Tuesday, January 19th, 2010A Pentagon-contracted rifle sight manufacturer adds references to New Testament Bible verses to its products, an ABC investigation has discovered. While they’re not “Secret Jesus Bible Codes”, they are a form of proselytization which should not be funded by the American taxpayer and which violates military code of conduct for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Under General Order 1, no American soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan may in any way proselytize or promote any religion or faith.
As ABC News reports, rifle sight manufacturer Trijicon includes on its Advanced Combat Optical Guides references to particular Bible verses. They immediately follow the model number, and are in the same font — not distinguished in any way from the model number:
"Honesty" means "Hidden Bible References"?
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
2COR4:6 -> 2 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.
Why does this matter?
First, taxpayer funds are being channeled to a contractor who knowingly violates military policy and the Constitution. A LOT of taxpayer funds:
According to a government contracting watchdog group, fedspending.org, Trijicon had more than $100 million in government contracts in fiscal year 2008. The Michigan company won a $33 million Pentagon contract in July, 2009 for a new machine gun optic, according to Defense Industry Daily. The company’s earnings from the U.S. military jumped significantly after 2005, when it won a $660 million long-term contract to supply the Marine Corps with sights.
Second, as pointed out by Michael Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, the references do not go unnoticed . . . by Americans, some of whom are offended and one of whom has a commanding officer who refers to the weapons with Trijicon sights as “spiritually transformed firearms of Jesus Christ”, and also by the Taliban and mujahadeen, who can claim that the United States is waging a “Christian war against Islam”.
Major General William Nash (Retired), who commanded a battalion in Desert Storm, comments that many groups provide Bibles, Torahs, and the Koran to soldiers.
I have no problem with that. But I do have a problem with military equipment being labeled in such a way that it seems like it’s “our god against their god”.
Nash continued, saying that Trijicon should be required by the Pentagon to remove the inscriptions from the sights or be penalized for failure to do so.
Third, these sights are being used to train Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. Once again, this can be seen as an attempt to proselytize.
What about Trijicon?
Trijicon isn’t shy about promoting “Biblical values”. On its “About” page, Trijicon states (in part):
TRIJICON’S VISION
Guided by our values, we endeavor to have our products used wherever precision aiming solutions are required to protect individual freedom.TRIJICON’S MISSION
Guided by our values, we will continue to be a leader in the design and manufacture of high quality, innovative sighting systems for use by Law Enforcement, Military and Individual customers.TRIJICON’S VALUES
• Honesty/Integrity
We will be honest, dependable, trustworthy and fair towards each other, our employees, our customers and our suppliers.…
• Morality
We believe that America is great when its people are good. This goodness has been based on biblical standards throughout our history and we will strive to follow those morals.
Apparently, “honesty” doesn’t extend to making it clear to their customers that they’re proselytizing . . . According to the ABC News report, representatives of the Army and Marines indicated that they had no knowledge of the inscriptions.
Trijicon’s response?
To ABC:
Tom Munson, director of sales and marketing for Trijicon, which is based in Wixom, Michigan, said the inscriptions “have always been there” and said there was nothing wrong or illegal with adding them. Munson said the issue was being raised by a group that is “not Christian.”
To the Associated Press:
The contractor that makes the equipment, Trijicon of Wixom, Mich., said the U.S. military has been a customer since 1995 and the company has never received any complaints about the Scripture citations.
“We don’t publicize this,” Tom Munson, Trijicon’s director of sales and marketing, said in an interview. “It’s not something we make a big deal out of. But when asked, we say, ‘Yes, it’s there.’”
ABC News did find multiple gun enthusiast websites where reviewers extolled Trijicon for being Christian and including the verses on all of their sights . . . so it’s apparently not unknown.
Marine Corps spokesperson Capt. Geraldine Carey issued the following statement on the subject:
We are aware of the issue and are concerned with how this may be perceived. We will meet with the vendor to discuss future sight procurements.
Maj. John Redfield, spokesperson for CentCom (the U.S. military’s overall command in Iraq and Aghanistan), had a different perspective.
The perfect parallel that I see is between the statement that’s on the back of our dollar bills, which is ‘In God We Trust,’ and we haven’t moved away from that. Unless the equipment that’s being used that has these inscriptions proved to be less than effective for soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and military folks using it, I wouldn’t see why we would stop using that.
Video of this story is available HERE. Unfortunately, ABC’s videos do not allow for embedding; we apologize for the inconvenience.
Additional Information:
A quick review of Trijicon’s site allows us to spot another Scripture reference on the ACOG:
http://www.trijicon.com/user/parts/More_Info.cfm?Item=acog_info.jpg&Act=img2&Partid=1
MT5:8 -> Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
We have been unable to locate the Revelation citation mentioned in several articles.
Rachel Maddow on MSNBC comments:
Irregular Times has pointed out that Bush Administration officials, including General William G. Boykin, believed that they were fighting a holy war against Satan himself. These quotes are from 2004:
Preaching in his military uniform before a religious congregation in Oregon this June, General Boykin proclaimed, “we’re a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christian. Did I say Judeo-Christian? Yes. Judeo-Christian.”
He continued, “The enemy that has come against our nation is a spiritual enemy. His name is Satan. And if you do not believe that Satan is real, you are ignoring the same Bible that tells you about God.”
To that same congregation, still in military uniform, General Boykin said of George W. Bush that, “He was appointed by God” to be leader of the United States.
To another religious group in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, General Boykin declared that the true enemy in George W. Bush’s wars “is the principalities of darkness. It is a demonic presence in that city that God revealed to me as the enemy.”
In a religious flyer, General Boykin is quoted as saying, “Bin Laden is not the enemy. No mortal is the enemy. It’s the enemy you can’t see. It’s a war against the forces of darkness.”
Comparing himself to a follower of Islam, General Boykin offers the taunt that “my God is bigger than his.”
According to a Charisma News Service report of June 4, 2002, Boykin told to the Community Prayer Breakfast in Fort Myers that in executing the wars of George W. Bush, “It is a spiritual enemy we have to contend with. Now is the time to fight.”
Boykin defended himself in this CBS News Report:
The churches videotaped and distributed Boykin’s speeches, and it wasn’t long before his personal testimony became public controversy. One story he told about chasing warlords in Somalia 10 years ago came across as belittling the Muslim faith.
This is what Boykin said about one Somali warlord who believed Allah would protect him from being captured by Americans: “I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol.”
Boykin claims he was talking about how the warlord worshipped money and power instead of a deity.
Was he trying to make it seem like his God was against theirs?
“No, that’s not what I meant at all. Look, I’m a Christian. I make no apologies for that,” says Boykin. “But I’m also not foolish enough to deliberately offend or in any way ostracize any religion. … I’m not anti-Islam, I’m not anti-Allah.”
Does he believe Allah is a lesser God than the Christian God?
“I’m not going to go into that,” says Boykin. “I’m a Christian. That speaks for itself.”
But this message isn’t quite what he delivered to church groups.
In churches all across the country, Boykin told riveting stories of how God sustains Americans in battle. “Before we launched that first mission, we all prayed ‘God go with us. God keep your hands on us,’” said Boykin in one speech.
He tells the congregation that when he was a young captain, God actually spoke to him, telling him to join the Army’s elite Delta Force: “There are times when God speaks to you in an audible voice. He spoke to me that morning because I said, ‘Satan is gathering his forces.’ He said, ‘Yes, son, but so am I.’ And I knew I was to be there.”
Sounds like Boykin believes his imaginary friend is taking sides against the enemy’s imaginary friend . . . and the enemy just happens to always be non-Christian. Coincidence?
UPDATE: Trijicon announced today (January 21) that it will immediately stop adding Biblical references to products sold to the military and provide kits for the removal of the references on existing scopes.
Related articles:
- CFI and Military Religious Freedom Foundation Express Concerns over Treatment of Soldiers
- American Family Association Poll on Gays in Military
- Malaysian Muslims Attack Churches Over Christian References to "Allah"
- Kentucky Moves to Teach Bible as Literature
- Majority of Americans favor allowing openly-gay military service
Jenny Donati is webmistress and co-editor of Secular News Daily. Jenny is an outspoken secularist who believes firmly in the separation of church and state. She demands evidence to support arguments, and holds herself to the same standard. She doesn't write about herself in the third person . . . but there's a first time for everything.You can follow comments on this article through the RSS Comment Feed. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry.
[...] there’s the gun Bible verse from Matthew Chapter 5 Verse 8: “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God, and then die, die, [...]
Misquoting the Bible doesn’t help anything…. It’s bad enough that Trijicon uses Biblical references out of context on it’s gunsights.
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Ezekiel 25:17 The path of the righteous
This would make an excellent reference!
If you think you are fooling the muslims with your politically correctness your wrong they are not fooled they will only use your foolishness against America. Your better to Unite with your Christian Ancestors.
I do have to call BS on the comment that no one in the Army or Marines knew about these. I served in the Army and any type of serial number was recorded and kept track of. The people that were assigned these sites would have know and those above them would have also. Someone near the top would have know and they are just lying to cover their ass.
John 8:12 “………but shall have the light of LIFE.” And this quote of Jesus is on a device used to assist in killing ? Doesn’t seem like the play on words is quite appropriate here.
Since I was around 5 years old I’ve had an entity running a continuum where they would yell at me from cars at a distance and ululate that they hated Swedes and would shout out these Religious Quotes on how I was their tabernacle sacrifice , when they said something it was the tongue , how every quantum they created meant something , how history never changed and etc….. Are you sure are entire Black Operational Government isn’t based on some kind of religious extremism. Maybe English Socialism ? Bin Laden might be coming in a close second in the area of religious radicalism.