It sounds like something from the Onion, but apparently the gun sights used by the U.S. military are all minutely inscribed with Christian fundamentalist verses. How could this possibly be a bad idea? This is kind of like the football players putting biblical verses in their eye grease paint, the only difference being of course that those are athletes in the private sector and these guns are being paid for by tax dollars they take from me every month (and you) and being used to kill people we are constantly telling we are not killing for religious reasons.
It could be worse, I suppose. We could be printing the words of Jesus in red on every bullet. Note to Nunal marketing!!
More stunning than the biblical language is the size of this company's contract.
I'm too tired to look up some appropriate bible verse to explain how out of whack this company is, but you get the point (and feel free to send me one).
via Andrew Sullivan
It could be worse, I suppose. We could be printing the words of Jesus in red on every bullet. Note to Nunal marketing!!
"The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. The maker of the sights, Trijicon, has a $660 million multi-year contract to provide up to 800,000 sights to the Marine Corps, and additional contracts to provide sights to the U.S. Army.
U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the proselytizing of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan and were drawn up in order to prevent criticism that the U.S. was embarked on a religious "Crusade" in its war against al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents.
One of the citations on the gun sights, 2COR4:6, is an apparent reference to Second Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament, 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."
Other references include citations from the books of Revelation, Matthew and John dealing with Jesus as "the light of the world." John 8:12, referred to on the gun sights as JN8:12, reads, "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Trijicon confirmed to ABCNews.com that it adds the biblical codes to the sights sold to the U.S. military. 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." The company has said the practice began under its founder, Glyn Bindon, a devout Christian from South Africa who was killed in a 2003 plane crash.
The company's vision is described on its Web site: "Guided by our values, we endeavor to have our products used wherever precision aiming solutions are required to protect individual freedom."
"We believe that America is great when its people are good," says the Web site. "This goodness has been based on Biblical standards throughout our history, and we will strive to follow those morals."
More stunning than the biblical language is the size of this company's contract.
I'm too tired to look up some appropriate bible verse to explain how out of whack this company is, but you get the point (and feel free to send me one).
via Andrew Sullivan
Comments