Anthony's Posterous

U.S. Military using Rifle Scopes Emblazoned with Scripture

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.