US firm to remove Biblical references on gunsights A US military contractor has said it will stop engraving Biblical references on rifles used by the US army.
The markings, in the form of coded references to obscure writings of the New Testament, have been appearing on products made by the US firm Trijicon, based in Michigan, for decades.
But on Thursday, US military chief Gen David Petraeus, said the practice of scripture references was "disturbing" and "a serious concern".
The inscriptions - which include "2COR4:6" and "JN8:12", relating to verses in the books of II Corinthians and John - appear in raised lettering at the end of the stock number.
The company pledged to remove the inscription reference on all products destined for the US military yet to be shipped and ensure all future procurements from the department of defense are produced without scripture references. It also said it would provide 100 modification kits to forces in the field to remove the references. This observer guesses this will be tiny strips of duct tape. Maybe a Sharpie.
"Trijicon has proudly served the US military for more than two decades, and our decision to offer to voluntarily remove these references is both prudent and appropriate," the firm, founded by a devout Christian, said in a statement released. By the way, being a devout Christian as a business owner is fine. It's when you make the business a Christian concern is when the hair goes up on people's arms. Putting crosses and fish on your business cards, while attracting one type of customer - alienates the rest of the population - and usually your cash register. Interstate Batteries is one that comes to mind. But a weapon's manufacturer? That's a whole new level of hypocrisy. You better believe Trijicon is BLASPHEMES HYPOCRITE OF THE WEEK.
The references - first reported on by ABC News - had raised concerns that they broke a US rules barring troops proselytizing in the predominantly Muslim countries of Afghanistan and Iraq, where they are widely used by both the US and British military.
Gen Petraeus, head of the US Central Command, said: "Cultural and religious sensitivities are important considerations in the conduct of military operations."
In a letter sent to the US president on Thursday, the head of the Interfaith Alliance said the gun sights "clearly violated" the rule.
"Images of American soldiers as Christian crusaders come to mind when they are carrying weaponry bearing such verses," Welton Gaddy said. No way! That's insane- oh, yeah. It probably does, now that they mention it.
Earlier in the week, the Church of England told the UK's Guardian newspaper: "People of all faiths and none are being killed and injured in these conflicts, on all sides, and any suggestion that this is being done in the name of the Bible would be deeply worrying to many Christians." Mildly hypocritical as well. Well, good enough to be the hypocrite of the week anyway.
PS - What would Jesus do? Jesus doesn't need a scope, fool.
I'll tell you one thing, the closest I came to a fire fight over there was on a market day when our convoy was blocked to Mr. Al Sadr and his horde. I would not have needed a magnified red-dot scope from Trijicon or anybody else to make effective shots given the people of that town were less than 15 feet away. However, you better believe I was praying and having a Bible verse to quote may have been helpful that day! We're still having problems putting the proper gear in the hands of our soldiers and this is what our hierarchy is going to worry about? Grind off the numbers, change the property book to reflect the change, or go kill the enemy.
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