Trijicon confirmed that it adds the biblical codes to the sights sold to the U.S. military

They can paint Marilyn Monroe on the side of an airplane, but angels forfend there be an eensy-weensy Scripture reference unobtrusively stamped on a rifle sight.

“It allows the Mujahedeen, the Taliban, al Qaeda and the insurrectionists and jihadists to claim they’re being shot by Jesus rifles,” he said.

Does this make bad guys more dead or less dead? http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php] http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-violent045.gif

[Susan R] Does this make bad guys more dead or less dead?

Um…I’ll take “Six of one or Half dozen of the other” for $800.00, Alex. :p

You know what cracked me up about this? It’s like these guys are saying that even though we are at war with these terrorists, we don’t want to make them mad. Yer kiddin’ me, right?

How about using gun lubricant made from pig fat?

OK. Trijicon has been supplying to the military for *how* many years? And *now* it’s a problem?

Seems to me to be the quintessential illustration of the term “Military Intelligence”. :-)

::edit::

It sort of reminds me of the army sniper depicted in a WWII film who calmed himself in battle by reciting Bible verses, such as Psalms 144:1 Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.

Help me out, here…

Why does it say the rifles are stamped with secret “Jesus Bible codes”? Why the “Jesus” part? And why “codes”? Aren’t they just Bible verse references?

Or perhaps “Rifles stamped with Bible verse references” wouldn’t catch as much attention as “Rifles stamped with secret Jesus Bible codes”.

People have been bitten by the Da Vinci Code bug, and now everything MUST be a secret code. http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php] http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-scared004.gif

I think the whole thing is tacky. First, a rifle sight is not the place for a Bible verse (nor are fast food plates or realty business logos). Second, the people who noticed this, and then went to the effort to make this an issue need to get a life. It reminds me of my kids on a long car trip, “He touched me!”

It reminds me of my kids on a long car trip, “He touched me!”

It reminded me of those stories from anti-ccm/rock/contemporary whatever people who said you could listen to albums backwards and hear Satan.

[Greg Long] Help me out, here…

Why does it say the rifles are stamped with secret “Jesus Bible codes”? Why the “Jesus” part? And why “codes”? Aren’t they just Bible verse references?

Or perhaps “Rifles stamped with Bible verse references” wouldn’t catch as much attention as “Rifles stamped with secret Jesus Bible codes”.

The point of the article is to try to present Christians and Christianity in a negative light. IMHO, if there had been a reference to the Koran (or any other “book of faith”) on the item, it would not have made the news. The “problem” they are trying to hilight is Christianity. In the minds of the mainstream media, any follower of any faith can do pretty much anything they want to do in the name of that faith with impunity… unless that person happens to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ.

I feel a soapbox rant coming on, so I had better go. :-)

The way this article was written struck me as comical-

Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the U.S. military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.

I had to look at the website to see if I was read The Onion or something. ABC News had to launch an ‘investigation’ of what? That Scripture references are stamped into these rifle sights? Well, duh- that probably took about 10 seconds to verify.

The company has said the practice began under its founder, Glyn Bindon, a devout Christian …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.”

So… the company’s worldview is plainly stated on their website. That took another 10 seconds and burned about 2 calories.

A photo on a Department of Defense Web site shows Iraqi soldiers being trained by U.S. troops with a rifle equipped with the bible-coded sights.

The lions, the tigers, the bears, oh my.

“This is probably the best example of violation of the separation of church and state in this country,” said Weinstein. “It’s literally pushing fundamentalist Christianity at the point of a gun against the people that we’re fighting. We’re emboldening an enemy.”

That’s some amazing eyesight if the terrorists that American soldiers are shooting at can read the small print on the side of a rifle sight, and if being shot with a rifle that has a sight ‘encoded’ with Scripture results in conversion, I want one too. It would make Tuesday night visitation more exciting, doncha’ think?

LOL.

Instapundit linked to this story as well, and here’s the kicker - it’s over 20 years old!

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/abc-raids-message-boards-to-break-a-decade…

As it happens, “always” would go back to when Trijicon optics were first adopted by the U.S. military, starting with an early version of the ACOG entering the Army’s Advanced Combat Rifle Program in 1987 — 23 years ago.

Trijicon optics first went to war with the U.S. Army in Operation Just Cause in 1989, and Trijicon sights were used in the 1990-91 Gulf War, also known as Operation Desert Storm. By 1995, the 4×32 ACOG was adopted by the U.S. Army Special Forces, with the Reflex joining the Green Berets in 1996. By 2004, a variant of the 4×32 ACOG became the first standard combat rifle optical sight of the Marine Corps, after a 229-year tradition of relying almost exclusively on iron sights.

While ABC News would like to pretend that its investigative team is breaking new ground, the knowledge of scripture notation on Trijicon products was widespread in the civilian shooting community no later than 2006, when posts about the practice were noted on various Internet shooting forums. At that time four years ago, the general reaction seems to have been mild bemusement.

The story then seems to have gone cold for nearly four years … until an entry two weeks ago on Richard Dawkins’ forum expressed incredulity as they rediscovered old news:

[Dawkins] I happen to do a lot of competitive shooting and was looking at different rifle scopes to purchase. A friend told me that the one I was interested in had “cool” bible verses engraved on them if you looked underneath. I was skeptical (of course) and went to the gun shop to look for myself. Sure enough, on the body of the scope there’s the manufacturer’s engraving “Trijicon – John 8:12″.

John 8:12 is a verse about jebus (sic) being the light of the world and anyone who doesn’t follow him walks in darkness.

This gun sight, the Trijicon ACOG, is standard issue in the U.S. Army & Marine Corps. They are paid for with my tax dollars, and purchased by the thousands. I really have an issue with this. My country’s talking points include how we’re a secular nation that “respects all faiths,” but hey, as long as we’re killing Muslims, lets buy gun sights with jesus on them.

So the real story for me isn’t the sights - it’s the fact that Dawkins needs to grow thicker skin.

Well, if Islamic terrorists can kill ‘infidels’ in the name of Allah, then why not shoot them with ‘Jesus Bible-coded’ rifles? Maybe it doesn’t hurt as bad when you get shot with a ‘Jesus’ rifle. If that doesn’t work, we can always load some squirt guns with holy water.

As I understand it from another forum, the verses are part of the serial number. They are not present on the current military contract items. But are present on items privately purchased.

[Susan R] we can always load some squirt guns with holy water.

What is Arabic for “I’m melting”?أنا ذوبان