This is interesting on so many different levels.
U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret 'Jesus' Bible Codes
Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.
Trijicon of Wixom, Michigan, confirmed that it adds the Biblical codes to the sights sold to the U.S. military. The company says the practice began under the company 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 as, "Guided by our values, we endeavor to have our products used wherever precision aiming solutions are required to protect individual freedom."
THE TYPICAL LIBERAL KNEE JERK REACTION:
"It's wrong, it violates the Constitution, it violates a number of federal laws," said Michael Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group that seeks to preserve the separation of church and state in the military.
I don't see how. Where does it say in the Constitution that I can't write Scripture on gun parts that I sell to the government? I'm allowed to put anything I want on a product I produce, unless the government contract specifies otherwise - which in this case I think they soon will if they haven't done so already.
One of the citations on the gun sights, 2COR4:6, is a reference to 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."
Another marking on the gun sights is JN8:12, reference to John 8:12, "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." 'FIREARMS OF JESUS CHRIST'
"It allows the Mujahedeen, the Taliban, al Qaeda and the insurrectionists and jihadists to claim they're being shot by Jesus rifles," Weinstein said.
That's RIGHT - and I'm sure this will be quite disturbing to a number of the GOOD Muslims who've been shooting jihadis with those scopes.
Iraq Provincial Security Forces sight targets through ACOGs mounted on M-16A4 rifles at a training range at Observation Post Delta in Karmah, Iraq, May 8, 2008. (defenseimagery.mil)On the other hand, I'm betting a significant number of the Muslim soldiers who owe their lives to those gun sights are going to be thinking long and hard about the effectiveness of Christian technology against fanatic jihadis. This is the epitome of the "White Man's Juu-Juu" Syndrome - a common theme of Western Colonialism.
A U.S. Army sergeant allows an Iraqi police officer to look through the ACOG scope on his M-4 carbine assault rifle at a post in Hayy, Iraq. (defenseimagery.mil)There's Nothing New Under the Sun
Ironically, the Indian Rebellion (1857-58) against the British came about because of a similar weapons-related issue.
The Rebellion, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny, began as a mutiny of sepoys (Indian soldiers in British service) of the British East India Company's army. The sepoys had been issued new Enfield rifles, which required grease-coated paper cartridges. The ends of these cartridges had to be bitten off before the rifle could be loaded. A rumor spread among the sepoys that the new cartridges were greased with the fat of cows (sacred to Hindus) and/or pigs (forbidden to Muslims).
The Rebellion erupted on 10 May, 1857, in the town of Meerut; almost simultaneously other mutinies and civilian rebellions broke out in Delhi, Cawnpore, Lucknow, Jhansi and other regions. Before it was over, hundreds of thousands perished, horrific atrocities were committed by both sides in the conflict; British women and children were not spared. After the mutiny, an investigation showed that the grease did contain cow fat but not pig fat.
Serious Implications
I am a Christian, and I personally believe that we are witnessing Biblical Prophecy being played out upon the World Stage. I am also fascinated by reports of widespread conversions to Christianity amongst the Muslims of the Middle East, already reported in Blog STORMBRINGER.
I am a Christian, and I've been called a Crusader by Muslims, but I am not a fundamentalist or a fanatic. Despite what it says in that last book of the Bible, I'm really not in a hurry to have Armageddon break out on my watch.
My personal beliefs aside, the serious problem posed by the gun sight markings is that the enemy - Islamic Fundamentalist terror forces affiliated with al Qaeda - will use this issue to further inflame their Muslim audience.
The problem here is - and this is the quintessence of the issue - that this plays right into their agenda. IF al Qaeda and the rest of the Islamic Fundamentalists succeed in turning this into a religious war - THEN THEY HAVE JUST WON.
I don't know the answer to this thing; the guy being paid to make these decisions is a few pay grades higher than me. It's Obama's mess to deal with now, Bush's War or no . . .
Trijicon sights are good products, and the government will be hard-pressed to find a replacement. In the meantime, those "Jesus sights" may soon be showing up in DRMO depots, which is good news for people like me.
I'm so sick of this PC bullshit. J H Chreeeiist Where does it say in the constitution that we are to keep church and state seperate. I thought the constitution said the government won't establish a religion! I always thought that meant the government wouldn't do something like create a Church of America.
ReplyDeleteAnd here all them weenie liberals are making agnostic thought de facto and forcing the state to observe that! Seems like a religion to me.
You know what will be the most disgusting part of all this?!!?!?!?
The main stream religions won't even say boo about all of this. I had a church worker tell me once that "the church can't make any waves about this stuff, because we are afraid that we will lose our tax free status."
I say bull pukey!!!!
At some point a person HAS GOT TO STAND UP FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVE!
Steve
On "Anonymous said ...bull pukey!!!"
ReplyDeleteAmen, the weenies are complicit in the horrors visited upon us by those that want us dead. I believe they know this and want this.
Sean, you’re totally correct on this in my opinion. I have enough scopes for my needs, but I will be buying one if not two of these puppies.
The fact that a manufacture in this day and time has the steadfastness to do this is just way too cool.
Godspeed Sean.
Mike Weinstein is just trying to make a name for himself. He really got rolling when his son was at the USAFA and since then Mike has made a good business of this type news. Funny, Mike never complained about the culture present when he was at the USAFA.
ReplyDeleteDave
The framers of the Constitution of the United States wanted to ensure that there would be no official state religion or a state church. In their day, most, if not all, European monarchies had a state religion very often the RC church. In the UK the Monarch was head of the Church of England. Religious persecution was rife, hence the flight of the oppressed to the colonies. The American founders wanted to head all that off at the pass, thus the forbidding of a state religion/church and all the truck that comes with that. The Individual was paramount in America in that period.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't they just preface the citation with Part #: and list the citation. I'd imagine a company could identify their parts anyway they wish, and our soldiers could look up different company part numbers posted on their gear in the Bible, during any down time, to see if there is a related scripture.
ReplyDeleteWhy is this becoming an issue now? It's been known for a long time. I would hope that sanity might prevail over PC nonsense, but it seems unlikely.
ReplyDeleteI am going out this week and buying 2 ACOGs and telling every friend I have to buy one as well. The reality is that this is a religious war. We didn't start it they know it and we are on the right side of it. It is precisely because the verses are on those scopes the we need to publicize it and tell every godforsaken bast@rd we are fighting that our country protects individual freedom and because we honor the freedom of wiccans to worship the dirt in our Army then by gosh we also honor the stamping of verses on our optics by manufacturers who feel compelled to do so. We call it tolerance and it's why we are great.
ReplyDeletehaving fallen in love with ACOG's I think that their scripture choice is apt for the products they sell.
ReplyDeletethey illuminate the sights of people's wepons in the darkest of times.
I think it is true poetic justice.
Drive on Trijicon, Drive on!
SL,
ReplyDeleteAlot of us have known about this for a few years & are somewhat comforted by it. & don't spread this around but several coalition countries actually have our aircraft, MRAPs, & personel blessed before leaving on a mission & actually talk to our God [or whatever supreme being u believe in] during missions. I still carry my US Army issue Bible a US Army buddy gave me. Live by 3 simple rules, don't screw with my family, pay or faith.....
Printed circuit board designers do the same thing, but for other purposes. I know a guy who almost got fired for putting (under a component) "smile when you say damn Yankees".
ReplyDeleteYou could put SecretJesusBibleCode (SJBC) on almost anything with words. As I am writing product manuals at work these days.. hmm...
BTW: if you say it fast 3 times, SecretJesusBibleCode sounds like something that comes in a Captain Crunch box.
If the Pentagon throws a snit over this, Trijicon needs to make a batch with FYMW in the text. Short for F@#k You Mike Weinstein. Unfortunately, I went to USAFA with him. There is also no worry about this making things into a religious war, because it has been a religious war since 9/11. The undiebomber did not try to blow up the plane because he didn't like the airline food.
ReplyDeleteI'm just curious to know how you do not characterize the war on terror as a religious war? As I understand it, the primary underpinnings for all the fatwas which give support to jihadis are all based on Islam v. the rest of the world's religions. It seems to me that to not accept that this is a religious war, just as the Cold War was one based on ideology, misses something very important.
ReplyDeleteNot being a Christian, I look at what this company did with its product the same way I view what In N Out does with their wrappings. A little amusement. A little insight into the company's thinking. But other than that, it does nothing to infringe on my religious views.
However, that is because I am an American who comes from a society which tolerates other religions (at least until they start tossing bombs). I think that the Indian Mutiny parallel is apt in this situation because we are trying to use "sepoys" (for lack of a better term). And they have their own religious systems which need to be respected, or at least not out rightly insulted.
The phrase “separation of church and state” is but a metaphor to describe the underlying principle of the First Amendment and the no-religious-test clause of the Constitution. The absence of the phrase in the text of the Constitution assumes much importance, it seems, only to those who may have once labored under the misimpression the words appeared there and later learned of their mistake. To those familiar with the Constitution, the absence of the metaphor commonly used to describe one of its principles is no more consequential than the absence of other phrases (e.g., Bill of Rights, separation of powers, checks and balances, fair trial, religious liberty) used to describe other undoubted Constitutional principles.
ReplyDeleteSome try to pass off the Supreme Court’s decision in Everson v. Board of Education as simply a misreading of Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists. Instructive as that letter is (affirming that both the free exercise and establishment clauses separate religion and government), it played but a small part in the Court’s decision. Indeed, the Court mentioned it only in passing after basing its conclusion on a detailed discussion of the historical context in which the First Amendment was developed. The metaphor “separation of church and state” was but a handy catch phrase to describe the upshot of its conclusion. The Court’s reading of the First Amendment in this regard was unanimous; all nine Justices agreed on that much, but split 5-4 on whether the Amendment precludes states from paying for transportation of students to religious schools.
Perhaps even more than Thomas Jefferson, James Madison influenced the Court’s view. Madison, who had a central role in drafting the Constitution and the First Amendment, confirmed that he understood them to “[s]trongly guard[] . . . the separation between Religion and Government.” Madison, Detached Memoranda (~1820). He made plain, too, that they guarded against more than just laws creating state sponsored churches or imposing a state religion. Mindful that even as new principles are announced, old habits die hard and citizens and politicians could tend to entangle government and religion (e.g., “the appointment of chaplains to the two houses of Congress” and “for the army and navy” and “[r]eligious proclamations by the Executive recommending thanksgivings and fasts”), he considered the question whether these actions were “consistent with the Constitution, and with the pure principle of religious freedom” and responded: “In strictness the answer on both points must be in the negative. The Constitution of the United States forbids everything like an establishment of a national religion.”
The First Amendment embodies the simple, just idea that each of us should be free to exercise his or her religious views without expecting that the government will endorse or promote those views and without fearing that the government will endorse or promote the religious views of others. By keeping government and religion separate, the establishment clause serves to protect the freedom of all to exercise their religion. Reasonable people may differ, of course, on how these principles should be applied in particular situations, but the principles are hardly to be doubted. Moreover, they are good, sound principles that should be nurtured and defended, not attacked. Efforts to transform our secular government into some form of religion-government partnership should be resisted by every patriot.
You know, if I were going to make and put out into the world a product like this that makes killing easier, and if, by putting a few extra digits in the product number, that would incentivise people who rabidly opposed to my world view to use some other inferior product, I'd say "why not".
ReplyDeleteThe sniper in the church tower on james ryan sums that up?
ReplyDeleteGo take a look at
final redoubt blog!
Harry Hook H/T
You´ll like the fella!
Thanks for the history lesson.
ReplyDelete