Incredulous! Dumbfounded! Bewildered! Frustrated! Angry! Pleading! Somebody, please tell me it’s not true!
All of the above describe my reaction to the terrible news that Bible verses are inscribed on the sights of combat rifles. The verses refer to Jesus as the light and I guess reference the sights giving ‘light’ so that they can target their enemy soldiers day or night. But this refers to ‘light’ which enables killing whereas Jesus Christ is ‘The Light of the world’ who brings life and the light of justice and healthy relationships. Jesus brings life not death.
And, if the manufacturer’s purpose in inscribing the verses is evangelism: how is the shooter being evangelised? Is the shooter being evangelised to follow Jesus as the One with the power to end life? God forbid! Jesus is the power to give life; to give life twice over: in creation and in resurrection. For crying out loud: Bible verses on combat rifles is not evangelism!
And what of the linking of this weapon to a nation-state at war? Worse for us Christians is that this deepens the oft heard but mistaken idea that The West is Christian and Christianity is a Western religion. I have just finished reading a rebuttal of this idea by Lamin Sanneh in his Whose Religion is Christianity? The Gospel Beyond the West. The fact that this combat rifle with its biblical inscription so perversely applied, is both manufactured and used by the most powerful Western nation-state in fighting a war in Islamic lands aids the misconception Christianity = The West. Lamentably, the idea (and practice) of wars of religion are fuelled by such travesty. See excellent comment re the danger of misconception of Christian crusaders by Mikey Weinstein in the excerpt below.
On the basis of all of this, I plead with the manufacturer, Trijion, to remove the Bible verses from combat rifle sights and withdraw those in circulation as soon as possible.
Some excerpts follow but see theage.com.au (January 20,2010 – 7:33 am) full article US troops use combat rifles bearing Bible verses.
A US Marine on patrol in Iraq and, inset, the Trijicon Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight.
Combat rifle sights used by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan carry references to Bible verses, stoking concerns about whether the inscriptions break a government rule that bars proselytising by American troops. Military officials said the citations do not violate the ban and they will not stop using the telescoping sights, which allow troops to pinpoint the enemy day or night. The contractor that makes the equipment, Trijicon, said the US military has been a customer since 1995 and the company has never received any complaints about the Scripture citations. . . . The inscriptions are subtle and appear in raised lettering at the end of the stock number. Markings on the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight, which is standard issue to US special operations forces, include “JN8:12,” a reference to John 8:12: “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”‘ . . . . The Trijicon Reflex sight is stamped with 2COR4:6, a reference to part of the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, says the biblically inscribed sights could give the Taliban and other enemy forces a propaganda tool: that American troops are Christian crusaders invading Muslim countries.
I don’t have to wonder for a nanosecond how the American public would react if citations from the Koran were being inscribed onto these US armed forces gun sights instead of New Testament citations,” Weinstein said. The foundation is a nonprofit watchdog group opposed to religious favouritism within the military.
See Evangelism is not proselytism and Obama speaks peace to the Muslim world.
