More on the military gunsight ‘Jesus Codes’ – Coded references to biblical passages are inscribed on gunsights widely used by the US and British military in Iraq and Afghanistan
When I posted about this yesterday, this only seemed to apply to US troops being issued with gun sights carrying coded references to Bible passages and was a fairly small story. Today the story has gone global and now includes the British military:-
Gunsights’ biblical references concern US and UK forces
Coded references to biblical passages are inscribed on gunsights widely used by the US and British military in Iraq and Afghanistan, it has emerged.
The markings include “2COR4:6″ and “JN8:12″, relating to verses in the books of Corinthians II and John.
Trijicon, the US-based manufacturer, was founded by a devout Christian, and says it runs to “Biblical standards”.
But military officials in the US and UK have expressed concern over the way the markings will be perceived.
The company has added the references to its sights for many years, but the issue surfaced only recently when soldiers complained to an advocacy group.
On an aside, I read that the original ABC News ‘investigation’ was based on comments found on an online message board / forum and that this issue had been discussed for years online!
This is a YouTube post from July ’09:-
So, not exactly news for the online world, but certainly is for the MSM.
Ministry of Defence orders ‘Bible guns’ for soldiers in Afghanistan – Hundreds of gun sights ordered for British troops in Afghanistan are inscribed with coded biblical references, it has emerged.
The equipment was purchased from an American manufacturer which yesterday confirmed that markings carried on the same brand of sights used by US marines related to New Testament verses.
The codes include JN8:12 and 2COR4:6, which point to passages from the books of John and Second Corinthians respectively.
The former states: “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
The MoD only announced its purchase of the Advanced Combat Optical Guides (ACOG) sights from Michigan-based firm Trijicon on Monday.
They were ordered as an accessory for 400 new Sharpshooter rifles due to go into service later this year. Quentin Davies, the defence minister, praised the weapons for their “highly-precise, long-range capability”
An MoD spokesman told The Daily Telegraph: “We were not aware at the time of purchase that these markings had any broader significance.
“Our priority is to buy the best performingequipment available on the market. In this case, Trijicon were selected as they offered the best performing optical sights. We are now exploring with Trijicon how best to proceed.”
One option could be to cover up or remove the references, which are printed in small letters between sight’s model number and “Made in the USA”.
News that US soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan were issued with weapons carrying Christian messages provoked a outcry from Muslims and secular campaigners.
The US government has been at pains to keep religious language out of military affairs since George W Bush infamously referred to the war against terror as a “crusade” in 2001.
American troops are banned from proselytising any faith while deployed in the two Islamic-majority countries.
The Second Corinthians passage referenced on the sights 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.”
My good friend Polycarp has posted sense on this:-
Personally I feel that this is all wrong and simply makes us look like crusaders, which is one of the accusations levelled against Western forces by radical Islamists, not to mention the misrepresentation of Jesus.
Obviously this issue is now traversing the Christian online world and serious questions are being asked:-
I dread to think how this is all being reported in the Muslim world and have already seen the humanist / atheist world pick up on it:-
Atheists say military should scrap “Jesus code” rifle sights
UPDATE – Here we go, some reaction from the Islamic world:-
Tags: Christianity, Media, News
January 20th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
Wow – didn’t know the Brits had ‘em.
January 20th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Oh yes. what the US has….we have. Isn’t it the same worldwide?