[Infowarrior] - U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret 'Jesus' Bible Codes

[Richard Forno]

  Agree with the idea or not, it's a cultural 'win' for the enemy and  
it's own marketing purposes, as the article suggests towards the end.   
--rf

U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret 'Jesus' Bible Codes
Pentagon Supplier for Rifle Sights Says It Has 'Always' Added New  
Testament References
By JOSEPH RHEE, TAHMAN BRADLEY and BRIAN ROSS
Jan. 18, 2010 —

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=9575794

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.

The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the  
training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. The maker of the sights,  
Trijicon, has a $660 million multi-year contract to provide up to  
800,000 sights to the Marine Corps, and additional contracts to  
provide sights to the U.S. Army.

U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the proselytizing of any  
religion in Iraq or Afghanistan and were drawn up in order to prevent  
criticism that the U.S. was embarked on a religious "Crusade" in its  
war against al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents.

One of the citations on the gun sights, 2COR4:6, is an apparent  
reference to Second Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament, which 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."

Other references include citations from the books of Revelation,  
Matthew and John dealing with Jesus as "the light of the world." John  
8:12, referred to on the gun sights as JN8:12, reads, "Whoever follows  
me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Trijicon confirmed to ABCNews.com that it adds the biblical codes to  
the sights sold to the U.S. military. Tom Munson, director of sales  
and marketing for Trijicon, which is based in Wixom, Michigan, said  
the inscriptions "have always been there" and said there was nothing  
wrong or illegal with adding them. Munson said the issue was being  
raised by a group that is "not Christian." The company has said the  
practice began under its founder, Glyn Bindon, a devout Christian from  
South Africa who was killed in a 2003 plane crash.

'It violates the Constitution'

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."

Spokespeople for the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps both said their  
services were unaware of the biblical markings. They said officials  
were discussing what steps, if any, to take in the wake of the  
ABCNews.com report. It is not known how many Trijicon sights are  
currently in use by the U.S. military.

The biblical references appear in the same type font and size as the  
model numbers on the company's Advanced Combat Optical Guides, called  
the ACOG.

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.

"It's wrong, it violates the Constitution, it violates a number of  
federal laws," said Michael "Mikey" Weinstein of the Military  
Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group that seeks to preserve  
the separation of church and state in the military.

'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," he said.

Weinstein, an attorney and former Air Force officer, said many members  
of his group who currently serve in the military have complained about  
the markings on the sights. He also claims they've told him that  
commanders have referred to weapons with the sights as "spiritually  
transformed firearm[s] of Jesus Christ."

He said coded biblical inscriptions play into the hands of "those who  
are calling this a Crusade."

According to a government contracting watchdog group, fedspending.org,  
Trijicon had more than $100 million in government contracts in fiscal  
year 2008. The Michigan company won a $33 million Pentagon contract in  
July, 2009 for a new machine gun optic, according to Defense Industry  
Daily. The company's earnings from the U.S. military jumped  
significantly after 2005, when it won a $660 million long-term  
contract to supply the Marine Corps with sights.

"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."

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