Friday, January 22, 2010

Rifle Scopes Under Fire

Trijicon is a company contracted by the US Government to provide weapon supplies for the military men and women serving in Iraq. Evidently they have been putting Biblical verse references on the gun sights and other equipment.

General Order Number One states that the military and the Americans stationed in the country are not allow to preach Christianity to the locals there.

Putting bible verses on the gear and calling these “Jesus Guns” is not only immature but absurd. It gives America a bad name.

Religious views tend to be very personal things. Most people with strong religious convictions defend and guard their opinions and values like they would a beloved family member.

The problem is when they go around forcing their ideals on others. A person wouldn't go into a restaurant with a salt shaker full of their own salt recipe and without asking permission first, start sprinkling it on everyone's meal. But that is exactly what people do with their political and religious preferences.

In this particular case, it's pushed on people in a sneakier way because the impression is that that products being distributed weren't or wouldn't be tampered with to project any particular group or person's specific preferences. Allowing this sets the precedent that it's okay for companies that are supposed to be religiously and politically neutral to trick you into wearing, using or buying products that promote or advertise something you don't believe in or agree with.

What if Haynes underwear started blending into all the labels of their t-shirts a Satanic star.

Would that be harmless? Funny? An attempt to offend people?

Or just incredibly childish?

If people want to modify their own issued items or buy products that bear certain labels or create their own items that promote their personal opinions, that's great. More power to them. But they shouldn't expect other people to enthusiastically embrace it or want to use and advertise it as well.

If you or your child joined a sports team and suddenly the uniform for the team bore the mark of the Freemasons or Kali the Hindu god of death, but you weren't informed of the change, the new uniform that you paid for was just issued with the new logo, wouldn't you feel somewhat upset that you were not at least given the option of not supporting or advertising this belief system?

Would you really not be concerned about the lack of respect and the biased mindset of those in charge of making and distributing the uniforms? Those who are in a position of authority and trust, using you or your child who's just there to play soccer or little league, as a way to sneakily advertise their own personal agenda?

While there is a lot to be said for being open minded, people should be allowed to keep their own opinions and not be forced to use products bearing the mark of someone else's personal opinions.

The bible has been under scrutiny for centuries. It's origins and content are not able to be proven to be the actual and literal WORD of any deity, regardless of what Christians believe. It's wrong to sneak messages from the book onto any mass produced product intended to be used by a wide and diverse group of people, where many of them don't share those opinions.

Why are some people determined to take what is supposed to be a peace keeping mission to this other country and turn it into a religious war?

Just one more example of radical religious extremists causing problems.


http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/secret-jesus-bible-codes-on-u-s-military-weapons-17700769

To read the full article

2 comments:

Steven Rosbach said...

What if a Soldier write a bible verse reference on some of his equipment of his own free volition? Would that also be a violation of the same order? How about if he quotes a bible verse as he's shooting someone? What if he has rosary beads in his pocket?

Allan said...

Wasn't it the immature media that labeled them Jesus guns? It was not the company. I am not religious but still thought it was clever of them and was not in the least bit offended. Go out and find something, ANYTHING, that does not offend anyone. Everything offends someone. The very air you breath is offensive to Al Gore and even more offensive to him after you exhale it due to the obscene amount of CO2 it contains. This whole fiasco is just another example of radical ANTI-religious extremists looking for another soapbox to express their belief that others should keep their beliefs to themselves.

The reality is that most people simply don't care. I eat meat, I own guns and I don't believe in any organized religion and if you choose to be the opposite of that... Good for you. I don't care and I don't think you are wrong. Live however you like. Nobody should care but you.