seeing is believing

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Jan 20, 2010

Procurement officers for the American and British armed forces are (OK, I'll say it) under fire after the discovery that a US company supplying gunsights for the military inscribed the devices with references to the Bible. Look carefully, and you see either "2COR4:6" or "JN8:12" etched onto the sights. These inscriptions, the BBC helpfully informs us, are "coded references to Biblical passages." 

The BBC reports that "military officials in the US and UK have expressed concern over the way the markings will be perceived." No doubt they are afraid that someone might be (OK, I'll say it) up in arms about the fact that the manufacturer of these sights-- Trijicon, an American company that proudly proclaims its Christian commitment-- is engaging in covert evangelization.  

Or is it really covert? The BBC refers to "coded" references, as if the inscriptions were written in some sort of secret language, which can be understood only by Christian cognoscenti and perhaps a few expert cryptologists. But if the meaning of the "code" really were so obscure, there would be no controversy here; the inscriptions would mean no more than a randomly-assigned serial number. The fact is that reasonably intelligent people immediately recognize  "2COR4:6" and "JN8:12" as Bible citations. 

Most manufacturers imprint their own company names on the material they sell to the government: a subtle form of advertising to which no one objects. Trijicon has added a bit of equally subtle advertising for the Bible. 

These are sights, after all. They're supposed to improve the user's ability to see things clearly.