Daily Mail | By Paul Thompson | 19 January 2010
U.S. military weapons dubbed ‘Jesus guns’ after being inscribed with secret Bible codes

US military officials have launched an investigation after it was revealed coded Bible passages have been inscribed on high-powered rifle sights being used in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers.

Lawyer and former air force officer Michael Weinstein said the inscriptions play into the hands of those who say the US is on a ‘crusade’ against Islam.

‘It allows the Mujahedeen, the Taliban, Al Qaeda and the insurrectionists and jihadists to claim they’re being shot by Jesus rifles,’ he said.

U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the promotion of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The sights are manufactured by Michigan-based company Trijicon who have a £400 million contract to supply 800,000 sights to the US military.

The company admitted to ABC TV that each of the sights has words and number that references a passage in the bible – in direct violation of Pentagon rules on religion.

One of the citations on the gun sights, 2COR4:6, which refers 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 describing Jesus as ‘the light of the world.’

John 8:12, referred to as JN8:12, reads:

“Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Pentagon officials said they were aware of the numbers on the sights but had no idea of their biblical links as they appear in the same font and size as the serial number on the Advanced Combat Optical Guides.

A spokesman for Trijicon said the inscriptions had always been on the sights and began under is founder Glyn Bindon, who was a devout Christian.

Embarrassingly for Pentagon chiefs, the sights are currently being used by Afghan and Iraqi troops.

Weinstein,spokesman for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said the biblical markings had led to some people to call them ‘Jesus guns’.

‘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.’

A Pentagon spokesman said they were discussing what action to take.

Source: Daily Mail