US troops issued with gun sights carrying coded references to Bible passages

US marines are being issued with rifle sights carrying thinly-veiled references to Bible passages, it has been disclosed.
A U.S soldier of the 101st Airborne Division look through his gun during a night patrol in Mandozai, in Khost province, Afghanistan
Troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan are firing weapons with coded inscriptions including 2COR4:6 and JN8:12, which related to verses in the books of Second Corinthians and John respectively.





The secret markings do not sit comfortably US government rules forbidding its forces from spreading any religious faith during deployments to the two Islamic-majority countries.

The branded equipment was produced by the Michigan-based manufacturer Trijicon, which has a contract to supply more than 800,000 sights to the US marines and other branches of the military.




The firm confirmed to ABC News that the small inscriptions – which are about the same size as the product code on the sights – relate to New Testament passages.

The company was founded by devout Christian Glyn Bindon, and its website carries pledges to live up to the "Biblical standards" that it says made America great.

A spokesman for the firm said that the scriptural references "have always been there" on the equipment and insisted they did not flout any laws. US military officials said they were not aware of the markings.

But secular campaigners accused the company of handing a propaganda victory to US opponents who strive to characterise its operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of a Crusade.

"It's wrong, it violates the Constitution, it violates a number of federal laws," Michael Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation told ABC.

"It allows the Mujahideen, the Taliban, al Qaeda and the insurrectionists and jihadists to claim they're being shot by Jesus rifles."

The US government has been at pains to keep religious language out of military affairs since George W Bush sparked anger among many Muslims by describing the campaign against terror as a Crusade in 2001.

The White House subsequently said that the then president regretted using the term in an impromptu address.

The religious passages mentioned on the rifle sights

2COR4:6
"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."

John 8:12
"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."