It is oft considered something of a joke when someone comes out, claiming to have seen Jesus Christ in a tortilla chip, or on a piece of toast, or something similar. After all, putting aside any personal beliefs about religion that you may or may not have, it seems so utterly unlikely that Jesus Christ would choose to present himself in such a silly form. But two months ago, an aspect of Jesus Christ was found in a much more serious place: on the rifle scopes being used by American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.
These so-called Jesus rifles have biblical verses inscribed into them, such as “JN8:12,” clearly referencing the book of John, chapter 8, verse 12. The references crop up near the model number on the rifle, so that at first glance, they may appear to be simply part of the set of numbers regularly inscribed into military equipment. These Jesus rifles were supposed to all have been changed and corrected, but even though more than two months have past, there are still at least two thirds of the rifles spread out amongst the military. The inscriptions are on the Trijicon scopes of the Jesus rifles, and “Trijicon has sold an estimated 250,000 rifle scopes to the US armed services,” according to abcnews.go.com.
The primary problem of having these Jesus rifles in the hands of American soldiers comes from “General Order Number One,” which is a prohibition on the military supporting any particular “faith, religion, or practice”; the Jesus rifles clearly violate the order, whether or not anyone actually intended to do so. This order was intended to help prevent any further implication that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were religiously motivated, especially after President George W. Bush’s referral to the war as a crusade.
These Jesus rifles are still in use by soldiers in lands where such religious insensitivity could easily instigate violence and conflict. It is also all the more problematic when rifles are being used for the training of citizens of the war-torn nations, meaning that individuals who likely do not believe in Jesus Christ’s divinity are being trained on these Jesus rifles, leading to all kinds of discomfort on both sides of the relationship. Apparently, some villages have even gone so far as to ask incoming American soldiers specifically whether or not they are caring Jesus rifles. This very much prevents the soldiers from being able to ascertain whether the village is friendly or dangerous, as even a friendly village might turn dangerous if the soldiers are carrying the Jesus rifles.
In essence, the Jesus rifles are a terrible mistake because they bring religion into a matter where it is tremendously dangerous. The situations in Iraq and Afghanistan are already terribly complicated, even just by the native religions, without complicating the situation even further by weapons that are associated with Jesus Christ. While the military seems to be taking its sweet time in fixing the rifles, the soldiers there are very much endangered by the presence of the Jesus rifles. Steps need to be taken in order to fix the Jesus rifles, and ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. The fallout from any future incident could be catastrophic.
Tags: Jesus