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.
Mikey Weinstein, vengeful secularist crusader against expressions of Christianity by the US Military and founder and proprietor of his own advocacy group, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, really knows how to write the kinds of press releases the liberal MSM cannot resist.
This time, Mikey, having noticed that the Trijicon gunsight company makes a practice of placing Bible verse references to light and vision as a kind of corporate logo on its hardware, alerted ABC News, informing its shocked and gaping journalists that the use of aftermarker equipment featuring such expressions by the manufacturer is wrong and illegal and unconstitutional, too.
It’s wrong, it violates the Constitution, it violates a number of federal laws,” said Michael “Mikey” Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group that seeks to preserve the separation of church and state in the military.
“It allows the Mujahedeen, the Taliban, al Qaeda and the insurrectionists and jihadists to claim they’re being shot by Jesus rifles,” he said.
What Mr. Weinstein is insisting upon is the complete eradication of Christian religious expression, even to the point of banning references and allusions.
Presumably, someone serving in the US Military could not be permitted to wear a Yale t shirt or class ring either, since they would bear the Hebrew Urim and Thummim of Yale’s motto Lux et Veritas, another Biblical light allusion. And the CIA would need to give up its motto, inscribed on the floor of its Langley Headquarters, John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. The Department of Defense would have to uproot all the crosses in military cemeteries. Every single cultural allusion or reference to Christianity in history or to the Bible or religious expression in literature or music would have to be banned.
In reality, it is Mr. Weinstein, operating on the basis of a vindictive and malevolent hostility to a religious tradition different from his own, who is attempting to manipulate the media into assisting him in bullying public officials into enforcing his own irrational and extremist preferences, amounting to the illegal and unconstitutional suppression of Christian religious expression.
Frankly, there are a lot of Americans out there who think that if Mujahedeen, the Taliban, al Qaeda and the insurrectionists and jihadists out there complain they are being shot by “Jesus rifles,” that’s fine by us.
Degod
Using the word of God to stop a life God created.
Who is the evil now?
See the evil.
God does not kill.
Brainwashed humans do.
Mike
As the USMC officer who got Trijicon sights into USMIL use, I can state that their battery-less night/reflex firing capabilities are vital and the company can put whatever “subliminal” messages they want on their sights giving credit where their inspiration came from. We have MILLIONS of widgets being mass-produced in the U.S. that have SATANIC crap subliminals and we don’t hear Weinstein whining about them infuriating Islamic ragheads with our “culture” do we?
Google Michael Tsarion to see all the evil, Satanic subliminals Weinstein the Whiner is missing and see if he will lift a finger to have them removed before we give/sell to Islamic Iraq/Afghanistan.
This is a well-stated article, thanks for posting it.
Gregory T. Nolan, Esq.
“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.” Mathew 5:11. Trijicon should feel blesed that Mikey Weinstein, an enemy of Christ, is persecuting it because of its faith in Jesus Christ.
J. Dodd
JDZ, you should take an intro to logic class. The only conclusion you made based on your premise with any logical validity (not to mention constitutionality) is that the CIA (state) should also remove a specifically Christian (church) text from its official motto, just as the US Army should remove Christian specific (church) textual allusions from its official weaponry (state).
And, while you are at it, take a civics and/or political science 101 course ASAP. Individuals have freedom of religious expression precisely because the state does not. This is very simple, common sense stuff.
Also, on-duty soldiers cannot wear Yale t-shirts, or any other kind of non-military issue clothing, except hidden under their uniforms without being disciplined for being out of uniform, so that argument makes no sense even if you weren’t making the mistake of conflating individual expression with state expression. (I don’t remember the exact policy on individuals wearing jewelry while on duty, but I think it also has to be hidden — you can look up the relevant regulation yourself very easily.)
You have a constitutional right to state your uninformed opinions, but at least take the time and energy to present them logically and coherently. Thanks to liberal education reforms in the US over the years, you are fortunate enough to be able to read and write — please exercise your First World privileges responsibly.
JDZ
The First Amendment prohibits the federal establishment of religion, i.e. the federal government collecting taxes and using them to build and maintain houses of worship and pay salaries of ministers of a state-established church. Nonetheless, the federal government does have military chaplains, chaplains of Congress, and does pay to build and maintain churches and chapels at military bases and service academies.
There is a very wide distance between “no established church” and no reference to religion or religious expression within a public space or organization.
Believing that the non-establishment clause is so hostile to religious references that there is a problem with the use of Trijicon company products because that company likes to put Bible verse references on them seems extremely far-fetched to me. In fact, the same First Amendment not only prohibits a federally-established church, it also protects religious expression. If the Trijicon gun sight company wants to make reference to the Bible, that’s Trijicon’s privilege. If Trijicon makes the best sight for a military purpose, the military ought to buy its product regardless of that company’s preferences concerning corporate logos.
Edward Swan
How dare you protest against Graham you piece of trash. We are putting together a group of proud Americans to lambast the Army for even listneing to you. Why don’t you move to some Islamic nation you moron?
Jimmy
There is nothing in the government specs for the gunsights requesting biblical references, so the specs were violated. Suggest Procurement 101 for those above who plunge in without a clue.
Also, suggest you read up on Dominionism 101 to get a handle on which Christians Mikey is going after. (Mikey is not going after the trappings of “Civil Religion” – such matters seem to absorb a few of the above commentators. — BTW, “Civil Religion” readings are available; suggest you start with Robert Bellah, Civil Religion in America, Daedalus, 1966.) All that the Dominionists want to do is take over Congress and re-write the Constitution to make the US a Christian theocracy. However, their GESTAPO would troll for those who “weren’t Christian enough” (i.e., according to Dominionist statutes), and likely send them to reeducation camps. Jews would likely be forced to wear a nice stitched on “J” patch on their clothes when they went into public. (There would be other abbreviations for other non-Christian sew-on patches.)
Frank
Actually Jimmy the “offensive” nomenclature is part of the serial number. Exactly how does that violate the specs for the scope? Your rant about dominionists and some delusional Christian Gestapo is hilarious. Ever stop to consider that the biggest murderers and oppressors in history have been atheists and pagans? — including Hitler — amazing how many ignoramuses tell me he was a Christian. Looks to me like the Muslims and Communists have the oppression game well in hand. And yet, I bet, you’re not worried about them.
sg
When it comes down to it, as a whole you Christians do not know shit about science and you don’t even know your God exists. Yet you impose on the rest of us — who are often more intelligent than you about the possibilities of there being no God.
You guys are jerks. There’s a very good reason Separation of Church and State needs to be maintained — your beliefs do not need any basis in reality!
You are scary people.
Scott
jesus can hump the bloody holes in his hands for all I care, so long as all TRUE Americans fight for the fact that the U.S. Constitution is a CIVIL and SECULAR Document. We THANKFULLY live in a Secular State. Not a theocracy.
mike
Someone please ask mister Weinstein, why the jewish “star of david” is stamped on the USMC NCO sword, as a MARINE i found it offensive. I did ask him , but of course, got no reply. Double standard ???
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