{"id":435,"date":"2011-04-06T14:00:29","date_gmt":"2011-04-06T18:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/?p=435"},"modified":"2011-04-08T13:57:03","modified_gmt":"2011-04-08T17:57:03","slug":"why-is-the-news-media-so-shocked-by-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/why-is-the-news-media-so-shocked-by-jesus.html","title":{"rendered":"Why is the news media so offended by Jesus?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
ABC can't handle the idea of our military trusting in God<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The scandal was just too stunning! Here is how ABC News reported it about a year ago: \u201cCoded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company.<\/p>\n

“An ABC News investigation has found,\u201d\u00a0announced Brian\u00a0Ross, “the sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was the problem? For the last 225 years in this nation\u2019s history, the news media would have bragged on the company, Trijicon. However, in today\u2019s environment, the media is openly hostile to anything having to do with the Lord.<\/p>\n

\u201cU.S. military rules,\u201d revealed Ross in his expose, \u201cspecifically prohibit the proselytizing of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan and were drawn up in order to prevent criticism that the U.S. was embarked on a religious \u2018crusade\u2019 in its war against al-Qaida and Iraqi insurgents. One of the citations on the gun sights, 2COR4:6, is an apparent reference to 2 Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament, which reads: \u201cFor 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

But wait a minute: through American history such Scriptures were\u00a0freely shared with\u00a0America’s troops \u2013 along with admonitions to pray for our soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen \u2013 offered by such presidents as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cOther references,\u201d revealed the agitated Ross, \u201cinclude citations from the books of Revelation, Matthew and John dealing with Jesus as \u2018the light of the world.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn 8:12, referred to on the gun sights as JN8:12, reads, \u2018Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.\u2019<\/p>\n

The manufacturer confirmed to ABC News that it had added the biblical codes to the sights sold to the U.S. military for years \u2013 and was unapologetic. Tom Munson, director of sales and marketing for Trijicon, which is based in Wixom, Michigan, said the inscriptions “have always been there” and said there was nothing wrong or illegal with adding them.<\/p>\n

The practice was begun by the company’s founder, Glyn Bindon, a devout Christian who was killed in a 2003 plane crash.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s vision is still described on its Internet website: \u201cGuided by our values, we endeavor to have our products used wherever precision aiming solutions are required to protect individual freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that America is great when its people are good,\u201d says the Trijicon website. \u201cThis goodness has been based on biblical standards throughout our history, and we will strive to follow those morals.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in today’s environment, such talk cannot be tolerated by our politically correct media.<\/p>\n

ABC\u00a0contacted \u201cspokespeople for the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps\u201d and reported that \u201cboth said their services were unaware of the biblical markings. They said officials were discussing what steps, if any, to take in the wake of the ABC News report. It is not known how many Trijicon sights are currently in use by the U.S. military.”<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s wrong, it violates the Constitution, it violates a number of federal laws,\u201d said Michael Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a group that seeks to enforce separation of church and state in the military.<\/p>\n

Trijicon had more than $100 million in government contracts in a recent\u00a0fiscal year. The Michigan company won a $33 million Pentagon contract in July 2009 for a new machine gun optic, according to Defense Industry Daily. The company\u2019s earnings from the U.S. military jumped significantly after 2005, when it won a $660 million long-term contract to supply the Marine Corps with sights.<\/p>\n

Following the ABC News report, a spokesperson for the Marine Corps said the Corps was \u201cconcerned\u201d and would discuss the matter with the weapons manufacturer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are aware of the issue and are concerned with how this may be perceived,\u201d said Captain Geraldine Carey in a statement to ABC News. \u201cWe will meet with the vendor to discuss future sight procurements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carey said that when the initial deal was made it was the only product that met the Corps needs.<\/p>\n

However, a spokesperson for Central Command, the U.S. military\u2019s overall command in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he did not understand why the issue was any different from U.S. money with religious inscriptions on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe perfect parallel that I see,\u201d said Major John Redfield, \u201cis between the statement that\u2019s on the back of our dollar bills, which is \u2018In God We Trust.\u2019 We haven\u2019t moved away from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have we?<\/p>\n

Want to read more? CLICK HERE<\/strong> <\/a>to read whether faith in Jesus is just too shocking for the news media to handle.
\nTo read “Why do they want to censor Jesus?” CLICK HERE<\/a><\/strong>
\nCLICK HERE<\/a><\/strong> to consider whether we are headed for a God-free society
\nIs Jesus an illegal word that cannot be uttered in public anymore? CLICK HERE<\/a><\/strong>
\nCLICK HERE<\/a><\/strong> to read about recent legal efforts\u00a0to ban\u00a0church bells
\nAnd CLICK HERE<\/strong> <\/a>to consider a British journalist’s concern that Christianity is becoming criminalized in Western society.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The scandal was just too stunning! Here is how ABC News reported it about a year ago: \u201cCoded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company. “An ABC News investigation has found,\u201d\u00a0announced Brian\u00a0Ross, “the sights are used by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy is the news media so offended by Jesus? - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/why-is-the-news-media-so-shocked-by-jesus.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why is the news media so offended by Jesus? - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The scandal was just too stunning! Here is how ABC News reported it about a year ago: \u201cCoded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company. “An ABC News investigation has found,\u201d\u00a0announced Brian\u00a0Ross, “the sights are used by…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/why-is-the-news-media-so-shocked-by-jesus.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-04-06T18:00:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-04-08T17:57:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/files\/2011\/04\/gun-verses.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why is the news media so offended by Jesus? - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/why-is-the-news-media-so-shocked-by-jesus.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why is the news media so offended by Jesus? - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars","og_description":"The scandal was just too stunning! 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