Army Allegedly Orders That Bible Inscriptions Be Scraped Off of Weapon Scopes

Questions surrounding purported attacks on faith in the United States military continue to abound. Over the past few years, many critics have decried perceived attempts to remove Judeo-Christian values from the ranks. A new report claiming that the Army has mandated that troops remove Bible inscriptions from their weapon scopes will likely only add to the debate.

Fox News' Todd Starnes is reporting that soldiers were recently told to turn in their scopes so that a Biblical inscription purportedly etched into serial numbers could be removed. Active-duty members of the Army at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska, apparently reached out to let the outlet to shed light upon the situation.

Photo Credit: Fox News' Todd Starnes

Starnes has more about the lengths to which officials went to ensure that these verses were no longer visible:

The scopes were made by Trijicon and referenced New Testament passages in John 8:12 and Second Corinthians 4:6. The verses appeared at the end of the scope serial numbers – “JN8:12” and “2COR4:6.”

“The biblical verse (JN8:12) must be removed utilizing a Dremel type tool and then painted black,” read instructions on how to remedy the matter.

After the letters and numbers were [scraped] off, soldiers were directed to use apply black paint to ensure the verses were totally covered.

While the story seems unbelievable on the surface, Starnes reports that an Army spokesman confirmed the report in a written statement.

At issue was the notion that the military was purportedly not notified by Trijicon before the verses were placed at the end of series numbers. But the contention seems to stretch beyond that, as spokesman Matthew Bourke also told Starnes that the Bible inscriptions will be removed from all future weapons orders.

Photo Credit: Fox News' Todd Starnes

"The vendor etched those inscriptions on scopes without the Army’s approval. Consequently, the modified scopes did not meet the requirement under which the contract was executed," wrote Bourke.

"Some of these scopes had already been fielded. Corrective measures were taken to remove inscriptions during the RESET/PRESET process in order to avoid a disruption in combat operations," he added.

Read the entire report here.

(H/T: Weasel Zippers)

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