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scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,706
3,339
Sowal
I'm not saying there should be absolutely zero religion in the military - no problem at all with my tax dollars paying for chaplains, services, religious items for the troops like Bibles, a religious burial, a tombstone w/ a religious symbol on it at Arlington, you name it.

The issue here is that 1) these inscriptions are counterproductive to the mission 2) not everyone is a Christian, or if they are, not necessarily one who approves of their holy book being on weaponry.

If #1 was not an issue (basically if they were using them anywhere but the Middle East or we were fighting a combat war instead of a guerrilla war/occupation) I would care quite a bit less as #2 is more opinion/personal. Then, like Andy has pointed out, it becomes a simple matter of the best tool for the job.

Lynnie - Since the beginning I have been SO glad they didn't have any Old Testament on there - it would be like every national holiday rolled into one for the terrorists if we had guns w/ "Jewish" inscriptions on them!
 

Lynnie

SoWal Insider
Apr 18, 2007
8,151
434
SoBuc
I'm not saying there should be absolutely zero religion in the military - no problem at all with my tax dollars paying for chaplains, services, religious items for the troops like Bibles, a religious burial, a tombstone w/ a religious symbol on it at Arlington, you name it.

The issue here is that 1) these inscriptions are counterproductive to the mission 2) not everyone is a Christian, or if they are, not necessarily one who approves of their holy book being on weaponry.

If #1 was not an issue (basically if they were using them anywhere but the Middle East or we were fighting a combat war instead of a guerrilla war/occupation) I would care quite a bit less as #2 is more opinion/personal. Then, like Andy has pointed out, it becomes a simple matter of the best tool for the job.

Lynnie - Since the beginning I have been SO glad they didn't have any Old Testament on there - it would be like every national holiday rolled into one for the terrorists if we had guns w/ "Jewish" inscriptions on them!

Good point: Perhaps the Muslims would have considered an Old Testament inscription to be Jewish, but for a Christian, the Holy Bible is a complete Word, inclusive of Old Testament scripture. And, the Jewish Torah is only the Pentateuch, right? There are a lot more books in the Old Testament than the first five.

And, that's all I have for this topic because I think one's theology is very personal. ;-)
 

scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,706
3,339
Sowal
Oh, I know, but since when does the truth/logic have anything to do with incendiary religious propaganda - especially in the middle east? ;-)
 

GoodWitch58

Beach Fanatic
Oct 10, 2005
4,810
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washingtonpost.com

"Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, contacted The Associated Press last week about the Scripture citations. He said he had received complaints from active-duty and retired members of the military. Weinstein said he couldn't identify them because they fear retaliation. "



I think it is important to note that it was a military group that took the concern to the news media. ABC "broke" the story, but it was a result of concern from members of the military that they had the information.
 
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Jdarg

SoWal Expert
Feb 15, 2005
18,038
1,980
Good point: Perhaps the Muslims would have considered an Old Testament inscription to be Jewish, but for a Christian, the Holy Bible is a complete Word, inclusive of Old Testament scripture. And, the Jewish Torah is only the Pentateuch, right? There are a lot more books in the Old Testament than the first five.

And, that's all I have for this topic because I think one's theology is very personal. ;-)

I wish this was on a tshirt. I'm so over the flag waving, billboard version of Christianity.
 

GoodWitch58

Beach Fanatic
Oct 10, 2005
4,810
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Contractor relents as Petraeus slams Biblical markings on rifle sights | Stars and Stripes

and directly to the point raised earlier by SB:

"There’s a reason that we put people through cultural awareness training,” Petraeus said, referring to pre-deployment training programs. “I can assure you that there is much greater sensitivity among our troops about this sort of thing than apparently there is from the contractor"


I do not disagree that the "government" should have found this before and done something about it; but, I will be willing to bet that another story could be written about the government bureaucrat who approved this contractor and the lobbyist who was involved.
 
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Gidget

Beach Fanatic
May 27, 2009
2,450
638
Blue Mtn Beach!!
Contractor relents as Petraeus slams Biblical markings on rifle sights | Stars and Stripes

and directly to the point raised earlier by SB:

"There?s a reason that we put people through cultural awareness training,? Petraeus said, referring to pre-deployment training programs. ?I can assure you that there is much greater sensitivity among our troops about this sort of thing than apparently there is from the contractor"


I do not disagree that the "government" should have found this before and done something about it; but, I will be willing to bet that another story could be written about the government bureaucrat who approved this contractor and the lobbyist who was involved.

I believe you are right about that.

G
 
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