Besides the fact that references from a religious text are being placed onto items that are being used to kill thousands of people, and the interesting questions that raises, it seems that religion is being used in similar ways as it was during the Crusades. The only difference seems to come with the change in thought of current times versus the time of the Crusades, and the political correctness and the strive for levels of racial and religious tolerance in today's society. The Marine Corps can't back up the weapons manufacturer itself, but many people involved openly express their support, even ranking officers. It's interesting that even after a thousand years we still seem to love the same, old arguments, even over the ones that are actually at hand.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
"Crusading" Without the Title
Lately on the news I've seen reports of bible verse references being incribed on the sides of the gun sights being used by U.S. Marines in Iraq. In the reports Marine Corps spokespersons continued to deny any pervious knowledge to the references, but what I witnessed when watching several reports was that certain Marines found comfort in the inscriptions and were glad they were there. In the report on ABC News' website a Major in the Marine Corps even backs up the placement of the inscriptions, using the fact that 'In God We Trust' is on the back of our currency. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/secret-bible-verses-guns-marines-concerned/story?id=9602030
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I believe that the Marine Corps use bible verses on their equipment as a sort of declaration of their faith, or as a prayer requesting God's protection in time of war. You're right in saying that the mentality has changed since the Crusades, since the purpose for the Iraq war (as far as we are told) does not boil down to a religious conflict. However, I think these biblical inscriptions placed on weapons used in Iraq are appreciated by the Marines because they provide a sense of inner strength, and not because they are killing in the name of God.
ReplyDeleteNow if the Marines had gear with Deus Vult on the side id be really impressed.
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness though an allegedly secular nation should not have religious inscriptions on its state provided equipment. If soldiers want to write their own incriptions as talismains or whatever then thats something different.
While it may seem a bit strange, the presence of biblical verses and psalms in violent settings are not very uncommon. Many professional fighters and athletes have biblical tattoos on their bodies, sometimes even on their fists. A substantial number of enlisted personell, in all military branches, are devout Christians and given the fact that the Marine Corps is almost certainly the most gung ho branch, I'm not surprised some have psalms on their sights.
ReplyDeleteThey are probably meant to be more gung ho than anything, really; physical signs of a warrior mentality are widely encouraged within the ranks. Little things like verses of smiting can raise morale a bit and relieve the tension of being in a combat zone halfway across the world.
Well frankly I don't see the big deal, these references are so small (hidden in the serial numbers) that they cannot be seen unless they are studied intently. I also feel that seeing as the insurgents we are fighting do not speak English or understand Christian theology, they would not find the hidden message. Even being a Christian myself, I could not recognize the biblical reference, until the news clip pointed it out to me. I feel that we need not worry and if this is a real problem, all that is necessary is to remove them from future sights.
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