See His Banners Go

An American arms manufacturer called Trijicon has been stamping references to verses from the New Testament into its gun sights. This has raised concerns among the New Zealand military that the use of weapons so decorated may cause Muslims to believe that NATO is engaged in a religious crusade rather than a resources grab, and Trijicon has duly agreed to leave the proselytising to the "In God We Trust" motto which decorates certain other holy artifacts. The British Ministry for War and the Colonies said it was unaware of the Biblical references; which may well be true, even assuming any of the sights it purchased have found their way to the troops rather than sitting in someone's car waiting to be stolen. The most sensible response is perhaps that of the Church of England, whose nominal leader recently referred to the war against the infidels as having something to do with healing, building and justice. The Church said that the presence of Biblical references on weapons undermined the military effort, presumably by distracting the soldiers with apocalyptic boasts about what will happen when Daddy comes marching home. This is certainly more credible than the converse claim which I was expecting, that association with military violence undermines the Saviour's message of eternal damnation for everyone but an ignorant, infantile and lachrymose minority of Jews.