There’s a report out that a Michigan company has been producing rifle scopes with verses from the New Testament etched on them. Talking Points Memo discusses it here.

The company is not shy about its belief system. It confirmed to ABC that its scopes have the Biblical codes. Trijicon’s Web site even says under a section titled “Values” that, “We believe that America is great when its people are good. This goodness has been based on biblical standards throughout our history and we will strive to follow those morals.”

I suppose I will never cease to be surprised by the outrages perpetrated by the Religious Right. The verses are tiny, probably illegible, but I’m sure that among them are not Jesus’ sayings from Matthew 5: “Love your enemies…” and “If anyone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other also.” I would be thrilled if the scopes were produced with those verse printed large enough so the soldier would see them while sighting the gun.

Among the ironies, apparently the scopes have been issued to soldiers in the Iraqi army as well.

I alluded in my sermon to the current fad in some right-wing Christian circles for merchandise that sports the following: Psalm 109:8 “May his days be few;
may another seize his position.” There’s been considerable discussion in the press concerning this phenomenon. One interesting take on it comes from Frank Schaeffer. You can see it here:

A former colleague of mine at Furman, Shelly Matthews will soon be publishing a book in which she argues that the “forgiveness” prayers, beginning with Jesus’ words on the cross in the Gospel of Luke (“Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”) and continuing with Stephen’s in Acts, are interpreted in early Christianity as just the opposite.

We often hear that Christianity is a religion of peace (usually contrasting with the violence of Islam), yet the fact of the matter is that Biblical language is very violent and can easily be interpreted as Ps. 109:8 seems to be, as advocating God’s destruction of one’s enemies.

We will be hearing again from apocalyptic texts as we do every Advent. Apocalyptic is predicated on the radical opposition between good and evil and the ultimate, and usually very bloody destruction of the enemies of God.

There is another strand of the biblical tradition. It’s seen in Romans 13, the pseudo-Pauline texts, and in I-II Peter: the urge to pray for those in power, because they have been ordained by God. In the long run, that attitude is hardly more comforting than praying for the destruction of one’s enemies. But in fact it is the position that conservative Christianity maintained up until the present.

Outside a Baptist Church: “Go Packers, Beat the Vikings!” Obviously God is not on the side of the Packers.