A company in Michigan who builds rifle sights for the US military is drawing attention for including references to Bible verses in their serial numbers. Unsurprisingly, some people have problems with this, citing issues of church vs. state separation and the poor image presented by US (and, apparently UK) troops using weapons inscribed with Christian “symbols” against forces that are predominantly Muslim.

I can understand the complaints (especially the image problem – the whole “religious crusade” view of the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan isn’t something we ought to be encouraging), but in the scheme of things, this thing doesn’t seem like something worth arguing about, because, really, arguing about it simply draws attention to it.

Really, it’s a couple of characters at the end of a serial number. It’s the equivalent of a little private joke wedged into a piece of software by the developers to let the curious know they were there. There exists a long tradition of doing exactly this sort of thing, and there always has been. Such signatures don’t affect form, fit, and function, and most non-obsessive users will never notice they’re there.

Sure, in this case, there’s a religious angle, so it gets everybody wrankled. Certainly, it was probably wasn’t the smartest idea for the company to carry this affectation over to the military product line, simply because if it was found, it would draw exactly this kind of controversy and possibly put lucrative government contracts at risk. But it’s not like they stuck an obvious giant neon crucifix on it. It’s tacky, sure, but probably not illegal. I doubt the government contract included a clause specifying how the serial number should be expressed. Meh.

Anyway, my curiousity got to me, and I looked up one of the verses cited in the miniscule text on these devices, John 8:12:

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

A mostly bog-standard evangelistic verse that those sort of Christians are fond of using; move along, nothing to see here. But think of it this way: suppose the gunsight in question is (and I’m not sure it is) a high-powered night vision scope? All of a sudden, this little easter egg becomes, in its own awkward and possibly blasphemous way, sort of cool, doesn’t it?

Maybe, if I were going to give the company that kind of credit. Having dealt with a lot of these small business military contractors in my time, I’m not necessarily inclined to go with this theory, at least solely. I’ve seen similar kinds of prostelytizing on official company stationery; I’m pretty sure their intent was to attempt some sort unorthodox witnessing technique, not an obscure bit of cleverness.

On the whole, though, this doesn’t really matter. It’s like all the plumbers around here with similar verses painted on the back of their vans: if he’s good, I’m still going to hire him to do the job unless he spends the whole time preaching to me about eternal damnation while he turns the wrench. If the scopes work well for the guys in the field, and let them do their jobs more safely and effectively, I’m willing to let a few millimeter-high characters slide.

Besides, we all know the real question here is what the plus to attack and damage rolls for this item is, and whether there’s a restriction that limits its use to divine classes.