Weird or what

Warrigal

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As a Christian I really object to this.
Please note that I didn't call it an assault rifle. No need to enter any discussion about what kind of gun it really is.

This is one of the symbols of the Knights Templar

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and Psalm 144:1 reads "Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle."

I really, really object to this company appropriating this image and the scriptures to profit from anti Islamic sentiment. What's to stop one of these guns, sold in America to Americans, from being used "to kill innocent people or advance their radical agenda" against the police or in support of some racial or religious agenda? IMO, this is all about maximising sales and it is appalingly unethical.

Gun maker hopes Christian engravings will keep assault rifles out of Muslim hands

Wed 16 Sep 2015

Photo:
The Crusader assault rifle from Spike's Tactical in engraved with a psalm from the Bible. (spikestactical.com)

An arms maker in Florida is engraving Christian symbols on its assault rifles, in a marketing ploy denounced by a Muslim group as fomenting "hatred, division and violence".

The Crusader assault rifle is inscribed with the cross of the Knights Templar, a religious order that fought in the Crusades, and a psalm from the Bible — features that its maker, Spike's Tactical, says are intended to keep the weapons out of Muslim hands.

Assault rifle.JPG

Photo: Psalm 144, verse 1 is inscribed on the gun.


"We wanted to make sure we built a weapon that would never be able to be used by Muslim terrorists to kill innocent people or advance their radical agenda," company spokesman Ben Thomas said. The Christian symbols would prevent the guns from being shipped to the Middle East, he said, claiming the rifles had been a hit with the company's customers.

"We sold out of rifles in the first 72 hours and there's a backlog of several weeks," he said, declining to say how many had sold.

The Florida branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement decrying "this manufacturer's fancy new gun".

"This is just another shameful marketing ploy intended to profit from the promotion of hatred, division, and violence," it said.

Mr Thomas, asserting he was not a bigot, insisted: "If they think the word of Jesus Christ causes hatred, they don't understand Jesus Christ."
AFP

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-16/gun-maker-markets-christian-assault-rifles/6779362
 

Without having read everything here carefully, which I will certainly do before I offer any future post, but for what I have read so far, I'm thinking marketing is a huge part...if not entirely of this idea.

That much is obvious, to me at least....but I'll reserve comment on whether there's anything else to this that is not contrived purely to make money.
 
As a total non-believer, I object to it too. Talk about inflammatory! The irony of Mr Thomas' final quote is beyond belief.
We have enough trouble with the conflict being the US vs Muslim extremists. Do we really want to make it an outright holy war?
I know we part company on the topic, but another example of the "Us vs Them" thinking that's the source of so much hate.
 

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Anything to make a buck ya know? The other day I was browsing magazines. I read a bit of everything form The Economist down to the scandal sheets. There was one of those gun lover mags. It was just incredible, the bigger the gun the more press. Probably a wish list for Christmas...it was pure weapon porn. Repeal the second amendment, otherwise I just shake my head.
 
As a Christian I really object to this.
Please note that I didn't call it an assault rifle. No need to enter any discussion about what kind of gun it really is.

This is one of the symbols of the Knights Templar

5280.jpg

and Psalm 144:1 reads "Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle."

I really, really object to this company appropriating this image and the scriptures to profit from anti Islamic sentiment. What's to stop one of these guns, sold in America to Americans, from being used "to kill innocent people or advance their radical agenda" against the police or in support of some racial or religious agenda? IMO, this is all about maximising sales and it is appalingly unethical.


What a hoot! I can't believe this bozo says that 'people who don't like the verse/weapon...just don't understand Jesus Christ'. Seems to me that Mr. Thomas totally doesn't understand the entire New Testament.
 
Bad acid flashbacks???? Are you outing yourself Shalimar? But I'm in complete agreement with you because it does seem to be getting worse and worse on some, well many levels doesn't it? We're always reminded that we must not forget (the Holocaust for example) or we're doomed to repeat history. Well we're not forgetting and we're still repeating history, over and over and over....... What is the problem? Slow learners or simply a totally predatory species and we want what we want no matter who suffers?
 
Debby, yes there was a time in my twenties when I enjoyed hallucinogens. Had a few flashbacks from Windowpane back in the day. But, as usual, I was reaching for satire. Yes I believe we are a predatory species, but that is not all we are. Lost in the headlines of violence and despair, are acts of bravery, kindness, love and creativity beyond measure. We seem to be creatures of extremes. However we are a young species, toddlers really, evolutionarily speaking with much potential. Sadly these toddlers have the capacity for mass destruction. Hopefully we grow up, before we blow up, literally and figuratively.
 
This gun with a biblical scripture seems to me to be yet another effort to slam the Bible as hateful and violent in a twisted translation to serve the agenda of evil-doers.

The Psalms are prayers and praises from the Old Testament, not the New Testament (after Jesus was born). Guns were not used then. Psalm 144:1 is specifically David's praise for receiving not just strength but also the skill to use it because strength alone is more deadly than knowing how to use it. David spent much of his time in camps and conflicts.

In the New Testament and for today, it's practical meaning is also to praise God for strength and a training for how to use that strength….BUT, unlike David's own application in his day, some today who are tormented with rheumatism might pray, "Praise God, my comforter, who teaches my knees to bear in patience and my feet to endure in resignation". Others may pray, "Thank you God for teaching my eyes to see wounded souls, and my lips to cheer them".
 
This gun with a biblical scripture seems to me to be yet another effort to slam the Bible as hateful and violent in a twisted translation to serve the agenda of evil-doers.

The Psalms are prayers and praises from the Old Testament, not the New Testament (after Jesus was born). Guns were not used then. Psalm 144:1 is specifically David's praise for receiving not just strength but also the skill to use it because strength alone is more deadly than knowing how to use it. David spent much of his time in camps and conflicts.

In the New Testament and for today, it's practical meaning is also to praise God for strength and a training for how to use that strength….BUT, unlike David's own application in his day, some today who are tormented with rheumatism might pray, "Praise God, my comforter, who teaches my knees to bear in patience and my feet to endure in resignation". Others may pray, "Thank you God for teaching my eyes to see wounded souls, and my lips to cheer them".

I don't think its meant to slam Christianity, Lara. I think its a "clever" marketing ploy to appeal to a way too large segment of Christian zealots, and gun nuts, mostly Fundamentalists. They are out there, with warped views and easily tapped wallets.

I appreciate your version of Christianity. Still the majority view I think, and hope. Good Christians do make the world a better place.
 
Debby, yes there was a time in my twenties when I enjoyed hallucinogens. Had a few flashbacks from Windowpane back in the day. But, as usual, I was reaching for satire. Yes I believe we are a predatory species, but that is not all we are. Lost in the headlines of violence and despair, are acts of bravery, kindness, love and creativity beyond measure. We seem to be creatures of extremes. However we are a young species, toddlers really, evolutionarily speaking with much potential. Sadly these toddlers have the capacity for mass destruction. Hopefully we grow up, before we blow up, literally and figuratively.


Well there you are proof that 'dabbling' doesn't turn you into a babbling nutcase! I guess between your story and Obama's 'history' and Will Shakespeare's pot pipes in the backyard, one would wonder where the rumours of 'lost lives' comes from?

But to your other points, all well made I think and particularly the last one.
 
I don't think its meant to slam Christianity, Lara. I think its a "clever" marketing ploy to appeal to a way too large segment of Christian zealots, and gun nuts, mostly Fundamentalists. They are out there, with warped views and easily tapped wallets.

I appreciate your version of Christianity. Still the majority view I think, and hope. Good Christians do make the world a better place.


Not only to appeal to Christian men but to dissuade Islamic terrorists from picking up a sacrilegious gun. I would think that to use a gun that's marked like that would be seen symbolically, to be an affront to Islam or something like that.

I think you could say that 'good people make the world a better place' and that includes Christians, Moslems, Buddhists, atheists, Hindu's, Jews, etc. There are good people in every group and every group has it's share of stinkers.
 
Not only to appeal to Christian men but to dissuade Islamic terrorists from picking up a sacrilegious gun. I would think that to use a gun that's marked like that would be seen symbolically, to be an affront to Islam or something like that.

That brings up an interesting point ...

If there were, say, a door-to-door battle here in the States, and a Muslim soldier's gun jammed, and he had to make a choice between fighting unarmed or picking up a gun with a Christian verse on it, would he really make the "wrong" choice? I know it depends upon the depth of his beliefs, but still, that survival instinct ...
 
Had a few flashbacks from Windowpane back in the day.

Off topic but there was this little bodega in the village, Dancing Bear under the counter, toadly awesome!!!!! For those of you who stayed on the straight and narrow, there was microdot and windowpane that were a fairly mild dose. You might see the aliens and elephants dancing together. The stronger versions might make you think the elephants would crush you.
 
Not only to appeal to Christian men but to dissuade Islamic terrorists from picking up a sacrilegious gun. I would think that to use a gun that's marked like that would be seen symbolically, to be an affront to Islam or something like that.

I think you could say that 'good people make the world a better place' and that includes Christians, Moslems, Buddhists, atheists, Hindu's, Jews, etc. There are good people in every group and every group has it's share of stinkers.

If they could over paint the Christian symbols in the Hagia Sophia, I think a little black spray paint solves their problem.

I agree. I think that most people are good, as we usually interpret the word, regardless of group. I referenced "good Christians" to acknowledge to Lara, that I separate the majority from the crazies we are talking about.
 
I would think the Bible verse thing would make all but hardcore "come to Jesus with a gun" firearm owners very uncomfortable.
Seems geared toward fringe elements.
 


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