ABC News reported yesterday that 800,000 rifle sights that will be provided to the U.S. Marine Corps will have coded references to New Testament Bible passages. The inscriptions include references to Second Corinthians of the New Testament and to the books of Revelation. Citations Trijicon, a Michigan-based company, is providing the sights under a $660 million multi-year contract.

Spokespeople for the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps said their services weren’t aware of the markings, and that officials are figuring out what steps to take now that the issue has been brought to light. Given Trijicon’s values statement, however, the revelation shouldn’t be too much of a shock. According to their website, “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.” In addition, the group dismissed concerns about the coded sights by saying the issue was being raised by a group that is “not Christian.”

But not only should those who embrace non-Biblical values be worried about these coded sights. If our military has any appearance of waging a religious war in the Middle East, it’s dangerous to all of us and a threat to our mission to stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan—particularly considering Iraqi soldiers are being trained by our military with rifles that are outfitted with these sights. As Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation says, “It allows the Mujahedeen, the Taliban, al Qaeda and the insurrectionists and jihadists to claim they’re being shot by Jesus rifles,” and will play into the hands of “those who are calling this a Crusade.”