Ways to Not Help the World

1) Provide the U.S. military with Jesus Rifles:

Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.

The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. The maker of the sights, Trijicon, has a $660 million multi-year contract to provide up to 800,000 sights to the Marine Corps, and additional contracts to provide sights to the U.S. Army.

Yep… not a holy war at all…

2) Send Bibles — solar-powered audible Bibles — to Haiti:

Called the “Proclaimer,” the audio Bible delivers “digital quality” and is designed for “poor and illiterate people”, the Faith Comes By Hearing group said.

With tens of thousands of Port-au-Prince residents living outdoors because their homes have collapsed or they fear aftershocks from last week’s quake, the audio Bible can bring them “hope and comfort that comes from knowing God has not forgotten them through this tragedy”, the group said.

They don’t need books. They don’t need false hope. They need food and water and medical supplies and shelter and (tangible) protection.

3) Donate your tongue to God so you can have a baby:

A childless Indian man sliced off his tongue as an offering to the god Shiva in the hope of becoming a father.

Police said 28-year-old Mukesh Kumar chopped off his tongue with a razor blade at a temple in the state of Uttar Pradesh dedicated to the Hindu god.

Another reason to teach comprehensive sex education…

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Dan Covill

Let’s see — $660 million for 800k sights works out to something like $825 per sight. Are these rifles made of gold or platinum?
Pareidolius

I’ll bet they have 3:16 stamped on them, just like the bottome of the soda cups at In’n’out Burger.
.-= Pareidolius´s last blog ..If headlines matched court artist’s renderings . . . =-.
Brielle

Well, I guess I won’t ever eat at In ‘n’ Out Burger. Thanks for pointing that out. We’ve made it a general policy to not do business with shops owned by Mormons, for example.
hoverfrog

The tongue is a great sex aid. That man is a fool.
.-= hoverfrog´s last blog ..Death List 2010 =-.
Richard Wade

The “Proclaimer” has a good-sized solar cell on the back and a crank-operated dynamo to charge a built-in rechargeable battery. I couldn’t find a unit cost, but that has to be pretty pricey. I wonder how many bottles of water, or packages of MRE food, or cots or tents or antibiotics one could provide for the same amount of money.

But I’m just an atheist. I just want to get food and water to the hungry and thirsty, rather than nourish their souls at the expense of their stomachs. I want to get them out of the cold rather than tell them stories while they shiver. I want to stop the bleeding before praying over the body.

I guess I have my priorities upside down, huh?

From the linked article:

According to their website, the Proclaimer is “self-powered and can play the Bible in the jungle, desert or … even on the moon!”

The moon. Hmmm. Interesting idea. About as useful there as in Haiti.
Baconsbud

Richard I was thinking the same think. I figure they have to run 15 or 20 each if not easily more. I don’t know but if I had just lost everything, I think that some water, food, and shelter would give me much more comfort then some audio bible. Why didn’t they just send someone to read the bible out loud for them? I figure it would have been much cheaper and while he/she wasn’t reading it, he/she could be helping to make life easier.
David McNerney

I read in the newspaper yesterday that someone in Haiti said that the government had failed them, and the UN had failed them, so they are going to pray.

While I have the greatest sympathy for those people, and if praying helps just to bring some mental peace, go for it – but when the government and the UN turns up with food and medicine, I imagine that prayer will be given the credit.
.-= David McNerney´s last blog ..Gay Celebrity Death Match =-.
GribbletheMunchkin

Even on the moon? Of course with no atmosphere you wouldn’t be able to hear it.

Any way, scaried than the gun sight story is the comments on that story, what the hell is wrong with some people.

And the company seems to have a huge irony shaped hole in its self view. Its based on a firm moral world view it gets from the bible. And what does it make? Gun sights.

Remember, if a man strikes you on the cheek, get some distance and put a bullet through his skull. Praise Jesus.
TychaBrahe

What good will an audible Bible do for people whose native languages are French and Creole?
codemenkey

What good will an audible Bible do for people whose native languages are French and Creole?

it will assist the illiterate population in giving praise to an old jewish zombie, whose native language was aramaic, in a twice-translated english; i mean, duh!
NewEnglandBob

I have this urgent need to purge after reading about the military bullshit.
Jason

Dan Covill:
These are high-end ACOG scopes. $850 is plenty reasonable. I’m pretty bummed that you’d get first post and waste it on something as inane and ignorant as that.
Vas

Hey anyone want a good scare… go read the comments on the link to the Jesus rifle article, wow just wow. The sad thing is that these appear to be top notch equipment and the company that makes them is more concerned with spreading the word of god than the possibility that their product may be disallowed because of their religiously motivated actions. Imagine if they are disallowed or recalled because of this blunder, then American troops are left without needed equipment or are forced to make due with a less effective product all because some company thinks it’s important to spread the good news even if it may mean that these scopes may have to be pulled from service. This is so irresponsible it boggles the mind. By doing this they could actually be putting troops in harms way. Again go read the comments on this story replete with no atheists in foxholes rubbish and vitriolic rants against all non theists and subscribers to non christian faiths. OMG!
Twin-Skies

@Vas

To be fair, I doubt the troops on the ground will really care whatever is inscripted on the equipment they’re issued with, so long as it works reliably.

That aside, I am reminded of my favorite biblical passage, Book of Armaments, 2: 9-21
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOrgLj9lOwk)

And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, “O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.” And the Lord did grin. And the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths, and carp and anchovies, and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit-bats…
muggle

A certain phrase by Robert Ingersol comes to mind…

But, “God” forbid, they put any emphasis on hands that help.

Once again, I’m disgusted at the selfishness of religion.
DisGRUNTled

@ Twin-Skies

Actually we do care, we find it insulting.
As for inferior equipment, iron sights are hardly inferior and any competent shooter can shoot just as well with the iron sights as they can with an ACOG\RCO.
Twin-Skies

@DisGRUNTled

My bad. I didn’t mean any offense.
Jon

Thanks for your spirited dialog about the solar powered audio Bibles. We agree that food, water, medical supplies, doctors, nurses, etc., are first priority.

These are NOT displacing ANY essential aid to these people who have suffered so much.

Besides, these audio Bibles are still in the states enroute to dozens of relief groups who have called ASKING for them. The Haitians have been preyed upon for a long-time by those interested in exploiting their natural resources and impoverishing their people.

We believe the people of Haiti are that nation’s most precious resource and we desire to empower them with the Scriptures (in which they believe) in a format they can use. Roughly half the nation is unable to read, so giving them the Bible in a format they can use–audio, is completely reasonable.

Our organization has been working with the Haitians since 1986, providing them free audio Scriptures in their own language.

The dumb moon comment was someone making mention that they didn’t require electricity to play. That was a stupid bullet point on the website, thanks for letting me know. We took it off.
Mariano

Am I understanding this correctly?
For the past few years atheists worldwide have literally wasted enormous amounts of money during times of recession, war and poverty not in helping anyone in any material need but in order to purchase bus ads and billboards attempting to demonstrated just how clever they consider themselves to be; and now they want to become the charity police—please!