Popular firearm optics company Trijicon came under heat in 2010 for inscribing Bible verses on optics issued to both consumers and the United States military. In the Trijicon forum, the question was asked: Does Trijicon inscribe Biblical references on its consumer products? The reply from the optics team is as follows:
Yes, Trijicon places a small Biblical reference on the products we sell. It is a tradition started by our founder, and we continue it as a reflection of our company values. Although Trijicon has now offered to remove these references for military issued products, we will continue to inscribe our consumer products with Biblical references.
One popular optic used by the military is the ACOG 4×32, which has John 8:12 inscribed on it, which states: “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.”” After soldiers in the military started to notice these inscriptions, there were complaints and Trijicon removed the inscriptions from the military’s optics, but continue to keep the inscriptions on consumer optics.
This is a very good example of redemptive entrepreneurship, and even though the military no longer keeps the inscriptions, Trijicon makes it a priority to keep consumer optics with the inscription. Every optic has a different Bible verse, and much like In-N-Out’s hidden verse strategy, it is Scripture hiding in plain sight. Trijicon chose to keep true to their values even in times of hardship, and the Lord has blessed this business with success.
I have also faced backlash in the workplace for sharing and showing my faith, and that experience raised many ethical questions about when and in what ways sharing my faith is appropriate. Sharing our faith will not always be easy, but we do need to be careful that we are not crossing boundaries in a way that is counterproductive to loving our neighbors and being good witnesses of the gospel.
I really liked that they have kept to tradition. Bible versus have such a huge significance and it says a lot about the verse they chose. I think it should be okay to have inscriptions on their products. It is not like it is a new thing they just started. They have kept true to themselves and what the founder has always done. Like if you don’t like it then go somewhere else if it is really an issue. I understand the business trying to pivot bits here and there to keep sales and customers but these customers knew from the start the values and beliefs of this company. They are public about it and don’t hide it. I really enjoyed this blog post and feel like it will be an eye opener to people!