Read This Shopping Bag

New York Times (NY): An article on the thriving U.S. retail chain Forever 21, pointed out that each of the yellow shopping bags are stamped with John 3:16. The quick fashion chain's owners Don and Jin Chang wanted to incoporate their faith into their success.

Forever21 is not the only chain to employ John 3:16. In-N-Out (a hamburger chain), Alaska Airlines (which places a Bible card on every meal tray), and Bess Eaton (an East coast coffee and donut shop) are all Bible benders.

Bible Digging

The Guardian (UK): Israeli archaeologists announced the discovery of the tomb of the biblical King Herod. Ehud Netzer, an archaeologist working on the site since the 1970s, said that although there were no bones found in the newly discovered sarcophagus, its "location and ornate appearance indicate it is Herod's."

Bible Bending on the campaign trail, in the EU, relationship advice and more:

The Trumpet (OK): The U.S. and the European Union have signed a new transatlantic economic partnership. According to The Trumpet, this is the beginning of the end:
"Believe it or not, the coming together of America and Germany is an event prophesied in your Bible—as is the outcome of this illicit relationship. Based on these prophecies, the real question is not whether Germany can rely on America, but whether America can trust Germany. The Bible says beware."

CNS News (VA): Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential candidate, invokes the story of Cain and Abel to argue that evil has and will always be a threat.

Daily News Journal (TN): State law makers in Tennessee are discussing whether or not to provide public funds to build the proposed "Bible Park USA" that is expected to bring a wave of tourism to the Shelbyville area.

Chicago Tribune (IL): Michelle Hammond has found her niche in the advice industry with her "Diva Principle"--an outlook that draws inspiration from the lives of women from the Bible. Jonathan Briggs of the Chicago Tribune reports that Hammond's approach appeals to "thousands of Christian women struggling with the nuances of dating and marriage." But what Christian woman would not be overwhelmed by the biblical demands of marriage?

Jamaica Observer (JAMAICA): In Jamaica, even though the colonists who introduced the Bible "used it to enslave us even as they raped, ravaged and ran roughshod over our African ancestors and heritage," the laws should be based on biblical morality. For this reason, steps must be taken to teach children that homosexuality is an "abomination," prevent the sexual trafficking of children, and reverse the behaviors that lead children to murder.

WorldNetDaily (OR): A review of the book "Shooting Back: The Right and Duty of Self Defense" by Charl van Wyk which makes "the biblical, Christian case for individuals to arm themselves, and be prepared to provide a defense for the innocent."

BBC (UK): Dutch creationist Johan Huibers has completed a half-size replica of Noah's ark as testament to his literal belief in the Bible.

The Bible Bending Marketplace

The Bible is king, in the marketplace of ideas and the marketplace of merchandise. In addition to enjoying a great deal of attention in social and political discourses, the Bible also boasts a venerable share of the economic market.

Publishers are finding new and creative ways to maintain the Bible's hegemony in the book market. The variety Bibles cropping up in the marketplace succeed because they have cornered new ways of packaging an old story.

B&H Publishers, for example, has a Bible for teachers, ministers, person's of poor eye sight (and really poor eye sight), graduates, brides, firefighters, and the police. The Sportsman Bible has non-reflective paper that "won't scare game" while the Golfer’s Bible features photos of golf courses and meditations by golf tour chaplains. And though B&H has a Bible for every branch of the U.S. military, The Outdoor Bible, a waterproof New Testament whose books fold like maps for easy packing, is the current favorite among U.S. troops. (The Gospel of Luke can be used as a rain shelter.)

As impressive as B&H's list is, it has a long way to catch up with Zondervan, a Bible publishing giant. Zondervan makes Bibles in all shapes, sizes, and colors--from a Backpack Bible for kids to a fury-covered picture book for preschoolers.

But what is most striking about Bible publishers such as Zondervan and B&H, is that they tailor the Bible to fit the perceived spiritual needs of narrowly defined readers. Bibles like Faithirlz!, which is designed for every girl who "wants to know she’s totally unique and special", perpetuate the idea that the Bible can fill any emotional hole.

Perhaps it is this idea--that the Bible is for all people at all times--that propels another booming sector of the Bible industry: translations.

Organizations such as Wycliffe Associates and the Bible League support efforts to translate the Bible into hundreds of the world's most recondite languages. Since many of these languages have no written form, the translating process can take decades to complete.

The BBC reported today that the Bible has now been translated into an Australian Aboriginal language. Soon natives of New Ireland and Papua New Guinea will also have their own translation and initiatives to show the deaf the gospel are being put into effect around the world.
As the Bible makes its way around the world, its words and meanings bend to carve a niche in an increasing variety of cultural imaginations. Peter Carroll, one of the translators in the Australian Aboriginal project, explains the particular kind of Bible Bending inherent in translations:

"The Gunwinggu people use a different part of the body to express emotions, and they have a word that is, broadly translated 'insides'," he said. "So to love God with all your heart was to want God with all your insides, and it was that use of the word 'insides', not the word 'heart', that established the right connection with emotions and made the translations effective."

For now, a word choice like "insides" rather than "heart" is innocuous. After all, every Bible contains its own set of linguistic choices. But it represents a new cultural twist to the Bible, one that fits the Australian Aboriginal culture. What they do with that twist, culturally and politically, may not be so innocuous.

Either way, it is all good news for the Bible Bending Watchdog: more Bibles equal more Bible Bending.

How to Throw a Bible Bending Wedding

The aroma of freshly picked honeysuckle wafts through the air, trumpets blast, and the golden glint of the sun warms the skin of the many attendants as they watch with batted breath the betrothal of radiant princess bride to her chivalrous prince charming. After an exchange of rings and fifty sheckles of silver to the father of the bride, the blushing maiden and her gallant knight kiss... for the first time.

This is a scene described not in a Nora Roberts novel, but on the homepage of Biblical Betrothal, a site dedicated to promoting the Bible's ideal wedding. Captain Bret, the site's founder, provides biblical instructions for how God intended a couple to meet and wed, and includes a step by step guide for fathers whose role it is to facilitate the courtship.

As with most Bible Benders, the quotes from the Bible are extrapolated without context or analysis. Moreover, the wisdom that Captain Bret manages to squeeze from the verses to paint a picture of the ideal courtship not only has no basis in biblical times, but has dubious basis in modern times. It is a conglomeration of the myth of 16th century chivalry and the undemonstrative marital negotiations of Victorian times. But while Captain Bret's painting is neither original or compelling, it represents two pervasive ideas within the Christian community: 1.) that marital happiness is based on the rigid control of sexual encounters, and 2.) the secular society is systematically attacking the Christian community by freeing unmarried persons of this control.

"If you have ever read the Bible, then you know that it has quite a lot to say about this process called betrothal," says Captain Bret. "Have you ever wondered why your church elders have never taught their flock about this important practice? Have you noticed how vehemently Hollywood attacks the smallest notion of parents having any part in helping their children find a mate? Other than the decision to accept Christ’s offer of betrothal, the most important decision you will ever make is whom you will marry. This is why the enemy of God has gone to so much trouble to make it difficult for you to learn how to successfully follow the biblical pattern of betrothal, even to the point of convincing the overwhelming majority of church leaders that the world’s way of finding a mate is better than God’s way" (emphasis mine).

Let the wedding season begin...

The Bible Bending Diaspora: Airports, classrooms, and movie theatres

NBC6 (FL): A gay couple is calling for an investigation of what they describe as threatening messages broadcast over the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport. While waiting for their luggage, the couple heard a voice over the intercom repeat the verse: "'A man who lies with a man as if he were lying with a woman shall be subject to death.'"
Airport officials said that any staff member could use the paging system at that early hour.

Gospel Herald (CHINA): Christians need to spend as much time hating the sins of heterosexuality as the they do hating the sins of homosexuality, according to Phil Morgan, founder of the Biblical Family Advocates. "Until we show as much hatred for our own sin in our churches and demand repentance we will continue to destroy the sanctity of marriage, even more than same-sex marriage proponents."

Christian Post: A television special will air this Sunday as part of a campaign aimed at dismantling the "rigid secularism of public schools." Coral Ridge Ministries, an evangelical Christian media franchise, has launched an effort to encourage Christian parents to ensure that their children have a biblically-based education. Part of that effort includes a petition to state governors urging them to take measures that would allow parents to receive vouchers to send their children to their school of choice. Coral Ridge recently published The Bible and the Blackboard: Biblical Solutions for Failing Schools, a pamphlet that warns:

"The secularization of America's public school system has led to disturbing consequences. Suicide, drug abuse, promiscuity, teenage pregnancies, and abortion are all linked to the morally bankrupt public education philosophy that prevails in our nation's schools."

As is often the case in discussions about the U.S. pedagogical system, Bob Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute, promotes the biblically-based system of education as American values:

"A major story the media are missing is the transformation of most public schools into indoctrination centers for a number of things anti-American content and promiscuous sexuality, including homosexuality, and this is a concerted effort . . . orchestrated by the National Education Association (the nation's largest teachers' union)."

The Japan Times (JAPAN): A review in Japan of the box office flop "The Reaping" offer this insight into why tired biblically-based horror stories are here to stay:
"Watching movies like "The Reaping," you can't help wondering why heaven-sent calamities and acts of Satanic evil always seem to befall obscure, backwater towns in the United States which, in ordinary circumstances, seem like oases of peace and camaraderie. It all has to do with box -office politics; in America, small towns are populated by fervent Christian communities and biblical stories appreciated — or so deemed by marketing statistics. Which is why stories like 'The Reaping' will always be around, a solid rock of lackluster familiarity in an ever-changing world."

Bible Bending Special: Regent University

Regent University, whose mission is " to provide exemplary education, from a biblical perspective," may be the training ground for aspiring Bible benders within the U.S. government.

The university has recently come into the media spotlight for its connection with the U.S. attorney scandal when it was revealed that Monica Goodling played a key role in engineering the firing of seven U.S. attorney generals. Until recently Goodling was a relatively unknown figure in the Justice Department, but when news of her connection to the scandal broke out, many began to ask how an inexperienced 33 year-old rose to the 3rd highest official in the U.S. Justice Department (her website alone begs questions of her qualifications). Then it was revealed that Goodling was a graduate of Regent University.

Regent was founded in 1978 by Pat Robertson, with the goal of "Change through Christian Leadership" that it appears to be achieving at a remarkable pace. As its website proudly notes, 150 former Regent graduates now serve the Bush administration and former U.S. attorney general (under President George W. Bush) John Ashcroft is among its faculty. (The Huffington Post details more Regent/White House connections.)

Robertson, founder of a number of organizations including the Christian Coalition and the Christian Broadcasting Network and host of the 700 Club, is himself a notable Bible bender. He has become famous, or infamous, for statements that often connect global tragedies to apocalyptic times.

For instance, in 1998 he warned that fires in Florida were a result of Disney World welcoming gay people. Quoting Revelations 8:7, Robertson noted:
"There was an angel who sounded,' it said, 'his trumpet and there came hail and fire' and, of course, fire is lightning 'and it was hurled down upon earth'... And that's exactly what is happening."

In 2004, Robertson told viewers of his show that the Iraq War was "a righteous cause out of the Bible." More recently, Robertson was quick to agree that the Virginia Tech massacre was a punishment from God: "We have insulted God at the highest levels of our government. Then, we say, 'Why does this happen?' It is happening because God Almighty is lifting His protection from us."

In the image of its founder, scholarship coming out of Regent University is steeped in biblical rhetoric. The Spring 2002 issue of the Regent Law Review is dedicated exclusively to the issue of homosexuality. Among other articles attacking the "all out campaign" waged by homosexuals to "normalize homosexuality," Dale M. Schowengerdt presents (PDF) a litigation strategy to oppose gay marriage, chiding Christians for not fighting hard enough to uphold the Bible's condemnation of homosexuality.

In the most recent addition of the Regent Law Review, Craig A. Stern looks at the biblical scope of civil government. He asks how far civil government should go to punish sins outlined in the Bible:
"The Bible itself teaches that civil government lacks authority to punish every sin. If the state, like all human authorities, needs a warrant for all it does, and if the biblical warrant to civil government to punish some sins and not others is to be taken as meaningful, then the absence of biblical warrant to punish must also be taken as meaningful. The silence of Scripture, the absence of authorization, is not the indication of indifference, but rather of prohibition. In matters of authority, of a grant of power, silence means no authority is given. And on the subject of the authority of civil government, the Bible does have its silences."

If it were not for Regent's startling prominence in the U.S. government, Stern's essay and others like it would hardly be notable. But the importance that the Republican Party places on Regent (two GOP presidential candidates, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, are scheduled to speak at the university in the coming months) and the high ranking government roles its graduates land, scholarship from Regent demands scrutiny. After all, Stern's essay opens with a passage from Samuel and Chronicles and then continues with an antidote from "a friend" who is "counsel to the United States Senate judiciary committee, later to become judge, and then federal government attorney." The kind of "friends" of federal attorneys who contemplate the degree that the Bible should dictate civil government are the exactly the kind of Bible benders that this blog was created for.