A Catholic Bishop Wants to Send Every College Freshman a Bible


This Bishop's ploy illustrates how far leaders in the faith are missing the mark. To think this ancient writing with what modern thinking finds are absurd stories and conclusions converts people is a good indication of a losing cause.

There is one thing worth noting in the story about sending out all these Bibles. The Bishop notes that by the age of 20 only 20% of young people hold onto the faith. This number of 20% was quoted by a prominent young preacher in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. If one is speculating on the future of the faith this provides a window.

Taking 20% for about three generations brings the numbers in nearly all denominations down to 20% of their current numbers. Most denominations have been bleeding numbers for several years. The 20% applies to the current size, not the larger size of the 1970's.

For example, the Missouri Synod now claims about 1.8 million members. In a few decades it will be 360,000 or about half the size of today's small Evangelical Covenant Church. The latter has been growing but I don't see how it can escape the downturn.

We all know the Giddeons have been putting Bibles in hotel rooms for maybe a century. In spite of all those Bibles the Bible reading and Christian identifying public has been shrinking. Do the Bishop not read these well-known statistics? As an aside, I've notices some hotel rooms no longer have the Bibles.

I've been on the campus when the Giddeons were passing out Bibles to students walking by. The next trash can was full of them. I always wondered if the Giddeons fished out the Bibles and gave them out somewhere else.

I would guess the Giddeons and the Bishop still attract quite a bit of money. Plenty of people will send money to a lost cause so long as it pushes the right emotional button. The Bible pushes these buttons.

Local food pantries always need money and have good records of honesty. I'd suggest money spent on Bibles that end up in the trash could be better donated there.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more