Bible Sales are Rising While Number of Christians is Falling


There was a news item in the Christian press that Bible sales are rising. There is speculation in the article as to why this has happened in recent years.

One explanation offered up is the clever new designs and skilled marketing. Another is that people are troubled and looking for purpose. In the Bible, this pundit said, is "purpose."

The article does not present data on how many Bibles are purchased in bulk by religious organizations and handed out free. These Bibles given out free have nothing to do with "finding purpose in life." The Giddeons gave out free New Testaments of the streets of the University where I taught and the trash bins a few hundred feet away were crammed with them.

Whatever the reason Bible sales have increased it has not been reflected in increased numbers of Christian and Jews. It makes me suspicious of the claim people find purpose in their lives by reading the Bible.

Since I cannot understand anymore the appeal of gods and religions, it is logical I cannot understand why people are buying Bibles. A few minutes ago I finished reading a long article in most recent New Yorker by a woman who moved to this country from Korea when she was a child. She married an Orthodox Jewish man and became more and more fascinated by Judaism. Her husband lost interest in the Orthodox rules but she was drawn into them. They divorced but she persisted in the faith and wrote about all the hurdles she successfully crossed to become an Orthodox Jew. I kept reading her article hoping to understand why she did this. What was the point? I never learned the answer. I know religious people do not, in turn, understand how we atheists can resist the "word."

Part of the article about Bible sales said Christians are encouraged to see all the Bible as a force for "good." This includes, I'm sure, God drowning millions of innocent people the Noah flood story. Claiming that event is a force for good is the ultimate in marketing con.


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...
Read more

Who Suffers from a "Hardened Heart"

Image
Some years ago on this blog there was a discussion about what the Bible calls "The hardened heart." The "hardened heart" was the explanation given for why people like me cannot accept the tenets of Christianity. We are unable to believe there are floating spirits and gods or imaginary places people go when the die. Now, a prominent Christian preacher and author has given us a way to diagnose the "hardened heart." It contained some surprises.  Rev. John Piper, who spoke about the hardened heart, said we can see this in a person who lacks "ordinary tenderness and compassion." He went on to describe the characteristics of a person without the affliction of the hardened heart. A healthy person displays empathy and sympathy. Those with the hardened heart are like stone. Jesus wanted compassion for the poor. The hardened heart discussion referred to atheists only if they are sinners and then it was indirectly. Sin, Piper said, hardens one's heart a...
Read more

Young Women can see Bull$hit a Mile Away

Image
Republicans including their Forced Birth subgroup is bother by recent election results and polling. All show young women going to the left. A poll shows young women are 30% more likely to be very liberal than young men. The link advises the Forced Birth community to give young pregnant women an uplifting message. The message suggested is, "Buck up. You've got this. You can give birth and have a happy life." Another way of saying this is, "It will be OK if you miss work and/or are fired because of the birth. If you cannot make your rent payment, it's OK. Somewhere out there is another place to live. We don't know where but be optimistic."   This is an add on to the new version of the Forced Birth message, "We're for both the baby and the mother." They are not and never have been for the mother. Their message has always been to condemn women who have abortions. Now, the "thoughts and prayers" message, which costs no money, it the me...
Read more