Bids opened Monday for a contract to supply the state Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles. According to the bid documents, vendors must meet certain specifications: Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material.
A salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education searched, and though they carry 2,900 Bibles, none fit the parameters.
But one Bible fits perfectly: Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, endorsed by former President Donald Trump and commonly referred to as the Trump Bible. They cost $60 each online, with Trump receiving fees for his endorsement.
if that doesnt convince you that religion is made up on the spot for conniving convenience, nothing will
Religion is the multi-tool, always there to back you up no matter what.
Who tf wrote those requirements?
It seems pretty clear to me that they intended the Trump Bible to be the only one that fit all the specifications.
While it’s obviously weird to want the bill of rights and declaration of independence in your Bible; let me just say, if your goal is to convert kids to Christianity, the KJV bible is just completely opaque to children that don’t normally read 17th century literature.
At the rate these political hacks are going, students won’t be able to parse modern text.
They want it to be opaque, that lends it an air of mystery and importance, and then when the preacher drills contradictory information into their heads theyre less likely to question it or look it up themselves because if the church says god hates gays or poors or immigrants it must be in that big scary book somewhere.
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That is pretty messed up.
people still read the KJV?
and like, not as some sort of masochistic snoodery?
Some denominations do believe that only the KJV is the correct English translation. Many of those people do not understand what the words actually mean. They interpret the text very narrowly and frequently are told by others what interpretation is correct.
Which the whole symbolism of the temple veil being torn when Jesus carked on the cross was meant to mean there was no need for anyone (the clergy) to do that or to intercede.
See also: Jesus chasing away salesmen in the temple, because they used god to peddle shit to people.
also that part where god snuffed a guy because he was an asshole. I kinda wish he’d go back to doing that. (well. maybe not. I get the feeling my definition of ‘asshole’ and their god’s definition are different.)
I’ve had plenty of asshole moments. Let’s hold off on that one.
like seriously, though, god totally tolerated the existence of all sorts of down right awful people. what kind of asshole do you have to be… to get “fuck you in particular” kind of attention?
He probably slept with his wife. Gods hate that shit.
He pissed on his rug.
They also don’t know that King James was gay. And it pleases me to inform them.
That’s insane, because the KJV is objectively a bad translation. I’m not even Christian anymore and it still annoys me how popular it is.
“If the King James version was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me”.
I live in the shithole south, and I have heard this unironically on multiple occasions. Please send help. And education.
KJV people are always around. Thee thy and thou.
It’s what I had to memorize as a kid so it’s embedded in my brain.
In Ye Olden Tymes, people learned to read with it, to much the same effect.
Very clever, Christians.
It’s public domain so they don’t have to pay for the copyright of a modern translation.
American Standard, Young’s Literal Translation, are both out of copyright as well. Both of which are more readable than the KJV and frequently offer more insight into historical and cultural context without… fudging things for political interests…
Pretty clear they wrote the requirement to fit some recently hacked up version as opposed to the one hacked up by king james.
The article states they hacked it up 2900 times at least before this one. 30k different Christian sects in the U.S. last I knew
I’m sure its more than that. The really perverse thing about that is all the people that are super sure their particular flavor is right and everyone else is wrong. Its the old thing about what is a cult and what is a religion? A cult is a small unpopular religion and a religion is a large popular cult.
So… do Catholic Schools have to use this King James Bible?
Because that’s going to be fun.
Public schools i believe
Catholics have their own Bible.
Exactly.
For fuck’s sake in ten years we’re going to hear kids tell us the Constitution was given to us by Jesus.
There will be no Constitution
Oh no. It’s an important point of legitimacy to have one. It won’t be worth a damn though.
Wasn’t it George W. Bush that said, “… it’s just a god damn piece of paper?”
I’m sure he wasn’t the first. (Yeah I’m looking at you Andrew Jackson, we haven’t forgotten.)
Yep, that’s when you start with the answer you want, then set “general” requirements that only it can meet
Is there a term for a society that has all the wealth, technology, industrial knowledge, and manpower readily at hand to be a utopia and despite that, leans hard into dystopia?
Leech.
Thats the word for a country that turns worldwide suffering into cash.
Capitalism
Murika
Civilization
Idiocracy
This is the perfect job for the satanic temple.
The bible, complete with all American founders documents : brought to you by satan.
Any company that sells bibles should sue the state for uncompetitive processes. This is illegal
I so want them to do this. Big ol baphomet right on the cover, and put the TST tenets on the first page. If they undercut the Trump bible aren’t they kind of obligated to go with the cheaper option?
Why are they putting bibles in classrooms in the first place? Did they repeal the First Amendment?
The first amendment doesn’t apply to Christian evangelism.
According to SCOTUS at any rate.
The Bible is really important for understanding western society and it’s history. It has a place in the classroom.
I’m sure that was not the motivation behind that law but it’s true.
You’re not wrong but, thankfully, studying history and teaching the impact of things doesn’t require the things to physically be in the room.
It might fit into history if it hadn’t been changed and edited, sections omitted, additions made, for the entire time it existed. It was only the printing press that allowed us to have true copies for the masses.
It surely has a place in history, but not for psychology or sociology. In my opinion there is some value educationally but its very limited. There are even denominations that exclude books or add them, so it depends which religion you consider to be the “main” one.
To have a truly nuanced class about it, would have to be in college I would think.
It has a place in history because the last thousand years of Western civilization have been directly influenced by it
There are history books that can contextually bring our students up to speed on what religious texts drove certain events/societies.
Apparently, the State Superintendent gets to decide what gets taught in classrooms, and how it gets taught is left up to individual school districts. But it’s fully within his right because no “commentary” is allowed around the Bible, just how important it was to America’s history.
Why that requires a physical copy that’s leather bound, I have no idea. Nor why the money has to come from the fucking payroll budget.
Oklahoma is ranked 49th in education, yet this is what we’re spending money on? Seriously?
I’m certain they take 49th with equal amounts salt and pride, as that means theres still a few states left to beat.
But they are top five in propaganda training!
They’re really gunning for 50th.
I’m sure jeebus had a thing or two to say about marketplaces of thieves and swindlers.
“It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers.” -Matthew 21:13
To be clear, I don’t believe in fairy tales, but they clearly don’t either.
I like to read the biblical texts as texts you have to interpret. Basically like fairytales and fables are in versions that aren’t from the brothers Grimm and especially Disney - they often were used to carry points that wouldn’t have been tolerated by authority if they hadn’t been covered like that, or simply to tell about some aspects of life.
When reading it like this the Bible is an extremely interesting book, and I’m saying that as an atheist.
Its more interesting once you find out how many things were changed over the years. The why it was changed is the most curious part. Was it a tired scribe who skipped a passage, completely omitting it? Was it intentionally rewritten by someone to “clarify” its intent?
There are some good papers and presentations recorded online if you are interested.
As a christian, that’s how I like to read it too.
Fables if u will
To be fair, the average readers just interpret the word as is convenient to their own ends, so…
Trump, cashing in on licensing. Like the $100K watches, where proceeds don’t quite go to funding his campaign. They money goes pretty much directly to his pocket. He loves the poorly educated!
