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.

  • Sam_Bass@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    if that doesnt convince you that religion is made up on the spot for conniving convenience, nothing will

  • dgmib@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    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.

    • carbonari_sandwich@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      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.

      • Clasm@ttrpg.network
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        1 month ago

        At the rate these political hacks are going, students won’t be able to parse modern text.

      • emeralddawn45@discuss.tchncs.de
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        27 days ago

        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.

    • 1024_Kibibytes@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      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.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        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.

      • kyle@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        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.

      • ArtVandelay@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        “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.

    • milkisklim@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      It’s public domain so they don’t have to pay for the copyright of a modern translation.

  • MehBlah@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Pretty clear they wrote the requirement to fit some recently hacked up version as opposed to the one hacked up by king james.

      • MehBlah@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        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.

  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    For fuck’s sake in ten years we’re going to hear kids tell us the Constitution was given to us by Jesus.

  • AA5B@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Yep, that’s when you start with the answer you want, then set “general” requirements that only it can meet

  • seth@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    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?

  • masterofn001@lemmy.ca
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    1 month ago

    This is the perfect job for the satanic temple.

    The bible, complete with all American founders documents : brought to you by satan.

    • eodur@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      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?

  • Rob@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Why are they putting bibles in classrooms in the first place? Did they repeal the First Amendment?

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      The first amendment doesn’t apply to Christian evangelism.

      According to SCOTUS at any rate.

    • the_crotch@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      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.

      • hr_@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        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.

      • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        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.

        • the_crotch@sh.itjust.works
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          28 days ago

          It has a place in history because the last thousand years of Western civilization have been directly influenced by it

      • Entropywins@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        There are history books that can contextually bring our students up to speed on what religious texts drove certain events/societies.

    • kyle@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      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?

    • ArtVandelay@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      “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.

      • pumpkinseedoil@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        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.

        • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
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          1 month ago

          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.

  • cultsuperstar@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    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!