(no subject)
Dec. 19th, 2006 01:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theweaselkingThe New Yorker tells me that the crazies have gotten even crazier.
The popularization of the Bible entered a new phase in 2003, when Thomas Nelson created the BibleZine. Wayne Hastings described a meeting in which a young editor, who had conducted numerous focus groups and online surveys, presented the idea. “She brought in a variety of teen-girl magazines and threw them out on the table,” he recalled. “And then she threw a black bonded-leather Bible on the table and said, ‘Which would you rather read if you were sixteen years old?’ ” The result was “Revolve,” a New Testament that looked indistinguishable from a glossy girls’ magazine. The 2007 edition features cover lines like “Guys Speak Their Minds” and “Do U Rush to Crush?” Inside, the Gospels are surrounded by quizzes, photos of beaming teen-agers, and sidebars offering Bible-themed beauty secrets:They scare me.Have you ever had a white stain appear underneath the arms of your favorite dark blouse? Don’t freak out. You can quickly give deodorant spots the boot. Just grab a spare toothbrush, dampen with a little water and liquid soap, and gently scrub until the stain fades away. As you wash away the stain, praise God for cleansing us from all the wrong things we have done. (1 John 1:9)“Revolve” was immediately popular with teen-agers. “They weren’t embarrassed anymore,” Hastings said. “They could carry it around school, and nobody was going to ask them what in the world it is.” Nelson quickly followed up with other titles, including “Refuel,” for boys; “Blossom,” for tweens; “Real,” for the “vibrant urban crowd” (it comes bundled with a CD of Christian rap); and “Divine Health,” which has notes by the author of the best-selling diet book “What Would Jesus Eat?” To date, Nelson has sold well over a million BibleZines.
The success of the BibleZine was all the more notable for occurring in a commercial field already crowded with products and with savvy marketing ideas. This year’s annual trade show of the Christian Booksellers’ Association, in Denver, brought such innovations as “The Outdoor Bible,” printed on indestructible plastic sheets that fold up like maps, and “The Story,” which features selections from the Bible arranged in chronological order, like a novel. There is a “Men of Integrity” Bible and a “Woman, Thou Art Loosed!” Bible. For kids, there’s “The Super Heroes Bible: The Quest for Good Over Evil” and “Psalty’s Kids Bible,” featuring “Psalty, the famous singing songbook.” The “Soul Surfer Bible” has notes by Bethany Hamilton, who lost an arm to a shark in 2003. “2:52 Boys Bible: The Ultimate Manual” promises “gross and gory Bible stuff.” In the “Rainbow Study Bible,” each verse is color-coded by theme. “The Promise Bible” prints every one of God’s promises in boldface. And “The Personal Promise Bible” is custom-printed with the owner’s name (“The LORD is Daniel’s shepherd”), home town (“Woe to you, Brooklyn! Woe to you, New York!”), and spouse’s name (“Gina’s two breasts are like two fawns”).
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-19 07:19 pm (UTC)You may be amused to know that today someone on ScienceBlogs proposed leaving copies of The Origin of Species in hotel rooms.
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Date: 2006-12-19 07:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-19 07:57 pm (UTC)I hadn't known of the others, nor realized how hilarious-scary they were, though.
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Date: 2006-12-19 09:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-19 09:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-21 01:48 am (UTC)Freakin' hi-larious.
How pertinent.
Date: 2006-12-19 09:18 pm (UTC)Re: How pertinent.
Date: 2006-12-20 04:39 am (UTC)Re: How pertinent.
Date: 2006-12-20 01:57 pm (UTC)Re: How pertinent.
Date: 2006-12-20 03:12 pm (UTC)Re: How pertinent.
Date: 2006-12-20 03:22 pm (UTC)Re: How pertinent.
Date: 2006-12-20 10:27 pm (UTC)(I already get that you're assuming that fundamentalist values are the same thing as the health code commandments from Leviticus, so no need to go over that again.)
Re: How pertinent.
Date: 2006-12-23 05:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-20 12:00 am (UTC)Christians want their kids to be interested in the Bible!
Slow news day, Johnny?
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-20 12:38 am (UTC)And yes, creepy people spreading propaganda bothers me, whether it's about the Galactic Warlord Xenu, Yggdrasil, PETA, or Patient Zero In The Bethlehem Zombie Epidemic, and so I make it a point to find out when they've retooled to try a new brainwashing tactic.
Sorry if this is a duplicate, e-mail just got wiggy
Date: 2006-12-20 03:38 am (UTC)Anyhow, I think I can do you one better here: "Happy Holidays" (http://www1.americangreetings.com/display.pd?Searchstr=three%20wise%20camels&path=31871&bfrom=1&prodnum=3094053&st=t)
Just remember that somebody got paid to do that.
Re: Sorry if this is a duplicate, e-mail just got wiggy
Date: 2006-12-20 10:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-20 05:14 am (UTC)America really is a spiritual heir of the Iron Age world, not the Bronze Age. The fear and revulsion for homosexuality is a good example. In the Bronze Age, ritual homosexuality was part of the Temples' services. Can you imagine this happen in American synagogues or churches? I don't think so. Ritual weddings complete with ritual wedding nights each spring? I don't see it happen. On the other hand I can easily imagine priests blessing the soldiers and their weapons and depicting the ancient father-god as the god of the nation which will bring glory to their army and death to their enemies. This is not a particular of Judaism: The same would have happened if the Vikings had succeeded in colonizing America. One nation under Odin!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-20 06:29 am (UTC)...
<3 the bronze age! <3 minoan snake goddesses!
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Date: 2006-12-20 08:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-20 11:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-20 02:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-20 03:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-20 10:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-20 08:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-20 09:19 am (UTC)It would be a brilliant idea if it was sold at cost. There should be a choice of children's reading that doesn't advocate stuff that goes against the christian ideals. I read mags as a kid, and I sure as hell don't want my 13 yr old to know how to give a great blowjob or how to take drugs at minimal risk.
The idea is sound, but I don't like the way they throw verses everywhere. The example given was a little creepy. It would mean that kids are absorbing the exact doctrine of the writer rather than what Mum and Dad are teaching.
I wish people would stop Christian bashing. They have a right to their beliefs the same as everyone else.
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Date: 2006-12-20 01:57 pm (UTC)I am Christian, but the American fundies provide me with much amusement.
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Date: 2006-12-20 02:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-20 10:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-21 02:44 am (UTC)I just want the perfect world yeah?
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Date: 2006-12-21 04:15 am (UTC)For what it's worth, I think equally badly of most religions. Of some of them, I think worse.
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Date: 2006-12-22 06:42 am (UTC)I would like to think that we are free to follow our chosen religion, but unless it's a socially acceptable.... Reverse bigotry I guess. Tall poppies and all that.
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Date: 2006-12-21 08:24 am (UTC)I also want a perfect world. A world with lots and lots of mockery and snark, where the people who can't deal with it just shut up.
No, I'm not a nice person. But since I don't live in the Norwegian town that mandated cheerfulness, I don't have to be.
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Date: 2006-12-21 12:50 pm (UTC)Tell me more of this seemingly hilarious place!
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Date: 2006-12-21 12:59 pm (UTC)As you may or may not know, Swedish jokes are often about our stupid neighbours the Norwegians. (And vice versa.) So, when the Norse do dumb things, it's reported in Swedish news under human interest, as "Norwegian joke come true". This was one of those articles, some ten or so years ago.
A Norwegian town council had decided on an ordinance, that required everyone to be cheerful (or perhaps happy). The mayor commented with "We believe it's unhealthy to see pouty faces all day. Smile, and you'll make everyone else happy, too." I think there was a fine for being grouchy.
I have no idea how the social experiment turned out, but it struck a nerve in the angry teenager I used to be.
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Date: 2006-12-20 01:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-20 01:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-20 10:40 pm (UTC)As is the quoted article.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-21 02:35 am (UTC)Those sort of people need to step back and look at themselves.
Mind you, I've also campaigned for emo rights, and we all know that they don't deserve it.... *goes into hiding*
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Date: 2006-12-21 02:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-21 08:28 am (UTC)If you're so emo, just slit your wrists already.
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Date: 2006-12-22 07:22 am (UTC)Did my using the word emo offend you? Does it make you want to change me? I was, if you cared to read, being lightly offensive to the breed, and lay no claim to being one. Nor have I claimed to be christian.
Christianity is such a minority where I am. To admit being one is to invite ridicule and people forcing their own religions upon you. My observations are obviously taken from a society quite different from yours. There's no point to continuing this because we are probably both right for our different regions.
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Date: 2006-12-22 07:37 am (UTC)You say you fight for emo rights. Emo people have all the rights everyone else has, and it doesn't include a right not to be mocked.
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Date: 2006-12-25 06:43 am (UTC)The statistics of my country has nothing to do with the people that I personally meet. Emos have all the rights of everyone else except that they get targeted for violence as well as mocking.
I'm used to talking to people who do understand my surroundings, have been to Australia and get my points. I should never have entered this thread, but I didn't know that everything was so different there.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-22 07:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-21 03:19 am (UTC)However, when I read this:
As you wash away the stain, praise God for cleansing us from all the wrong things we have done. (1 John 1:9)
it made me want to point and laugh at the nearest Christian. I'm a bad person.