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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.

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[-] LordCrom@lemmy.world 11 points 8 hours ago

Isn't it ironic that bibles sold to this agency have the documents stating there is separation of church and state included in the book?

[-] jzzvid@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 7 hours ago

OH WOW! That's such a weird coincidence! Imagine the odds of that! /s

Of course they did. The thing is the way the law is written violates the Constitution by promoting an ideologically-loaded, outdated translation of the Bible used by more socially extreme groups.

  • NRSV(UE) is the gold standard nowadays.
  • Leather cover? Why? What's the point?
  • The Founding Documents to the United States do not belong in a Bible. Not everything has to be tarnished with crass "Patriotic" grift.
  • Just the Bill of Rights? The Amendments to the Constitution are legally part of the Constitution. What are they not included? Is there something in those Amendments they don't feel is appropriate?
  • This Bible has consistent poor reviews on Youtube. A number of Bible collectors, theologians, pastors, etc have panned this book for being cheaply and poorly made. It has poor print quality, it's pages stick together, are thin, and rip easy.

It should be obvious to anyone this is an ideological grift and it is criminal graft too. These criminals need to be thrown in prison for this.

[-] dgmib@lemmy.world 23 points 10 hours 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 2 points 8 hours 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 2 points 7 hours ago

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

[-] KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 9 hours ago

you mean to tell me the requirement isn't "be a bible" ???

Did a con artist promote it for money? If so-✅

[-] NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 8 points 9 hours ago

Wait, I thought these guys were against indoctrinating children or whatever?

[-] MouseKeyboard@ttrpg.network 9 points 9 hours ago

They're against anyone else indoctrinating children.

[-] MehBlah@lemmy.world 9 points 10 hours ago

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

[-] MehBlah@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours 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 30 points 13 hours ago

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

[-] Sightline@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

There will be no Constitution

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago

Oh no. It's an important point of legitimacy to have one. It won't be worth a damn though.

[-] Professorozone@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago

Wasn't it George W. Bush that said, "... it's just a god damn piece of paper?"

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago

I'm sure he wasn't the first. (Yeah I'm looking at you Andrew Jackson, we haven't forgotten.)

[-] AA5B@lemmy.world 26 points 15 hours ago

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

[-] fsr1967@lemmy.world 51 points 19 hours ago

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

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 14 points 13 hours ago

The first amendment doesn't apply to Christian evangelism.

According to SCOTUS at any rate.

[-] kyle@lemm.ee 30 points 15 hours 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?

[-] Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 hours ago

I'm certain they take 49th with equal amounts salt and pride, as that means theres still a few states left to beat.

[-] Ultraviolet@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

They're really gunning for 50th.

[-] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 4 points 15 hours ago

But they are top five in propaganda training!

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[-] seth@lemmy.world 29 points 19 hours 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?

[-] DrunkEngineer@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago
[-] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 3 points 8 hours ago
[-] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 2 points 13 hours ago
[-] prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works 7 points 18 hours ago

Civilization

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[-] pseudo@jlai.lu 54 points 22 hours ago

Bible [...] must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights

I'm sorry? Why would people mixed (modern) political text to their religious ones? Aren't people buying bibles suppose to care about their religion?

[-] Dearth@lemmy.world 12 points 14 hours ago

By making those requirements they are making sure money is diverted from teacher's paychecks an into Trump's pockers

[-] Draedron@lemmy.dbzer0.com 33 points 21 hours ago

The goal is to abolish separation between church and state bit by bit.

[-] edgesmash@lemmy.world 13 points 15 hours ago

Pretty sure the goal here is to funnel more money to Trump.

[-] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 4 points 10 hours ago

Why not both?

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[-] fox2263@lemmy.world 21 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

They catered the criteria so only a single company fit the bill

[-] JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world 35 points 21 hours ago

I'm sure jeebus had a thing or two to say about marketplaces of thieves and swindlers.

[-] ArtVandelay@lemmy.world 18 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours 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.

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[-] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 37 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

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

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[-] cultsuperstar@lemmy.world 19 points 22 hours 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!

[-] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago
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this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2024
505 points (98.1% liked)

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