We’ll return to our regularly-scheduled examination of the material culture of religion following this random current-events roundup:
British Couple Charged in Religious Discussion.
“Is God Dead?” Author Indisputably Dead
Archaeologists Unearth Oldest Christian Church
Prayer Declares Independence; Incorporates As Own Religion
Muslim Punk; or, Young Evangelicals Not Only Ones Being Real
Archaeologists Have Busy Day, Also Discover Really Old Depiction of Menorah
Utah-Arizona Border Towns Offer Polygamy Tours, Breathtaking Red-Rock Scenery
The Lost Symbol; or, Keeping Up With the Masons
I&C News Brought to You By The “Levitating Word” Acrylic Lectern and The BFF Bible.
It’s a world out there, you know? I couldn’t possibly make it up . . .
September 22nd, 2009 | 4:00 am
Oh my goodness, did you have to reconstruct this entire post from scratch? This leaves us with a puzzle: was praying for patience and diligence a case of “be careful what you pray for”– or was it a case of God having you pray for those particular virtues because he knew you were about to have need of them? Sort of like when you get an unexpected check in the mail and you’re wondering how to spend it, and then the car breaks down, and the repair bill is within three dollars of the amount you received.
Wow, that acrylic lectern costs $546.25. And that’s _their_ price! I always enjoy seeing something I can’t afford, that I really don’t want. Like a hideous dress at the mall– gives me a nice gloaty feeling. I take my pleasures where I can get ‘em.
The BFF Bible . . . well, calling Jesus our Best Friend Forever is very nice, and true, but that Bible is ugly. And I think the whole idea behind it is that they get to sell two Bibles instead of one– because, as it says, you will want to get one for your self and one for your BFF, to show her how much you and Jesus love her.
Polygamy Tours run by one person who was exiled by the community and one who left: that is some revenge they are getting. Yes, you could never make this stuff up.
September 22nd, 2009 | 8:13 am
Heh, yes, you google “religion news,” and boy oh boy . . .
I’m completely irritated by this trend in “niche” Bibles, e.g. the Green Bible, which turns on the assumption that you’ve got to customize, accessorize, and relevantize poor old boring Christianity, or nobody will ever buy it.
The lectern, on the other hand, cracked me up. Why would you want a virtually invisible lectern, unless you wanted the Bible to look as if it were floating in front of the reader?
And I’m not sure exactly what happened between the rosary meditation and rewriting the post. It really wasn’t that hard: I had all the links in my history sidebar. I have had precisely that experience with the car repair and the providentially-appearing check, though, and I’m sure that that’s supposed to be iconic in some way.
September 22nd, 2009 | 10:52 am
As an ex-museum employee, I cringe when I see acrylic objects. They are dust magnets. They require constant cleaning. Any scratches are permanent. For 500+ dollars they should be self cleaning.
What could be more distracting for the faithful than smear marks floating with the floating word?
September 22nd, 2009 | 12:11 pm
Okay, so . . . the Word of God riding on the wings of a dust storm. That’s still pretty darn impressive, in its own way.
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