Cross-posted from Fluff-n-Stuff
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A few days ago, I opened my morning paper to a surprise news item
crowing about a plan to distribute free ‘Pittsburghized’ New Testaments
to over 250,000 subscribers. Now, I am well used to eating my morning
cereal from the little sample boxes that I pick up with my newspaper,
or using the free samples of Advil and Aleve for particularly trying
news days. I could surely have done with some of the latter for the
headache this gushing news induced in me:
Tears
spring to Suzonne Smith’s eyes when she talks about her effort to
distribute Pittsburgh-themed New Testaments to Allegheny County
residents.
"It’s our hope that God’s word will transform and
change lives and the whole city will be impacted," said the Sewickley
resident, who with her husband, Tom, is co-chair of CityReachers
Pittsburgh.
If all goes according to plan, on Sept. 7 when
Allegheny County subscribers to the Post-Gazette unwrap their Sunday
paper, they will find a New Testament in an advertising pouch like
those used for sample soaps or cereals.
Tears
spring to my eyes too, when I think of the massive amounts of trash
likely to be generated by this effort. By their own account, they
expect reverential treatment of the free Bibles by about 36,000 people.
This means the paper and ink spent on printing about 214,000 are wasted
( translating to $418,000 in printing costs and another $100,000 or so
in delivery costs.) My, my, these people have about half a million
dollars to waste on trying to bring salvation to a grand total of maybe
14% of the target population. Hallelujah!
( And I just must borrow Hillary Clinton’s lines here, they are too apt not to use : "the sky will open, the light will come down. Celestial choirs will be singing" …. and the world will become a happier place for all the people receiving the bible with their morning paper and coffee.)
Now
if we could just see similar outreaches putting a mini-Koran or
mini-Torah or mini-Geeta in everybody’s daily paper, we could
simultaneously deforest all the Canadian pine forests and hasten the
Apocalypse or Qayamat or the end of Kaliyuga or whatever you wish to
call your version of the end-times!
Accidental Blogger 
2 responses to “Morning Newspaper, Coffee… and a Bible? (Sujatha)”
man does not live by bread alone:-)
seriously, we cannot afford to be such rational creatures.
i however, i share your anxiety about trees turning up in the form of holy books, ushering in the end of days!
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Well, so long as they don’t attempt to use them for target practice, a la Quran in Iraq, I’m sure it will pass with just minimal comment, as this Pittsburgher wrote in a local paper:
Randi Morgan writes in the Post Gazette:
PG proselytizing
I find your plans to distribute copies of the New Testament troublesome (“Plan to Hand Out 250,000 Bibles: Group Wants to Put Them in Sunday Papers,” May 11). This is the kind of proselytizing that will anger some of your subscribers, annoy others (as they put it in the trash or recycling bin), and please only the choir to whom it preaches.
Will you also distribute the teachings of Hinduism, the teachings of Buddhism or how about the Quran?
I can’t help but wonder what real good could be done with the money that will be spent on Bible distribution — say quake victims in China, Iraq veterans, starving people?”
She has a point there!
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