Everything from detergent to DVDs are packaged with the Sunday newspaper. So why not Bibles? A Christian ministry aims to deliver New Testaments to newspaper subscribers around the country as part of an effort to find innovative ways to spread its Christian message. But to its surprise some Christians have joined non-believers in objecting.
The Associated Press reports :
The Colorado-based International Bible Society-Send the Light is planning on spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to distribute Bibles with 11 newspapers during 2007 and 2008. New Testaments would be packaged in pouches on the outside of newspapers, much like soap or other sample products.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram announced in May it would deliver more than 200,000 New Testaments the last Sunday of the year. David House, the newspaper’s reader advocate, said he received about 70 e-mails split between backers and those opposed to packaging the scriptures with newspapers.
… Some of the outcry has come from one of the least likely sources – Christians. Bob Ray Sanders, the Star-Telegram’s vice president and associate editor, said some worried that the Bibles tossed on the lawn with the newspaper would be thrown away because most people already own a Bible.