You may have heard about the new GOD BLESS THE USA BIBLE, which is being endorsed and plugged by a former President of the USA.
I have to say that despite the extremely destructive Christian nationalism underpinning the idea (or, well, more accurately it’s probably cynical capitalism using Christian nationalism as a sales tool), I find the product itself pretty entertaining.
From the FAQ on the Bible’s website:
I mean, come on. That’s comedy gold. Excuse, me, President Trump, do you endorse the Bible? “I only endorse one Bible, and that’s the GOD BLESS THE USA BIBLE.” President Biden should get out there and just start endorsing all the Bibles he can find. It would put President Trump in a real pickle.
The King James Version wasn’t even translated by Americans. It’s one of the least American translations possible. And the KJV is in the public domain if you’re in the United States, but in the UK it’s definitely still the property of the crown. That’s right, the GOD BLESS THE USA BIBLE is in the translation owned by King Charles. (In other weird news, one can’t perform some Shakespeare plays in the UK without the King’s permission, because it quotes the KJV!)
Uhhhhh guys, I’m starting to think maybe people should not buy this Bible.
But don’t worry! If you want an egregiously decorated patriotic King James Bible with tons of articles about how the Bible talks about America a lot (which, let’s be honest, the GOD BLESS THE USA BIBLE did NOT put in that kind of work), then you can still find something you’ll enjoy!
LOVING DISAGREEMENT giveaway
on Goodreads!
GoodReads is running a giveaway for LOVING DISAGREEMENT through this weekend!
There’s a great review of LOVING DISAGREEMENT that just came out this week over at Asian American Christian Collaborative.
If you don’t want to wait and see if you’re going to win a copy, you can always order at Hearts and Minds Bookstore or Amazon or wherever you like to buy books!
I was briefly in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey this week, and I completely failed to take pics with the many awesome friends and family I saw along the way.
I went with my sister and brother-in-law to watch CINDERELLA at Allie’s college (she did all the choreography! It was amazing!).
I hung out with my friends Clay and Jen in NYC, Cedric and Sarah in New Jersey, and then taught a two day conference about storytelling with some Cru staff, which was super fun. And my buddy Alex Shvartsman showed up for a bit to talk about story over dinner!
Naomi Kanakia shares about great books
This week on the Fascinating Podcast we welcome Naomi Kanakia to talk about Great Books and why the people at the “top” are miserable. She’s an interesting person with interesting things to say. I think you’ll like her.
Nothing makes me quite as happy as seeing people reading THE CRESCENT STONE during their vacation. Thanks to whistlingmeadowranch for sharing this pic!
King Bruce, architecture critic
You can’t really tell in this picture, but Bruce is aggressively chewing on the side of his hutch while I have the roof open so I can clean it. It was like he was trying to eat the house as quickly as he could. What does it mean?! I have no idea.
Listen, unless your name is Hansel or Gretel, you shouldn’t eat any houses this week.
Peace to you!
Matt
You forgot to mention where the site claims that God Bless The USA is "America’s most recognized patriotic anthem."
Um... pretty sure that would be The Star Spangled Banner...
If you have a Washington Post account, you might enjoy
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/28/trump-bible-sale-satire/