Bibles in newspapers

I noticed this:

Everything from detergent to computer discs is packaged with the Sunday newspaper. So why not Bibles?

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.

But not everyone is happy with the move:

“Do you have any idea how blatantly offensive this boneheaded move is to the thinking public?” a Fort Worth reader wrote in one of several letters to the editor on the topic.

Oh, come now. They’re just trying to share their beliefs. And grow their market share. Any business would do the same.

The project leader can’t imagine what the fuss is about.

“It’s disappointing that anyone would object to getting a Bible, which is the best read book in the whole world and has been for hundreds of years. They have the right to do with it what they want to,” he said. “Do they object to getting a bag of Quaker oatmeal or Tide detergent or an AOL disc?”

Except that those other things are demonstrably useful. Well, not the AOL disc.

But this advertising gimmick rests on a couple of bad assumptions.

Assumption 1: There just aren’t enough Bibles around.

In reality, almost everyone either has a Bible or could easily get one if they wanted one. There’s no shortage, and there’s certainly no reason to go packaging them in the morning paper.

Assumption 2: A good way to get someone to become a Christian is to have them read the Bible.

In my experience as a missionary, almost no one joins a church because they read the book and think it’s true. Not all by itself. How many people already had a copy of the Book of Mormon? Tons. Our work would have been much easier if that were all it took. Instead, we had to arrange hours of teaching appointments, get them to meet people in the church, have them make commitments to start doing churchy things, and generally massage them into being Mormons. It was exhausting. You couldn’t just fling scriptures around and expect to have people walk in the door. Not surprisingly, people were most receptive when they had a family member or close friend that was already in the church. That was a shortcut because then it wasn’t just about the book, it was about the relationship. Communal reinforcement and personal investment did the rest.

So I don’t expect Bibles in newspapers to lead to conversions. But I’m not offended by the campaign. In fact, I find it rather appropriate that religion is being flogged like soap or oatmeal. It’s a commodity, after all, and one that relies on need creation and brand loyalty, just like anything else.