Bids opened Monday for a contract to supply the state Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles. According to the bid documents, vendors must meet certain specifications: Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material.

A salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education searched, and though they carry 2,900 Bibles, none fit the parameters.

But one Bible fits perfectly: Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, endorsed by former President Donald Trump and commonly referred to as the Trump Bible. They cost $60 each online, with Trump receiving fees for his endorsement.

  • LordCrom@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Isn’t it ironic that bibles sold to this agency have the documents stating there is separation of church and state included in the book?

  • bluGill@fedia.io
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    3 months ago

    Rev 22:18 NET testify to the one who hears the words of the prophecy contained in this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book

    I always object to adding anything to the bible. It is fine to want a printed constitution but it should be a separate book.

    • Nastybutler@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Look, I hate this too, but that’s not what that passage means, clearly. Addendums aren’t the same as adding new fake scripture (although since there are multiple ideologies on what books of the Bible should be cannon, who’s to say). Put your pitchfork down.

      • bluGill@fedia.io
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        3 months ago

        I know what you mean but I don’t think it is quite that clear and in this case useful to remind people of the other meanings. If nothing else to think about it even if they reject them the thinking is good.

        • Nastybutler@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          If that’s how you chose to interpret it, nearly every bible sold is guilty of it since most have indexes or other addendums

    • Blaster M@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Sacrilegous in two ways - adding to the scriptures, and promoting a religion with the state. Pick either one, both lanes lead the same direction.

  • JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    To be fair, the average readers just interpret the word as is convenient to their own ends, so…

    • bluGill@fedia.io
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      3 months ago

      Sure along with ever other translation I can find. I prefer the geneva translation but that is hard to find so I often end up with the king james when I need a printed copy. for those not familar, the good parts of king james is where they took the geneva and updated to modern english - this should tell you something about my tastes.

        • Optional@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          In Ye Olden Tymes, people learned to read with it, to much the same effect.

          Very clever, Christians.

    • milkisklim@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      It’s public domain so they don’t have to pay for the copyright of a modern translation.

    • 1024_Kibibytes@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      Some denominations do believe that only the KJV is the correct English translation. Many of those people do not understand what the words actually mean. They interpret the text very narrowly and frequently are told by others what interpretation is correct.

      • ArtVandelay@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        “If the King James version was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me”.

        I live in the shithole south, and I have heard this unironically on multiple occasions. Please send help. And education.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Which the whole symbolism of the temple veil being torn when Jesus carked on the cross was meant to mean there was no need for anyone (the clergy) to do that or to intercede.

      • kyle@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        That’s insane, because the KJV is objectively a bad translation. I’m not even Christian anymore and it still annoys me how popular it is.

  • TooManyFoods@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    With the 3 million they would save buying the cheaper bibles(something they shouldn’t be doing either) they could wash a lot of men’s feet. They could be teaching all these students how to fish. That is their job after all.

  • dgmib@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Who tf wrote those requirements?

    It seems pretty clear to me that they intended the Trump Bible to be the only one that fit all the specifications.

    • carbonari_sandwich@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      While it’s obviously weird to want the bill of rights and declaration of independence in your Bible; let me just say, if your goal is to convert kids to Christianity, the KJV bible is just completely opaque to children that don’t normally read 17th century literature.

      • Clasm@ttrpg.network
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        3 months ago

        At the rate these political hacks are going, students won’t be able to parse modern text.

      • emeralddawn45@discuss.tchncs.de
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        3 months ago

        They want it to be opaque, that lends it an air of mystery and importance, and then when the preacher drills contradictory information into their heads theyre less likely to question it or look it up themselves because if the church says god hates gays or poors or immigrants it must be in that big scary book somewhere.

  • AmidFuror@fedia.io
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    3 months ago

    Why would any school want a Bible that doesn’t also have the Declaration and Constitution? It’s a perfectly logical requirement, and it’s not Trump’s fault so few others are making them.

  • AA5B@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Yep, that’s when you start with the answer you want, then set “general” requirements that only it can meet

  • Rob@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Why are they putting bibles in classrooms in the first place? Did they repeal the First Amendment?

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      The first amendment doesn’t apply to Christian evangelism.

      According to SCOTUS at any rate.

    • the_crotch@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      The Bible is really important for understanding western society and it’s history. It has a place in the classroom.

      I’m sure that was not the motivation behind that law but it’s true.

      • hr_@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        You’re not wrong but, thankfully, studying history and teaching the impact of things doesn’t require the things to physically be in the room.

      • Entropywins@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        There are history books that can contextually bring our students up to speed on what religious texts drove certain events/societies.

      • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        It might fit into history if it hadn’t been changed and edited, sections omitted, additions made, for the entire time it existed. It was only the printing press that allowed us to have true copies for the masses.

        It surely has a place in history, but not for psychology or sociology. In my opinion there is some value educationally but its very limited. There are even denominations that exclude books or add them, so it depends which religion you consider to be the “main” one.

        To have a truly nuanced class about it, would have to be in college I would think.

        • the_crotch@sh.itjust.works
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          3 months ago

          It has a place in history because the last thousand years of Western civilization have been directly influenced by it

          • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
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            3 months ago

            I just don’t know how much you could go into it in grade school. They tend to leave out the bad stuff the US does until you go to college.

    • kyle@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      Apparently, the State Superintendent gets to decide what gets taught in classrooms, and how it gets taught is left up to individual school districts. But it’s fully within his right because no “commentary” is allowed around the Bible, just how important it was to America’s history.

      Why that requires a physical copy that’s leather bound, I have no idea. Nor why the money has to come from the fucking payroll budget.

      Oklahoma is ranked 49th in education, yet this is what we’re spending money on? Seriously?