The Wal-Mart Bible Letter (Part One)
A friend of mine forwarded a copy of the "Wal-Mart Bible Letter" to me, suggesting that I comment on some of the charges it makes against God's Word. The letter is addressed to Lee Scott, President and CEO of Wal-Mart, and requests that the Holy Bible be removed from Wal-Mart's shelves because of its "obscene nature." The letter claims to have been written to address numerous passages in the Bible that are "repulsive, stridently offensive and/or illegal."
As of today the letter bears the signatures of 2,308 skeptics (up 136 signatures from the previous day). It will continue to accrue new signatures until November 1, when it is scheduled to be officially sent to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Over the next several days I will weigh in on the charges made against the Bible in the "Wal-Mart Bible Letter." Five accusations are articulated in the letter as grounds for banning God's Word from the bookshelves.
But before I get into the specific charges, a critical question must be posed to the authors of the letter in question. By what standard do they judge the Bible to be offensive? They quote a dictionary, which defines "obscene" in this way:
- offensive to morality or decency; indecent; depraved.
- causing uncontrolled sexual desire.
- abominable; disgusting; repulsive.
If it is the authors' opinion that the Bible is "obscene" according to the last definition, who cares? Just because they find the book to be personally disgusting, that doesn't mean it should be removed from distribution. No one in his right mind would say it is "obscene" in the sense of the second definition. That leaves us with the charge that the Bible is "offensive to morality." Where do these skeptics get their concept of morality? In their letter they allege that the Bible condones murder and inequality. Where do they get the idea that these practices should be defined in terms of evil?
Without the Bible, man has no moral ground to stand on. That is why it remains a bestseller and why Wal-Mart wants to continue to sell it. If the Bible really encouraged things like slavery and oppression, it would have been cast on the trash heap of public opinion a century ago. This letter presents a hopeless contradiction, for it attacks God's Word by using the very principles it establishes.
In the coming days I will address the five charges the letter aims at the Bible. All of my readers are encouraged to add their input to this controversy. This is just another attack that will soon be forgotten. But it reminds Christian people of the need to be ready to defend the truth in an age of sin and deceit (1 Pet. 3:15).
