What do these three books have in
common?
The
Holy Bible
The
Hunger Games
Fifty Shades
of Grey
If you were to have shopped last week
at Costco’s in Simi Valley, CA you
would know the answer. All three of
these books are ‘fiction’ according to the bookseller.
Pastor Caleb Kaltenbach made that
shocking discovery while he was shopping for a present for his wife. “All the Bibles were labeled as fiction,” the
pastor said.
Kaltenbach pastors the Discovery Church, a non-denominational
Christian congregation in southern California. He thought there must be some sort of mistake
so he examined the bookshelf, and found every copy of the Holy Bible with a sticker that read, ‘$14.99 Fiction.’ The pastor knew something must be amiss so he
searched for a Costco employee … hoping
for an answer. Unfortunately, he
couldn’t find anyone willing to answer his question. Since no one in the store was willing to offer
assistance, he snapped a photograph of the Bible
and tweeted it to his flock. He said, “People
are pretty shocked and upset. We are
supposed to be living in an era of tolerance, but what Costco did doesn’t seem too tolerant.” (Do you think Costco would mistakenly label the Koran as fiction? I doubt it!) Pastor Kaltenbach said, “If they don’t believe
in the Bible, that’s fine – but at least
label it as ‘religion’ as some bookstores do, or ‘inspiration’.”
So does the warehouse store that sells
laundry detergent by the gallon have a problem with the ‘Word of God’? Todd Stames of FoxNews.com called Costco
headquarters in Issaquah, WA … hoping to get answers. The nice lady who answered the phone told Stames
she was aware of the issue and chalked it up to a “human error at a warehouse.”
“It’s all fixed,” she said. But actually, it’s not fixed … because there
are Bibles in the Simi Valley store
still marked as ‘fiction.’ At that
point, the woman on the phone became not-so-nice and promptly informed Stames
that Costco doesn’t talk to the
press. “Nothing to report,” she said
curtly.
Pastor Kaltenbach said he’s not one to
speak out on such offenses to his faith, but seeing the ‘Good Book’ labeled as ‘fiction’
was a bit too much to take. “On the one
hand Christians should not yell out ‘persecution’,” he said. “We aren’t living in Iraq or Iran.”
But on the other hand, there are those
of us who believe that we do need to stand up for our faith and we need to be
vocal about our concerns. That’s a
message that resonates with pastor and author Robert Jeffress. “Let’s hope Costco’s explanation is true and not the result of having been
caught attempting to marginalize the very foundation of Christian beliefs, the Bible,” said Pastor Jeffress. “Christians need to call out organizations
like Costco whose actions undermine
Christianity – regardless of whether those actions are accidental or
intentional.” Steven Smith, of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary,
said the fiction label identifies the thinking of the labeler more than the
content of the book. “To label the Bible fiction is a practical front for
an ideological foundation that assumes things spiritual are unreal,” said Smith.
“What is odd about this choice is the
glut of books in the ‘religion and spirituality’ sections in mainstream
bookstores. However, as large as ‘spirituality’
sections are, there must not be any room for Christianity. Modern thinking on spirituality is too
exclusive to allow for the Bible.”
Of course, this entire episode may
never have gone ‘global’ had a Costco
employee in Simi Valley, CA simply answered Pastor Kaltenbach’s question.
Say, isn’t Simi Valley, CA where
President Reagan is laid to rest? Yes,
he is. Perhaps his ‘living’ neighbors
need to hear from the ‘dead’ – “Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.” (On February 3, 1983, President Ronald Reagan declared
that year as the “Year of the Bible” in America.)
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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