Rupert Murdoch makes scandals & Bibles, apparently
Jul 21, 2011 2:02:29 GMT -5
Post by shann0 on Jul 21, 2011 2:02:29 GMT -5
Not only that, but he publishes tons of pornography and also educational materials for public schools. 
blog.chron.com/believeitornot/2011/07/rupert-murdoch-makes-scandals-and-bibles-apparently/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+delicious%2Fgqlf+%28Christian+Headlines+Top+Headlines%29
Rupert Murdoch makes scandals… and Bibles, apparently
A Christian blogger suggests that Murdoch-owned Zondervan publishing should address ethical questions raised by the recent scandal. (KRT)
The world’s biggest Bible publisher, Zondervan, is owned by Harper Collins Publishers, which is owned by News Corp., which is owned by none other than Rupert Murdoch. The phone-tapping scandals at Murdoch’s News of the World have the potential to shake up publications across his empire, including the evangelical Zondervan.
Based in Grand Rapids, Mich., the company publishes Bibles, devotionals and Christian bestsellers, including The Purpose Driven Life and Stuff Christians Like. Though people are more likely to affiliate Murdoch with the Wall Street Journal than the NIV Bible, the leadership of this media tycoon may have an effect on Christian employees at Zondervan, Christian authors whose books they publish and Christian customers who buy their products.
Will Braun highlighted the Murdoch-Zondervan connection in a blog entry for Geez magazine that was republished on Huffington Post Religion. He interviewed Shane Claiborne, author of Zondervan top-sellers Jesus for President and The Irresistible Revolution.
“The current issues … in England raise all kinds of ethical questions,” Claiborne said, “and I would hope that a company whose mission is explicitly Christian, as Zondervan’s is, would take the opportunity to bear witness and to speak into the culture which is so terribly fallen.”
Update: Zondervan issued a statement through spokeswoman Tara Powers, saying, “This does not present an ethical dilemma for Zondervan as we will continue to operate with autonomy as we always have.”
“We are fortunate to have strong and positive relationships with our authors. They know who Zondervan is and how we operate and we have not heard of serious concerns from authors. While we are obviously aware of the matter at hand, it does not distract or detract from our work at hand and we will continue to pursue our mission and operate as we have for the past 80 years,” she said.
In its mission statement, Zondervan identifies as a Christian company committed to glorifying Jesus Christ and promoting biblical principles through its publications.
Braun, in his blog, is concerned with the Christian publisher’s affiliation with a “cleavage-saturated tabloid,” but the scandal is just part of a bigger business problem. He also discusses Bible profiteering, asking, “What are we to make of the fact that every time we buy a Zondervan product we contribute to Murdoch’s mogul-dom, which includes a personal fortune that Forbes pegged at $6.3 billion last year”?
He says:
We do not need to accept this arrangement. Christianity does not need to be about the best and biggest deal, and we can trust that the Good News does not require the help of an unscrupulous empire. Part of me would love to see some readers, writers and retailers engage in some respectful, humble, Gandhian non-participation with respect to the big Bible business. But it seems unbecoming to advocate a boycott of a company that publishes the books of a respected friend. It seems unbecoming to boycott the Bible in any way at all. Alas, I too feel conflicted.
Few media have picked up on this story, though USA Today’s Faith and Reason also featured Braun’s sentiments in a post entitled, “Did you buy your Bible from Rupert Murdoch?”
blog.chron.com/believeitornot/2011/07/rupert-murdoch-makes-scandals-and-bibles-apparently/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+delicious%2Fgqlf+%28Christian+Headlines+Top+Headlines%29
2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
Rupert Murdoch makes scandals… and Bibles, apparently
A Christian blogger suggests that Murdoch-owned Zondervan publishing should address ethical questions raised by the recent scandal. (KRT)
The world’s biggest Bible publisher, Zondervan, is owned by Harper Collins Publishers, which is owned by News Corp., which is owned by none other than Rupert Murdoch. The phone-tapping scandals at Murdoch’s News of the World have the potential to shake up publications across his empire, including the evangelical Zondervan.
Based in Grand Rapids, Mich., the company publishes Bibles, devotionals and Christian bestsellers, including The Purpose Driven Life and Stuff Christians Like. Though people are more likely to affiliate Murdoch with the Wall Street Journal than the NIV Bible, the leadership of this media tycoon may have an effect on Christian employees at Zondervan, Christian authors whose books they publish and Christian customers who buy their products.
Will Braun highlighted the Murdoch-Zondervan connection in a blog entry for Geez magazine that was republished on Huffington Post Religion. He interviewed Shane Claiborne, author of Zondervan top-sellers Jesus for President and The Irresistible Revolution.
“The current issues … in England raise all kinds of ethical questions,” Claiborne said, “and I would hope that a company whose mission is explicitly Christian, as Zondervan’s is, would take the opportunity to bear witness and to speak into the culture which is so terribly fallen.”
Update: Zondervan issued a statement through spokeswoman Tara Powers, saying, “This does not present an ethical dilemma for Zondervan as we will continue to operate with autonomy as we always have.”
“We are fortunate to have strong and positive relationships with our authors. They know who Zondervan is and how we operate and we have not heard of serious concerns from authors. While we are obviously aware of the matter at hand, it does not distract or detract from our work at hand and we will continue to pursue our mission and operate as we have for the past 80 years,” she said.
In its mission statement, Zondervan identifies as a Christian company committed to glorifying Jesus Christ and promoting biblical principles through its publications.
Braun, in his blog, is concerned with the Christian publisher’s affiliation with a “cleavage-saturated tabloid,” but the scandal is just part of a bigger business problem. He also discusses Bible profiteering, asking, “What are we to make of the fact that every time we buy a Zondervan product we contribute to Murdoch’s mogul-dom, which includes a personal fortune that Forbes pegged at $6.3 billion last year”?
He says:
We do not need to accept this arrangement. Christianity does not need to be about the best and biggest deal, and we can trust that the Good News does not require the help of an unscrupulous empire. Part of me would love to see some readers, writers and retailers engage in some respectful, humble, Gandhian non-participation with respect to the big Bible business. But it seems unbecoming to advocate a boycott of a company that publishes the books of a respected friend. It seems unbecoming to boycott the Bible in any way at all. Alas, I too feel conflicted.
Few media have picked up on this story, though USA Today’s Faith and Reason also featured Braun’s sentiments in a post entitled, “Did you buy your Bible from Rupert Murdoch?”
