The Bible for (abortion) Profit?!

(NOTE: read an important update at the end of this post!)

The Bible, the holy word of God, and prayerful concern for victims of breast cancer – they fit together so very well! That is until you add the Susan G Komen Foundation into the mix! We, at Catholic Sistas, spent much of October helping to shed light on the unholy alliance between Komen and Planned Parenthood (PP). The fact that Komen donates millions of dollars to PP – the largest provider of abortion in our land –  should, therefore, not come as a surprise. What may not be common knowledge, however, is their latest attempt to ‘pink’…

 the Holy Bible!

That’s right! Komen has stepped up its attempts to commercialize breast cancer by partnering with B&H Publishing Group (a division of LifeWay Christian stores) and Walmart as reseller. Their brainchild is the Here’s Hope Bible –  Breast Cancer Awareness Edition, which benefits the Susan G Komen Foundation. Hopefully the publisher and retailer are unwitting accomplices to Komen in their insidious efforts to usurp dollars intended to help with ‘awareness’.

So here is their spiel from the Walmart online store:

“The Here’s Hope Breast Cancer Bible is a reminder that God has not forgotten you, a friend, or loved one who has been impacted by breast cancer. Not only will you find encouragement and inspiration through testimonies from breast cancer survivors but more importantly you’ll encounter God’s life-sustaining words for you.”

Prayerful concern, inspiration, and comforting scripture are certainly a solace for those of us who have experienced breast cancer. I firmly believe that I am alive today as the result of many prayers lifted up for me during surgery, chemo, and recovery! As a 6-year survivor, I also feel qualified to opine that breast cancer donations would be better spent on prevention and research or perhaps helping actual victims such 30 year old, Erika Vandiver, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 20 weeks pregnant.

Furthermore, much of Komen’s rhetoric is aimed at ‘awareness’. Aren’t we all ‘aware’ of breast cancer by now? You can ask almost anyone, male or female, and they will likely be able to recite, by rote, the ways to prevent breast cancer: regular mammograms, healthy eating, avoidance of the Pill, and of course not having abortions. We know about self exams and exercising and even genetic testing. So this ‘awareness’ is not as urgent as it once was. Komen seems simply to have found a titillating way to stir up sentiment – and reap the cash rewards – and now they have stooped to the shameless exploitation of scripture!

However, what concerns me most about this latest endeavor to raise money…ahem…I mean awareness, is that Komen is crossing the line of propriety. How dare an organization with a loathsome alliance with abortion giant, PP, associate themselves with ‘scripture for profit’? Especially since a part of their share of the purchase price will, most likely, find its way to a cause of breast cancer – abortion!  After all, $1 of every purchase of the Here’s Hope Bible goes to Komen. Additionally disgraceful is that Komen’s support of PP does nothing to prevent breast cancer – PP does not provide even one mammogram in any of its facilities, nationwide!

Now, before you object to the conclusion that Komen dollars help to fund PP abortions, let’s connect the dots. Money donated to PP is fungible. This means that, although the money may not be donated specifically for abortions, it does free up funds that WILL be used for abortions. By helping PP pay their light bill, for example, you are freeing up other funds to kill babies! That is simply not acceptable, helpful or moral!

God help our nation in its complicity in the killing of millions of unborn babies!

These babies deserve our prayerful consideration! We must not become unwitting accomplices ourselves! Let us seek justice for the sake of the voiceless! So what can we do? For starters, think before you pink! Then we must share this post with as many people as possible to raise our own kind of ‘awareness’. We should also contact B & H publishing, LifeWay, and Wal-Mart and let them know (if they don’t already) that Komen is not a suitable partner. This will take little of our time and if enough pro-life faithful are willing to make the effort, we may just be able to stem this pink tide…especially with Him as our ally!

“Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.” ~Matthew 5:6

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UPDATE:

From a story posted by LifeNews.com entitled LifeWay Christian Bookstores Takes Komen Bible Off Shelves:

“In a victory for pro-life advocates, Lifeway Christian Bookstores has taken a Bible sold to fund the Komen breast cancer foundation (which funds Planned Parenthood) off of its bookshelves.

Read the entire text of the December 14, 2011 letter from  Thom S. Rainer, President and CEO – LifeWay Christian Resources, here. He explains the decision of removing the offending Bibles from their shelves in keeping with their commitment to Christian values. It would be wonderful to flood LifeWay and their publisher, B & H publishing will notes of thanks. I’m sending mine now!

God bless, Birgit J

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UPDATE 2:

I wanted to share the great response I received today (December 28, 2011) from the publishing company responsible for the ‘pink’ Bible:

Good Afternoon Ms Jones,

I am sorry to be so late responding to your concern sent a few days ago regarding the Cancer Awareness Bible produced by B&H Publishing, a division of Lifeway Christian Resources.

I hope you’ve read by now that LifeWay is withdrawing the Bibles from the retail stores where they were being sold, and is discontinuing our relationship with the Komen Foundation. Our president, Dr. Thom Rainer, said the project was a mistake because of the perceived indirect relationship with Planned Parenthood.

We are developing a plan to re-use the special pink Bibles to support breast cancer research and treatment.
Thank you for sharing your concern.

Martin King

Martin King
Director LifeWay Communications
LifeWay Christian Resources
One LifeWay Plaza
Nashville, TN 37234-0192
615-251-2307 (o)
615-585-0033 (c)

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