Help People in New Orleans by Shipping Bibles to Missionaries Overseas Talk About Bait and Switch...

This is a beauty. While looking for a graphic i needed for something else, i came upon a fascinating post on the site of the American Bible Society.

The ABS spcialises in sending bibles top places where they don't got no bibles. Maybe where they don't even want no bibles. Their site (even tackier than my own webpage, which i hadn't believed possible) features text boxes with appeals like:

Bibles for China: great need, even greater opening

DONATE NOW: $100 provides paper to print 100 Bibles.
One of the most fertile fields for Bible distribution is the People's Republic of China. The demand for Bibles there continues to exceed the supply. And for just $1 per Bible you can help provide the paper that will allow a Chinese Christian to have a long- awaited Bible of their own.

I can just about, i believe, imagine the reaction of the government of the People's Republic to that...)

But the article i found most interesting claims that under special legislation passed to expedite and facilitate relief to New Orleans and other Gulf Coast areas devastated by Katrina, donations to any "qualifying" organisation (which the ABS apparently considers itself to be) get special consideration, even if they don't go anywhere near the Katrina damaged are and were never intended to.

That is, if you contribute to the ABS's mission to cram the bible down the htroats of people all over the world, you get a tax break from special tax provisions set up to help the victime os the storm, right here in the USA.

Here's the post (entitled "American Bible Society: Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005") from the ABS site:

Congress Encourages Charitable Giving
by Offering Special Tax Breaks to
Generous Donors

Charitable donations of cash given from August 28 through December 31, 2005 may enable the donor to deduct up to 100 percent of his or her adjusted gross income for 2005. Donations by individuals need NOT be related to hurricane relief to qualify. Donations to the American Bible Society are eligible for the tax incentives.

The law, termed KETRA (Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005), raises the maximum deduction from 50 percent to 100 percent of adjusted gross income, for qualified contributions. While this tax benefit does not fit every donor's situation, it is a major windfall for those capable of making large gifts from their accumulated estate or from extraordinary income in 2005.

We urge you to contact your financial advisor for additional information on how this law may affect your situation.

For more information on how you can take advantage of KETRA's charitable giving incentives, you may speak with a giving specialist at the American Bible Society by calling 1-800-820-6227. Or, if you prefer, you may submit an inquiry via e-mail and receive a response from the Bible Society.

Ah, yes -- President Shrub and his "faith-based initiatives" -- more important to spread the Gospel even if no-one asked you to or wants you to than to send money to help US citizens devastated by a natural disaster.

But perfectly okay to use the plight of those people to jam through a bill that sounds as if will help them but really just gives money to your funny mentalist buddies to use any way they want to.

Sounds to me like there might be some Church/State issues here.  ¶ 6:06 AM