From the Netherlands (of course) comes the bible the religious right has long been waiting for…

Controversial new Bible cuts out difficult gospel passages

A new Bible translation is causing controversy after it cut out difficult parts surrounding economic justice, possessions and money.

The new bible version, released by the Western Bible Foundation in the Netherlands, has created a storm by trying to make the Christian gospel more palatable.

According to Chairman Mr. De Rijke the foundation has reacted to a growing wish of many churches to be market-oriented and more attractive. "Jesus was very inspiring for our inner health, but we don’t need to take his naïve remarks about money seriously. He didn’t study economics, obviously."

Oh obviously.  And we can ditch all that love thy neighbor crap too apparently.  But I reckon we already knew that.

This is a joke btw…

Hundreds of Western Bibles have been sold in the first few weeks, whilst anxious Christians filled newspapers and web logs with their doubts.

Sometimes Christians seem to have more anger than humour, however. The names of the board, ‘De Rijke’ (meaning ‘the rich’) and ‘Fortuijn’ (meaning ‘fortune’), as well as the holes in the pages of the Western Bible hint to the truth: the Western Bible is a joke. 

…but you want to bet that in a couple years folks will be reading devotedly it in the pews of mega churches from one end of America to the other? 

I wonder how many American Baptists realize their faith originated with the Dutch.  There’s an old joke about how one Dutchman is a belief, two Dutchmen are a church, and three Dutchmen are a schism.