The Christian Bookstore

(Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in Sacramento News & Review. We loved it so much that we asked for permission to reprint it.)

“Shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer”-2 Timothy 2:16-17

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”-Ephesians 4:29

Somewhere in the corner of your local suburban strip mall, tucked away between the Nail Salon and the Chinese take-out restaurant is a curious American phenomenon known as the Christian bookstore. If you are a not a Christian, chances are you’ve never set foot in a Christian bookstore. Many people who call themselves Christians have, in fact, never set foot in a Christian bookstore.

In general, if you want to buy a Christian-themed gift for anyone, your local Christian bookstore is the place you want to go. If you want to delve deeper into the beautiful mysteries of Christian theology, or the leading role of Christians in Western history, or if you, novice or scholar, have any questions about what is in the Bible, there is no better place to start than your local Christian bookstore. Despite their Precious Moments interiors, they have always been a nice, safe place to take the kids for an hour on a Saturday afternoon- all of these stores have a children’s section and most are running Veggie Tales videos at any given moment. Veggie Tales are genuinely funny stories acted out by computer-generated vegetables with the kind of wit and sarcasm rarely seen in humans who subscribe to their theology. It is funny and sad that it takes a dancing tomato and a singing cucumber to inject any sense of irony into the Faith.

It is with a great deal of disappointment that, while doing research for a book I’m writing, I discovered a darker side to these stores that deeply offended me as a practicing Christian and a follower of Jesus Christ. I started out looking for signs of political bias, as I was writing a chapter on liberal media bias, and wanted to find out if any political bias existed in Christian bookstores. Much of what I found was predictable enough. There are no less than eight books on Ronald Reagan, a half-dozen on George W. Bush, many dealing with his prayer life (one I found amusing: The Leadership Genius of George W. Bush: 10 Commonsense Lessons from the Commander in Chief, kind of like Mao’s Little Red Book), biographies on Condi Rice and Bill Frist, and many books by Oliver North. Harder to find are books by former president Jimmy Carter, who has put more walk in his Christian talk than the rest of these people combined. There are several books that lay out the Christian case biblically for war, but you’ll probably have to go to Borders to find the Christian case against war.

What caused me to nearly fall off of my non-violent wagon was a book that I found prominently displayed in several area Christian bookstores. Written by right-wing talk show host Hugh Hewitt, this bit of heavenly advice is called If It’s Not Close, They Can’t Cheat: Crushing the Democrats in Every Election and Why Your Life Depends on It. The poor fellow at the register in one store was just going about his business when I marched up to the counter, book in hand, and said, ” I know you just work here, but is this a Christian bookstore?” “Yes it is”, he replied. “Then how can you sell this?” I asked as I slammed a copy of the Hewitt book down on the counter. “Wha…” was his attempt at a reply as he apparently looked at the book for the first time. “I’m a Christian and I’m really offended you’re selling a book called ‘Crushing the Democrats’-that’s not okay”, I said to the now attentive clerk. “It says that?” was all he could reply as I walked out the door. I’ve never been good at finishing this kind of conversation. At another store, I brought this book to a nice lady in customer service and she looked at it and replied, shaking her head, “I don’t know why we’re selling this, either. If it was up to me, we wouldn’t”. Obviously, many of the people who work at these stores don’t even realize that they’re selling this kind of book.

This sour experience got me curious as to what other books these stores were selling. The following is a list of books that I found either on site at a Christian bookstore, or for sale at their online store:

Same-Sex Marriage: Putting Every Household at Risk

The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today

The Gay Agenda: It’s Dividing the Family, the Church and a Nation

Outrage: How Gay Activists and Liberal Judges Are Trashing Democracy to Redefine Marriage

The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought

Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America’s Youth

Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity

Liberals Are Killing America: How Their Loss of Courage, Lack of Leadership, and Constant Deceit Are Destroying Americans

Hour of the Witch: Harry Potter, Wicca Witchcraft, and the Bible

Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left

The Many Faces of John Kerry: Why This Massachusetts Liberal Is Wrong for America

Liberwocky: What Liberals Say and What They Really Mean

Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty Over Liberalism by Sean Hannity

The Second Amendment: Preserving the Inalienable Right of Individual Self-Protection

The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Churches, Schools, and Military by Michael Savage

Shut Up and Sing: How Elites from Hollywood, Politics, and the UN Are Subverting America

The Dark Side of Liberalism: Unchaining the Truth

The Myth of Separation Between Church and State

Moses Was a Right-Wing Conservative

Posted on April 1, 2006 12:00 AM