Rupert Murdoch: Bible mogul - The Zondervan Connection

Now there are calls for him to hand back his Papal Knighthood

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA (ANS) -- "Most people know now that Rupert Murdoch presides over the News Corp media empire, and that he is fighting for his reputation after being forced to sink his scandal-laden British newspaper News of the World, the most widely read English tabloid in the world. But few people know that Murdoch also owns Zondervan, the world's largest publisher of Bibles. For 23 years, the News Corp family has included the leading seller of the best-selling book in history."

Rupert Murdoch

This is how Will Braun began his blog in the Canadian-based Geez Magazine (www.geezmagazine.org) in a story about Murdoch's News Corps Bible publishing empire.

"I know many Christians see the Bible's publishing stature as validation of their chosen faith, but a savvy entrepreneur could simply see it as a business opportunity. Or perhaps the 80-year-old Murdoch, like any shrewd businessman, wanted diverse investments - a diversity that in his case ranged from a cleavage-saturated tabloid that ran headlines like, 'F1 Boss Has Sick Nazi Orgy With 5 Hookers' to a publisher that offers Little Lamb's Storybook Bible," he continued.

Braun then spoke about Zondervan, which is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and also sells Precious Princess Bible, Camo Bible (imagine "Holy Bible" on a camouflage cover), Soul Surfer Bible, Holy Bible: Stock Car Racing and 500 other styles of the holy book.

"The company," he said, "owns exclusive North American print rights to the popular New International Version of the Bible which it says has sold over 300 million copies worldwide. Zondervan also publishes books by leading Christian authors like Rick Warren (over 30 million copies of his 'Purpose Driven Life' have been sold), Tim LaHaye, Eugene Peterson, Brian McLaren and Shane Claiborne."

Biblical profiteering

Will Braun

Braun went on to ask, "For those us of who care about the Christian scriptures, what are we to make of this mix of billionaire media tycoonery, allegations of phone hacking and bribery, and the Holy Word of God? 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 then said that he asked author Shane Claiborne about his connection with Zondervan.

"His books, 'Jesus for President' (co-written with Chris Haw) and 'The Irresistible Revolution,' are number 3 and 4 on Zondervan's list of its top sellers. He has long been aware of the Zondervan-Murdoch connection and has considered it carefully," said Braun.

"I admire Claiborne, partly because he cares about ethics - he makes his own clothes and off-sets his air travel - and partly because he lives out his faith in what he calls the 'abandoned corners of empire.' His particular corner is the impoverished Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia where he lives as part of The Simple Way community. Given his relation to 'empire,' I wanted to know why he chose a News Corp company as his publisher?"

The Zondervan advantage

Braun said that Claiborne told him by phone, "I want to have the broadest readership possible. I don't want to be someone who just speaks to the choir."

Zondervan logo

Claiborne, according to Braun, said that smaller publishers have their advantages but the books he has written for them cost "two or three times" more than what they would if Zondervan published them.

Claiborne, who has preached his message via Esquire, Fox News (also owned by News Corp), Al Jazeera and many others, says the key is to "protect the integrity of the message." If he, said Braun, is convinced the medium won't change the message, he will work with organizations despite not "[agreeing] with all of their approaches or decisions."

Braun added that even if the message is protected, his work helps enrich a rather well-maintained corner of empire and he says the author feels "conflicted" about this. "I don't think that the world exists in 100 percent pure and 100 percent impure options," he says.

To judge, or not to judge

The ongoing News Corp scandal concerns him, Braun continued. "The current issues . . . in England raise all kinds of ethical questions," Claiborne told him, "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."

Claiborne said that he is not sure if he will write for Zondervan again, but he doesn't rule it out.

Shane Claiborne

There's good and bad in each of us, he says, "we are called to work on the log in our own eye, and I'm sure as heck trying to work on the compromises that I make so that those are minimal when it comes to integrity."

"Point taken," said Braun. "This is not about demonizing Rupert Murdoch or Zondervan. No rendition of the Bible would condone that. Nonetheless, I'm not ready to say, like former Zondervan CEO Maureen Girkin did in a 2008 Christianity Today article, that 'News Corp is a wonderful media giant.'

"The allegations that sank News of the World, and have now spread to other News Corp papers in the U.K., demonstrate something about News Corp. They do not demonstrate that ethical integrity trumps the drive for profit at News Corp. 

News Corp is an aggressive business; its motive is to accumulate and concentrate massive amounts of wealth. Presumably it acquired Zondervan because it saw profit potential.

"But is the Bible a business opportunity? Does it belong in the News Corp fold? Can we not read about 'the least of these' without paying our dues to the greatest?

"Or perhaps Murdoch is just an entrepreneur who enables the distribution of important materials (after all, he was awarded a papal knighthood by Pope John Paul II in 1998). Perhaps the world is just too gray to worry about the ethics of Bible publishing. Perhaps writers like Claiborne are subverting or redeeming something in need of redemption. Perhaps I overstate the link between News of the World and Zondervan. It's just that I believe there should be absolutely no link at all. Bald greed has no place in Bible publishing," Braun continued."

He then asked the question, "Does God need News Corp?" adding, "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."

Braun said that Geez magazine editor Aiden Enns - who once cut the Zondervan label out of the spine of his Bible in protest - suggests a self-imposed tax or tithe on Zondervan purchases. If you buy a $20 Claiborne book, give an additional $2 to a good cause (maybe the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility). Call it the "ethical compromise tax," or the "sin tax" as Enns puts it.

"You could also look into whether your denomination has any News Corp investments. The Church of England is now publicly threatening to pull its $6 million share in News Corp," said Braun.

"As for non-participation, all I know for sure is that I don't want a penny of my money going to fuel the News Corp empire, regardless of the path it takes from my wallet to Murdoch's. Fortunately for me, the last time I crossed paths with Shane Claiborne he gave me a copy of the most recent Zondervan publication he collaborated on, 'Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals.' I offered him warm thanks - it's a great book - then said with a smirk, 'this way none of my money needs to go to Zondervan..'"

Will Braun is the former editor of Geez magazine. Based in Winnipeg, Canada, he now writes for a range of religious and irreligious publications in Canada and the U.S.

Footnote: According to a story in the Catholic News Agency, (www.catholicnewsagency.com), there are calls from all sides in British politics for Rupert Murdoch to hand back - or be stripped of - his papal knighthood if he is found culpable in any way for the recent phone hacking scandal involving his British tabloid newspaper, The News of the World.

"I think we need to see the extent of what happened and who knew what and when before we rush to judgment. But if it transpires that Rupert Murdoch was aware of these goings on then, yes, he ought to hand the papal knighthood back," said former Conservative government minister and Catholic convert Ann Widdecombe on July 13.

Rupert Murdoch was made a Knight Commander of St. Gregory in 1998. Although not a Catholic, he had apparently been recommended for the honor by Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles after giving money to a Church education fund. A year later he also donated $10 million to help build Los Angeles' new Catholic cathedral.

Rupert Murdoch reading the London Times

"Like most of us in 1998, the Holy Father would not have been aware of the terrible depths Mr. Murdoch's media empire would go to for profit," said Jim McGovern, Labour M.P. for Dundee West and treasurer of the All-Party Group on the Holy See.

"However, if these allegations are proven to be true then either Mr. Murdoch should return his Knighthood, or the Holy See should look to have it removed from him," McGovern said on July 13.

The Catholic News Agency said that Murdoch's U.K. newspaper group - News International - stands accused of illegally hacking the phones of thousands of people, including celebrities, royals and families of crime victims to garner stories. The groups is also alleged to have bribed serving police officers for information.

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron is now setting up a judge-led inquiry to investigate the claims. A police investigation is already underway. 

In response, Murdoch has closed down the News of the World and withdrawn a bid to buy U.K. satellite television station BSkyB. His company has also admitted that illegal hacking was used by journalists within the company. Two have already served time in prison for other crimes.

"We have to let both the police and judicial investigation do their job but if Rupert Murdoch is found personally responsible in any way for these crimes then, yes, he should hand back his papal knighthood. That's subject, of course, to Vatican protocol allowing such a thing to happen," said Catholic parliamentarian Angus Brendan MacNeil, the Scottish Nationalist M.P. for the Western Isles.

Striking a more cautionary note on the whole issue, though, was his fellow Catholic politician Lord David Alton, a former Liberal Democrat M.P. who now sits as an independent in the House of Lords.

"Papal knighthoods are not awarded as a sign of holiness or a reward for sanctity - but recognition of active generosity to the Church and her works. Mr. Murdoch was given his, in 1998, after making a generous charitable donation. That has nothing to do with the current controversy surrounding some of his newspapers," Lord Alton said.

"Let's see what the official inquiry makes of those unacceptable journalistic practices, and where the law has been broken no doubt the individuals concerned will be prosecuted."

"No-one has suggested that Mr. Murdoch was personally involved in criminal activity. Some of the self-righteous indignation and lynch mob mentality that is now baying for Mr. Murdoch's blood only adds to the whole unedifying mess," Lord Alton commented.

Ann Widdecombe, however, says the whole affair should now make the Catholic Church reflect on the papal honors system.

"These knighthoods are dished out right, left and center by the Church to the likes of big tycoons and statesmen. I believe, however, they should be reserved for those who've worked hard in the cause of the Church - those whose efforts often go unsung."

Jim McGovern struck a similar note stressing that "a knighthood is a tremendous privilege that should be reserved for the most deserving," adding that "it should not be in the possession of those who fall far short of the behavior expected by the Church."

---

Dan Wooding, 70, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 47 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly "Front Page Radio" show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 200 countries. You can follow Dan on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel "Red Dagger" which is available this link.