How far may a person or a group go to create a Museum for the Bible?
When looking at the present world of Christians we can see that from the United States of America there are lots of very fundamental Christians who think they may do everything to spread the Gospel News.
To get a museum running they even think they may co-operate with smugglers and try to get to have as much antique material as possible at the cheapest rate, even if this involves illegal traffic.This naturally is an unacceptable way of doing.
People enter the Museum of the Bible, located in the heart of Washington, D.C., through the 40-foot Gutenberg Bible doors. The doors are giant-sized replicas of a page of the Gutenberg Bible. The building is six stories high with a basement. The founder and CEO of the Museum of the Bible is Steve Green.
Either some of those American Conservative Christians are so naive or they are just telling lies when like Hobby Lobby President Steve Green said his company
“was new to the world of acquiring these items, and did not fully appreciate the complexities of the acquisitions process. This resulted in some regrettable mistakes.”
Having them to buy antiquities form an irregular market.
When an expert on cultural property law retained by Hobby Lobby warned the company that the acquisition of cultural property likely from Iraq, including cuneiform tablets and cylinder seals, carried a risk that such objects may have been looted from archaeological sites in Iraq them not investigating the origin of the material and how it could come to the United States made them guilty of negligence and carelessness.
They did not seem to care about getting an improper declaration of country of origin for cultural property.
With good reason Tom Powers publishes
The retailer — behind their veil of piety and supposed good intentions — is not the innocent victim they make themselves out to be. Hobby Lobby’s statement is actually pretty lame, seeing as they blatantly ignored sound advice before jumping into this morass. Their statement that the “dealers and shippers … did not understand the correct way to document and ship these items” is completely disingenuous. There was no “correct way”, because the people they were dealing with are smugglers and crooks! — and chances are that HL knew this right along. {Updated | What’s an Arts and Crafts Retail Chain Doing Dabbling in Antiquities???}
“The History of the Bible Artifacts” exhibit, on the 4th Floor of the Museum of the Bible, Washington DC, presents a Dead Sea Scroll Fragment, believed to be part of the amazing Old Testament find, located between 1947 and 1956 from caves in the Middle East.
According the Washington Post financial documents and interviews reveal a tangled relationship between the nonprofit museum; Hobby Lobby and its owners, the conservative-Christian Green family; and the National Christian Foundation, a donor-advised fund that supports key soldiers in the national battle for conservative Christian values. Though not all the ways of that battle seem to go according what we would consider normal Judeo-Christian values.
Lots of christians may find it great how the Greens and their craft-store empire have donated to the museum and to the foundation but should come to see the murky ties between the three entities. The family with the foundation and Hobby Lobby have attracted the attention of museum and nonprofit experts who have expressed concern about the project’s political agenda, potential conflicts of interest and compliance with tax laws. The family was also probably very well aware how in their America an exhibition on the bible would attract loads of people and would be a goldmine, having such a growing conservative Christian community.
The Museum of the Bible, the newest tourist attraction near the National Mall, has drawn 565,000 visitors since it opened six months ago, according to museum figures released Thursday, May 17.
While that’s less than half as many as visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture in its first six months, it’s enough to assure organizers that a robust audience is hungry for Bible-related exhibits.
More than 1,700 groups have visited the high-tech Museum of the Bible, which sits two blocks from the National Mall near the U.S. Capitol, art galleries, and other museums. Officials said visitors travel an average of 260 miles to the 430,000-square-foot museum.{The Good Book Is Proving to Be a Great Draw}
In addition to the 565,000 visitors, Museum of the Bible is celebrating:
- 327,994 customers served in its Manna restaurant
- 32,018 cups of coffee served at Milk and Honey café
- 251,310 people who participated in the Hebrew Bible walk-through {Museum of the Bible Celebrates More than Half a Million Visitors in First Six Months}
Last year Hobby Lobby agreed to pay a $3 million fine and forfeit thousands of artefacts that federal authorities said were smuggled out of Iraq. also what should be questioned is how the group enjoyed large tax breaks for supporting their pet project.
Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby may say
“The museum’s role is not to espouse faith.”
that should not be a reason for not working according legal ways and for allowing to work with smugglers and other criminals to build a house which should give the impression that one is honouring God, God His Work and the Bible.
When he says
“We just want to present the facts of this book . . . to celebrate this book. We want the visitor to make their own decision.”
he is not at all honouring this sacred book by his illegal actions. In a way he is even dishonouring and desecrating or disgracing the the Book of books.
The National Christian Foundation, a Georgia-based organization with a mission “to advance God’s Kingdom,” distributes millions of dollars annually to churches and civic organizations, including many engaged in court fights against same-sex marriage, abortion rights and other social policies.
The Biblical Garden on the roof of the museum offers views of the city. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)
Almost two-thirds of the museum’s $557 million in contributions comes from these two sources, according to interviews and recent tax filings. Because non-profit groups are not required to disclose their donors, it’s unclear how much of the total donations are tied to the Greens.
What is clear is the craft store and the museum are deeply connected through gifts and various business deals that shuttle funds between the two for rent, administrative and curatorial services.
“There’s a lot of room for conflicts of interest,”
said John E. Simmons, a museum consultant and president of the Collections Stewardship Professional Network of American Alliance of Museums.
“The code of ethics for the American Alliance of Museums says you should avoid conflicts of interest and also the appearance of conflicts of interest.”
In this instance we can clearly see that many unacceptable lines are crossed. green not wanting to tell how much money he provided for the museum shows already a form of secrecy to cover up the truth and honesty.
Richard Gonzales rightly remarks
- Note that the items in question were laundered through two Middle Eastern countries, the UAE and Israel. The same Justice Dept. press release states that the final batch of goodies
“was shipped by an Israeli dealer and accompanied by a false declaration stating that the bullae’s country of origin was Israel.” Understand that the State of Israel allows for a “legal” antiquities trade, carried out by dealers licensed by the IAA, but any actual, meaningful oversight is very, very limited.- ANYONE who purchases antiquities, however innocently, even from a “licensed” dealer, is very often — at least indirectly — enabling and encouraging the looting of another people’s cultural heritage, not to mention the irretrievable destruction of archaeological sites. {Hobby Lobby To Forfeit Smuggled Iraqi Antiquities}
The complaint and stipulation of settlement were announced by Bridget M. Rohde, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Angel M. Melendez, Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York.
“American collectors and importers must ensure compliance with laws and regulations that require truthful declarations to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, so that Customs officers are able to scrutinize cultural property crossing our borders and prevent the inappropriate entry of such property,”
stated Acting United States Attorney Rohde.
“If they do not, and shippers use false declarations to try to clandestinely enter property into the United States, this Office and our law enforcement partners will discover the deceit and seize the property.”
Ms. Rohde thanked U.S. Customs and Border Protection for its role in intercepting shipments and safeguarding the seized antiquities.
“The protection of cultural heritage is a mission that HSI and its partner U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) take very seriously as we recognize that while some may put a price on these artifacts, the people of Iraq consider them priceless,”
stated Special Agent-in-Charge Melendez.
Real Christians should also know that what is part of the heritage of a certain country should be protected and stay in that country.
Walk through the Museum of the Bible’s exhibits that recount the content of the biblical story
Museum of the Bible Location
The Museum of the Bible is located four blocks from the United States Capitol and two blocks from the National Mall at 400 4th Street SW, Washington, DC 20024. It located in the same block as the Federal Center SW Metro station. The station is on the Orange, Blue and Silver Metro lines. The museum has no public parking, but there are a few, expensive public parking lots within walking distance.
+++
Related articles
- What’s an Arts and Crafts Retail Chain Doing Dabbling in Antiquities???
- An Exodus from Egypt: IAA nabs ancient coffin lids in Jerusalem antiquities shops
- Washington D.C. Capitol and Museums
- Museum of The Bible
- The Bible Museum, Food, and Our First Visitors
Bijbelvorser = Bible Researcher 