Why would a person steal a bible?

Some disenchanted pilgrim doubting their faith…“Yeah, take that god, I just stole your diaries!”

some translations are more expensive than others?

When I worked in a bookstore, Bibles were hot items to steal. I think it’s because many of them are very small and high price. They are easy to steal and then “return” to another store for credit or (way back in the day) cash. The books that usually sold for the same price as the Bibles were coffee table sized art books and while they could turn a good profit, they were really hard to get out of the store easily.

I also think for some people, stealing a Bible gives a rush. If they are in the mood to feel naughty or evil, stealing a Bible can make shoplifting seem much more dangerous or bad.

But I think most of the Bible thieves just did it because of the dollar per square inch ratio.

Maybe it is a result of a feeling of entitlement.
Maybe they are trying to find their faith.
Maybe god told them to.
Maybe they are just a**holes.

@rojo

“Maybe god told them to” – great line. Sort of puts the kibosh on “thou shall not steal”...

People use them for rolling papers?!

There have been some interesting social psychology experiments kind of related to this.

The findings suggest that if you tell people not to do something (an “injunctive norm”), but also send the message that many people do it (a “descriptive norm”), then it will have the perverse effect of causing people to do more of it.

The upshot is that the bible may actually trigger this perverse effect. It both tells people not to do A,B and C (the injunctive norm) and tells them that we all violate these principles (the descriptive norm). To someone already inclined to steal, seeing the bible and knowing that it embodies this dual message could trigger the impulse to steal.

@KNOWITALL I chuckled on seeing your response, and then a memory of Long John Silver being given a black spot on a piece of paper torn from a Bible, bringing bad luck to the whole crew. I’d be spooked to smoke a joint rolled from a Bible!

@zenvelo “I’d be spooked to smoke a joint rolled from a Bible!”

Unless it’s a page from Deuteronomy, there’s really not a whole lot going on there.

@zenvelo Oh yeah, me too, but I have heard it from a few people, when they’re out of rolling papers or something I think. Someone else told me they used free bibles for toilet paper.

Just to clarify, I know a very wide variety of people if you haven’t noticed…lol

My husband says Bibles make awesome rolling papers. We do have enough lying around the house unused…

I think Batman used the bible as toilet roll…“Holy arse wipes Batman, you keep a clean ring.”

Unless it was some Bible version that hasn’t been reproduced for the past 200 years, I’m not entirely sure. But people steal all sorts of weird shit all the time. For some people it’s a thrill, and they don’t care what they steal. That said, the article doesn’t state the thief’s purpose. Why did she take a Bible? If they’re easy to get as you say, I don’t understand it either. I’m sure I could go to church and ask for one, they would most likely give me one.

Let’s face it, there are times when you need to read the holy scripture so badly you’ll do whatever it takes to get your hands on a copy.

Some translations are better, and more expensive, than others. Plus, the packaging. Are Christ’s words in Red? Is there a concordance?

I am currently reading 4 different versions, and there is a large variation on each translation. I have no idea which is closer, but it is interesting.

(One well respected translation refers to “those who piss on the wall”, while another just says “men”)