Geez magazine blogger says buy a Bible from Murdoch, but pay 10% to a worthy cause

Will Braun, the former co-editor of Geez magazine, has a new blog at the magazine and has an intriguing post about Rupert Murdoch (I know, you think you're "Murdoched-out", but bear with me.)

The post highlights News Corporation's Bible-publishing business through its ownership of HarperCollins. One of HarperCollins's divisions is Zondervan, the world's largest publisher of Bibles. Among other things and versions, the company owns exclusive rights to the New International Version.

"For those us of who care about the Christian scriptures," says Braun, "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.

While enterprises like the Church of England are threatening to withdraw their investments from News Corp (in the CofE's case, $6 million), Braun promotes an idea he attributes to Geez editor Aiden Enns that Bible purchasers pay a self-imposed "tithe" or 10% "ethical compromise tax" on any purchase of a Zondervan/News Corp. title, giving the proceeds to some worthy local cause.