The Books Are IN

I can't write much, there's too much to do. I have over a hundred books to ship tomorrow -- pre-orders for what finally arrived today. My video editing salon smells like a printing plant. Although packed in 139 boxes the 2,500 copies of WHAT CATHOLICS REALLY BELIEVE are still drying, after a 6 week journey by rickshaw, container ship, rail and truck -- from Malaysia to Michigan.  I conceived this book over three years ago, and I'm thrilled with how it came out. Thanks to Dr. Ray for helping it become a reality. It's the best looking and most readable educational book about Catholicism available anywhere. You bet I'm biased. See our inside the book and our specials HERE. Please tell your priests and religious education directors that we offer 50-60% discounts for quantity purchases for students. We ship around the world. Tomorrow I have orders going out to Australia, the UK, and San Juan, and there are already three copies in South Africa.

First Skid Off the Overseas-Transport Truck

 

Boxes stacked in the video edit salon -- warehouse is full.

WCRB Ready for Fulfillment

Yoga Jesus

Yesterday I recevied this comment from a person who had heard about our new book "What Catholics Really Believe" on the radio, checked out our website, and wrote us the following:

I...thought the book was just what I should get for a family member who has very little understanding of the faith.  However, the picture on the front is just too weird for me to consider buying it.  It reminds me of the pictures that the yoga people have of their "saints".  The picture of Christ that you chose has that same look.  I'm sure the book is great but the cover is a turn off.

I wrote back:

Thank you for your opinion.  You might consider that the yoga people adopted pictures of their leaders that purposely looked like Christ because he was so revered.

Of course I don't really know this. Other responses later came to mind:

a. "But you know that the picture on our book is Jesus. Right?"

b. "If Jesus looked like Uncle Fred whom I hate, would I also hate Jesus?"

c. "Do all men with long hair and a beard look the same?"

d. "Jesus and Yoga masters do have somethings in common... they're Eastern mystics who didn't have a razor or many friends who were barbers. 

Then, I wondered, what if this person is right and if all the Yoga masters looked like the cover of our book. That would be, ah, strange. So, I decided to do an image search on Yoga Masters, and came up with the images below. I suppose some people would see a resemblance. Which looks more like Jesus?

And what if our book cover looked so much like Yoga masters that Yoga people started buying it and reading it? Would that be bad? Would we get sued for impersonating Yoga Masters? I can see the headlines now: "CATHOLIC PUBLISHER SUED FOR DEPICTING YOGA MASTERS AS JESUS... OR THE OTHER WAY AROUND...THIS REPORTER ISN'T SURE."

Ah, but then I found it. Yoga Jesus... in marble no less. Yep, that's Jesus alright. Well, okay, it's just a statute for you iconoclasts out there. It's not REALLY him. The website that has this picture claims:

The final marble statue which is of Jesus just arrived last week from India. Our line of masters or gurus is 5 deep (Jesus, Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Yukteswar and Paramhansa Yogananda) and Jesus holds pole position as you can see from Yogananda’s comment above. He is viewed by Yogananda devotees worldwide as a great Master of yoga.

Okay, so, I suppose this does look like Jesus. 

GUILTY!

Let's buy these books and save all these Yoga masters.

New Book - Three Years - BEAUTIFUL!

2,500 copies of our new book WHAT CATHOLICS REALLY BELIEVE is in boxes in a shipping container somewhere in the Pacific Ocean aboard the container vessel NYK Argus v.49E42 headed for Los Angeles. Then it's customs and transport to Michigan for warehousing and sale. A few dozen preliminary copies are being sold to some anxious customers and sent out to reviewers and our wholesale customers as samples. 

This unique volume, three years in the making, has the following features:

• Edited for early teens through senior adults
• Full dialogue text from Dr. Ray and Fr. Fete's television series.
• Study questions for classroom or home study use.
• Comprehensive Answer Guide by apologist-author Dave Armstrong , one of the most accessible writers in America today.
• 127 Full color photographs by Fr. Gene Plaisted, OSC, of topical stained glass windows from churches around the world.
• Ecclesiastical approval for publication was granted by The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit, May 20, 2009.
• 52 Sidebar definitions of often misunderstood terms
• Flex-binding, that allows the book to lie flat on a study table
• Comfortable size (8.5" x 6.5") and unique flexibility for holding in hands
• Table of Contents with color keyed page-edge tabs.
• Each unit is shrink wrapped to guard against cover wear and moisture.