Porn flowing into Christian bookstores*

Hundreds dealing with company that promotes XXX-rated items

Posted: May 19, 2007

An online company providing books to hundreds of Christian bookstores
throughout Canada and the United States promotes XXX-rated materials,
occult titles, manuals on homosexuality and lesbianism and satanism,
according to a center that monitors the industry.

A company called BookManager serves a St. Catherine's, Ont., Christian
bookstore whose owner recently discovered books on occultism,
pornography and the like could be located through its website.

Now Bud Press, who runs Christian Research Service, has told us that the
company actually serves hundreds of Christian bookstores, whose owners
now are facing the problem of what to do.

"One manager planned to contact BookManager and request the removal of
the non-Christian and pornography materials," Press said. "But with a
'title link' of 'over 4,000,000' books, the chances of that happening
are slim to none."

"Also lurking among BookManager's titles are page-after-page of books
that promote: cultic theology, occultism, homosexuality, lesbianism,
pro-gay, transsexualism, prostitution, New Age, satanism, profanity,
XXX-rated materials, Word-Faith, and

"_Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers by David L. Riegel (published
by SafeHaven Foundation)

"_Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex by
Judith Levine (published by Thunder's Mouth)

"_Varieties of Man/Boy Love by M. Pascal (published by the North
American Man/Boy Love Association)

"_Witchhunt Foiled: The FBI vs NAMBLA (published by the North American
Man/Boy Love Association)," Press documented.

A screenshot of the BookManager site showed in a search for "Bible,"
among the products offered included the "Wicca Bible" and the "Palmistry
Bible" along with the "Childrens Illustrated Bible." Other searches
produced more objectionable results.

As was earlier reported, that in the United States, software provided by
Internet behemoth Amazon to Christian stores also includes pornographic
products, and in Canada, even a search on Amazon.ca for 'science video'
turned up X-rated materials.

"Canadian Christians looking for solid, Bible-based materials may be in
for a big surprise when they browse the cyber-shelves of online
Christian bookstores powered by TBM BookManager, Ltd.," Press said.
"Unless they are careful, they will be exposed to much more than just
Christian authors and books."

Press said he's talked with a number of bookstore owners and managers
about the situation.

"After the initial shock and disbelief, some planned to contact
BookManager and complain, while others planned to drop BookManager
altogether," he said.

Harold Maier, the owner of Heritage Christian Bookstore in St.
Catherine's, and he said he wasn't aware of the situation.

"I'm glad we have been aware of it, so we can filter out some of those
things. Of course it concerns me," he said.

He said his company, which has been operating for nearly 10 years, has a
safety net for such glitches, in that every order that is placed online
comes to him for eventually processing. "I see every single order that
comes across," he said. "It (such pornography) would never get ordered
through our doors."

But not all stores have the same safety net.

Carley Bortolin manages the database for BookManager, and said that
there was no glitch in the programming that produced Playboy pictorials
on a Christian bookstore website.

"There is no glitch right now. All of our bookstores are aware that this
information is shared. It's not just a Christian database. That's why
[the porn products] will show," she said.

She said there is nothing her company will not re-sell if there is a
demand. "Everything that comes from our publishers, I do not edit
anything," she said.

She did say her company had gotten complaints from Christian bookstore
owners, and she was trying to work on a method through which her
company's X-rated products still would be available through secular
bookstores, but would be filtered from Christian stores.

"I've maintained … Christian bookstores – whether walk-in or online –
should be places where a Christian could feel comfortable browsing.
Christians should be comfortable having their young family members go in
there and look for a book. Unfortunately, they're not," Press said.

He said there are Christians who have had their faith "shipwrecked"
because of exposure the heretical books and New Age concepts they were
able to order through Christian bookstores.

Press said the company, headquarted in Kelowna, British Columbia,
besides Canada and the United States, serves bookstores in England,
Ireland and the Bahamas.

"This is a significant problem for Canadian Christian bookstores and any
Christian bookstore that is powered by BookManager," Press said.
"Indeed, the mere presence of non-Christian authors and books within
Christian bookstores – whether in Canada, the U.S., or worldwide – is a
sobering reminder that Christians have let their guard down and failed
to apply the Biblical tests to authors, books, and materials within
their online and walk-in Christian bookstores."

"While secular companies like BookManager have the freedom to advertise,
promote, and sell whatever they wish, Christians who own, manage, and
work at Christian bookstores are accountable to God and the Biblical
guidelines He has established," Press said.