Hobby Lobby billionaire caught smuggling priceless Iraqi artifacts

[GreyhoundFan]

Hmmm, seems like the crowds for the MotB opening aren't as big as expected

Spoiler

The book at the center of three major world religions got its own museum in the heart of Washington on Saturday.

The Museum of the Bible opened its doors to the public, placing a new $500 million religious institution just blocks from the U.S. Capitol in a city where the separation of church and state remains hotly debated.

Marion Woods of Greenville, S.C., was among the first inside. She’s been anticipating this day for two years. When she first heard the museum was in the works, she thought, “I can’t believe there’s going to be a Museum of the Bible.” And then: “Why hasn’t this happened before?”

Woods, the director of operations at a real estate firm, flew into Washington on Thursday night and will leave Monday, spending as much time as possible in between at the museum.

“Something inside of me just kept telling me I had to be there,” says Woods, who refers to herself as a “spirit-filled Christian.” “I feel like this museum is honoring God’s word, and I wanted to be a part of honoring God’s word.”

Not everyone was as enthusiastic as Woods — she had grabbed up extra tickets, and at 9:30 a.m., she was on her phone, trying to persuade her friends to come use them. Many fellow members, who had claimed 10 free tickets for the opening day, were handing their extra tickets to the security guards at the door.

Some exhibits were bustling with visitors, particularly the World of Jesus of Nazareth, and at the Milk & Honey cafe, just a few tables were open at noon as diners bowed their heads in prayer before biting into their chocolate croissants. But the museum was far from capacity in its first hours. A film about the Bible played to a huge theater of almost entirely empty seats. As they exited, a few early visitors called the atmosphere inside “peaceful” and “serene,” a marked contrast to the hordes packing many Smithsonian museums on busy weekends.

The lines outside were short. Couples, teenagers and parents with children in strollers snapped selfies in front of the museum’s massive Gutenberg Bible-themed doors as they waited to file through the metal detectors at the entrance.

Museum employee Brenda McKelvin greeted everyone with a smile. Originally from South Carolina, McKelvin can read Gullah, a Creole language spoken by African Americans living along the Southern coast. When she learned the museum didn’t have a Gullah translation of the Bible among its artifacts, she purchased one and donated it for the collection.

Other artifacts in the museum span history, from ancient writings to Elvis’s personal Bible. Glitzy attractions include a motion ride, a walk-through first-century village and a rooftop garden with Bible-inspired plants.

Nine-year-old Ellie Moiola stood watching New Testament re-enactors, in robes and sandals, explain how they use twine as a measurement tool.

“For the kids to be able to walk into the world of Jesus of Nazareth — that’s a really neat experience they can’t get anywhere else,” said Ellie’s mom, Ayron Moiola, of Brawley, Calif. Twelve people in the extended Moiola clan flew from their small town near the Mexican border to be at the museum’s opening weekend.

Moiola praised the museum’s varied exhibits: “Just lots of options to tell the story you’ve heard your whole life in a really different way. And to have it so well done, and so thoughtful.”

The Green family, who own the craft supply chain Hobby Lobby and advocate for evangelical Christian causes, spearheaded the creation of the museum and supplied much of the funding. They purchased the former Terminal Refrigerating and Warehousing building at Fourth and D streets SW, then gutted it and added two floors plus a glass atrium on top to create a gleaming new space.

The private museum stands just two blocks from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum and its National Museum of the American Indian. Leaders of the Museum of the Bible hope that it too will become a must-see stop on Washington tourists’ lists.

Jane and Lenny Wells, both pastors from Lorton, Va., and daily readers of the Bible, said they were thrilled to see the museum open in such a prominent location. As they waited outside the entrance, 30 minutes early for their 9 a.m. admission, Jane said, “This nation has moved so far from God. Its god is money and power. By having the museum here, it’s in your face.”

Her husband said he thinks the museum will be a good influence on America. “When you think of Washington, you think the Smithsonian and the other museums,” he said. “I think it will have an impact on beliefs, maybe persuade some people that God is real.”

The museum’s leaders have said they want the exhibits not to take sides on the myriad controversial issues in which the Bible gets invoked, from homosexuality to contraception to climate change. Their primary goal is to get people to read the Bible, not necessarily to believe in it.

But at a private opening event on Friday, religious leaders described the museum as a tool for evangelism.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, read a message from Pope Francis hoping that for visitors, may “their ears, hearts and minds be open to the good news that pours forth from its pages.”

“Hallow this moment, open this door to reveal how active and alive Your word has been through the centuries,” Adm. Margaret Kibben, the Navy’s chief of chaplains, prayed before the audience of nearly 500 people on Friday.

And despite professing that the museum is apolitical, leaders hosted a $50,000-a-table opening gala on Thursday night at the Trump International Hotel.

. Yeah, I'm not racing down to see it.

[WiseGirl]

I don't know, call me old fashioned, but shouldn't a museum of the Bible be where the religions originated?  The only religion I observe in DC is the cult of the rich/money, money, money/ how can we screw American workers with higher taxes and less health care ....

[infooverload]

In the 20th century religious groups built hospitals and schools. In the 21st they build things like the Ark Encounter and the Bible Museum. The priorities seem to be misplaced to put it mildly. Both endeavors seem to promise a lot, but when the numbers start coming in they seem to be less than impressive.