Trying to sell something? Call it Christian
Sunday, July 15, 2007

Remember the Bible story about Jesus driving the moneychangers and other first-century capitalists from the temple in Jerusalem?

They were selling animals for sacrifices and padding their pockets doing currency exchanges.

Guess what: They're back. Only this time they're in the United States. They are making the cash registers ring (or beep or do whatever it is those computer-driven gizmos do anymore) to the tune of $4.6 billion last year. That's according to CBA, a retail trade association for Christian retailing with headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.

That's up from $4.3 billion in 2004 and $4.2 billion in 2002. The group tracks sales among its 2,000-member Christian stores, church-owned stores, national retail chains and independent retailers. That's a lot of tracking, and that's a lot of mammon spent in God's name. the rest