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OpEdNews Op Eds 11/10/2014 at 8:00 AM EST H4'ed 11/10/14

The Cost Of Proselytizing: Millions In Printing, Thousands In Trash Bins and Hundreds Of Carriers With Broken Backs

By Rev. Dan Vojir (Page 2 of 3 pages) Become a premium member to see this article and all articles as one long page. 6 comments

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First Class mail volume peaked in 2001[52] and has declined 29% from 1998 to 2008, due to the increasing use of email and the World Wide Web for correspondence and business transactions. [53]

Lower volume means lower revenues to support the fixed commitment to deliver to every address once a day, six days a week. According to an official report on November 15, 2012, the U.S. Postal Service lost $15.9 billion its 2012 fiscal year.[citation needed]

In 2012, the USPS had its third straight year of operational losses, which amounted to $4.8 billion. [51]

Doing The Math

Over the past year Remnant Publications has been sending mass mailings of The Great Controversy to major cities in the United States. So far we've blanketed New York City; Washington, DC; and Charlotte, NC, with nearly two million copies of this crucial end-time book.

Since the United States Post Office does not depend upon overt government funding, the cost of mailings is paid for by the people who actually pay postage. Yes, you and me and businesses across the country. Of course, the government gets a discount as well, but figure it out: the cost of shipping a book is the same as 4-5 first-class letters.

Business is affected as well: those pesky catalogs cost money to mail and postal increases are on to the consumer.

So, the Bay Area mailing cost approximately $360,000, while the the cost to mail the same book via "media mail" (for a business), is $672,500.

Project Restore boasts two million copies mailed, covering parts of New York, and Washington, D.C. Two million copies: $2-3 million in printing costs, with up to $2 million in postal revenue lost. Of course, one could argue that if the mass mailing did not take place, then that would mean another $1 million in revenue lost, but the strain put on the USPS and its carriers should be taken into consideration. 2 million books is an awful lot to ship and carry. $1 million may not sufficiently cover costs.

Little Relevance

"It Not Junk Mail! It's From God!"

The Great Controversy has very little relevance today (you should see what it says the results of masturbation are!). Going through the history of the Reformation may be of slight interest to scholars (many who debunk the book for its scholarship anyway), but the general public could care less about who Ellen G. White is or her 19th century expostulations on Wycliffe, Zwigli, or the Waldenses. And a mass mailing about obscure Protestant reformers in a time when history in schools is the poorest subject, makes very little sense. It's also anti-papist in the extreme, leaving a bad taste in the mouth for people who are rejoicing in the current pope.

And having been bombarded by Fundamentalists via the media of the 21st Century, chapters like "The Origin of Evil" "Snares of Satan" and "Can Our Dead Speak To Us?" are shopworn in the extreme.

As well, the above statement by Remnant shows little regard for the facts - or for the demographics of the people involved: there are 7 million people in the greater San Francisco Bay Area and only 30 SDA churches, hence there is one church for every 230,000+ people. San Francisco (750,000) and Oakland (over 1 million) share six. There may be a reason for those abysmal figures: "San Francisco has not been the easiest community to reach" simply because the Bay Area won't support SDA churches. It has been out of the Fundamentalist mindset for many years.

The fact that the area has been a "hotbed of liberal ideas" smacks a bit political besides being a hotbed of gay "sin" which also smacks of being religiously homophobic.

And while it can be argued that SDA churches have had food drives and such, they have not been on the par with established agencies (like St. Anthony's Dining Room). Pope Francis would not be impressed*

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Rev. Dan Vojir Social Media Pages:

Rev. Dan Vojir is has been writing/blogging on religion and politics for the better part of ten years. A former radio talk show host (Strictly Books ��" Talk America Radio Network) and book publisher, Dan has connected with some of the most (more...)

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