2007年VOA标准英语-The Business of Religion

By Mil Arcega
Washington
23 July 2007
 

It used to be that companies were in the business of selling products and churches were in the business of promoting faith. Today the line between religion and the marketplace is blurring¹.  Faith-based marketing² generates nearly $5 billion a year in revenue.  And as VOA's Mil Arcega reports, some well-known companies are bringing religion to the boardroom.

Prayer used to be something most Americans practiced in private.  But faith is becoming much more public.  Even President Bush takes his faith to work.  "We are a nation of prayer" he said.

At Chick Fil A, which serves up more than a billion dollars of chicken sandwiches and fries every year -- prayer is penciled into corporate³ meetings.  Management encourages employees to stay married and the chicken chain's stores are closed on Sunday.

Tim Tassopoulos

Company Vice⁴ President Tim Tassopoulos says the company's purpose is to "glorify⁵ God". "One of the things that I feel confident about is that my work life is an expression of the higher values of my life."

Chick Fil A's philosophy is part of a growing movement.  The In and Out Burger chain prints bible verses on the bottom of its cups. 

Ford⁶, AOL, American Airlines and Intel - all support employee faith groups. 

Kelly Shackleford, chief counsel at the Liberty Legal Institute says it's all well and fine -- as long as employers don't force their faith on others. "They go too far when they step over the line and try to force or coerce⁷ or require employees to follow a particular religious belief or practice."

But at work or in the shopping mall, the marketing of religion is here to stay.

Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ movie made more than $600 million at the box office. 

Agencies such as Marketplace Chaplains, says business is way up.

And last year, stores selling so called "Christian⁸ products" took in more than $4.6 billion.

Bill Anderson is the head of the Christian Retail⁹ Association. "The industry has grown from books and bibles to include music and apparel and cards and jewelry¹⁰ and children's products.  It's really a Christian lifestyle store."

David Socha with Messengers of Faith dolls

"It's a battle for good versus¹¹ evil" says David Socha, who runs a company called One 2 Believe.  He markets a line of dolls called "Messengers of Faith."  "This is Samson.  He is the toughest guy in the toy box," says Socha. "Real hero.  These all speak scripture¹² and what's more unique about these dolls is that we really wanted to make them high quality so they have 20 points of articulation¹³."

Wal-Mart, the world largest retailer¹⁴ is test marketing the dolls.  But whether Old Testament¹⁵ heroes can beat new world heroes like Spiderman or Barbie remains¹⁶ to be seen.  The final judgment¹⁷ is likely to come not from a bearded man in the clouds but from children sipping¹⁸ sno-cones.

1 blurring   

n.模糊，斑点甚多，（图像的）混乱v.（使）变模糊( blur的现在分词 )；（使）难以区分

参考例句：

• Retinal hemorrhage, and blurring of the optic dise cause visual disturbances. 视网膜出血及神经盘模糊等可导致视力障碍。 来自辞典例句
• In other ways the Bible limited Puritan writing, blurring and deadening the pages. 另一方面，圣经又限制了清教时期的作品，使它们显得晦涩沉闷。 来自辞典例句

2 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

3 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 glorify   

vt.颂扬，赞美，使增光，美化

参考例句：

• Politicians have complained that the media glorify drugs.政治家们抱怨媒体美化毒品。
• We are all committed to serving the Lord and glorifying His name in the best way we know.我们全心全意敬奉上帝，竭尽所能颂扬他的美名。

6 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

7 coerce   

v.强迫，压制

参考例句：

• You can't coerce her into obedience.你不能强制她服从。
• Do you think there is any way that we can coerce them otherwise?你认为我们有什么办法强迫他们不那样吗？

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

9 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

10 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

11 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

12 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。

13 articulation   

n.（清楚的）发音；清晰度，咬合

参考例句：

• His articulation is poor.他发音不清楚。
• She spoke with a lazy articulation.她说话慢吞吞的。

14 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

15 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

16 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

17 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

18 sipping   

v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She sat in the sun, idly sipping a cool drink. 她坐在阳光下懒洋洋地抿着冷饮。
• She sat there, sipping at her tea. 她坐在那儿抿着茶。