The document confirms that the names are being gathered for “law enforcement purposes,” but offers little clarity beyond that, stating further disclosure “could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.”
This bombshell revelation exposes a chilling escalation of government overreach, where ordinary Bible buyers are not just being tracked as if they were criminal suspects but are also subjects of an ongoing criminal investigation.
And it doesn’t stop there.
The scope of this surveillance extends beyond Bible purchases. Individuals who buy bus tickets, rent cars, or book plane tickets without stating a specific purpose, and even those who use phrases like “Trump” or “MAGA” in financial transactions, are also flagged and stored in the same criminal database.
The web of suspicion widens further to include gun buyers who shop at retailers such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bass Pro Shop, or Cabela’s.
CAN sent the February FOIA request after a cryptic message from Rep. Jim Jordan on X (formerly Twitter) in January: “Did you shop at Bass Pro Shop yesterday or purchase a Bible? If so, the federal government may be watching you.”
Martin Mawyer, president of the Lynchburg, VA-based Christian Action Network, denounced the Bible surveillance program as a clear violation of the 1974 Privacy Act, which prohibits federal agencies from collecting or storing personal information about individuals exercising their First Amendment rights.
The 1974 Privacy Act states the federal government may “maintain no record describing how any individual exercises rights guaranteed by the First Amendment unless expressly authorized by statute or by the individual about whom the record is maintained or unless pertinent to and within the scope of an authorized law enforcement activity.” (5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(7)
“There’s nothing ambiguous about this language. Under no circumstances can the feds collect the names of people exercising their right to purchase a Bible—unless, of course, it’s part of a law enforcement activity,” Mawyer said.
“And here’s what made our jaws drop—and surely the jaws of every right-thinking, religious American: how can buying a Bible possibly place you under federal criminal investigation?”
Despite the clear protections of the 1974 Privacy Act, CAN faced an agonizing wait for answers. First, it took two months for the Treasury Department to finally respond, but claimed it couldn’t provide any answers due to “unusual circumstances.”
2 comments:
You have got to be kidding? Can we now equate stupid with evil, because pure evil has been unleashed, IMO!
As described the privacy act has pidgeonhole language throughout allowing the government to circumvent their own law and spy on us anyhow.
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