"Oil baron seeks gusher from god in israel "

A Texas oilman is using his Bible as a guide to finding oil in the Holy Land. John Brown, a born-again Christian and founder of Zion Oil & Gas of Dallas, can quote chapter and verse about his latest drilling venture in Israel, where his company has an oil and gas exploration licence covering 96,000 acres.

"Most blessed of sons be Asher. Let him be favoured by his brothers and let him dip his foot in oil," Brown quotes from Moses's blessing to one of the 12 Tribes of Israel in Deuteronomy 33:24.

Standing next to a 54-metre (177-ft)-high derrick at Kibbutz Maanit in northern Israel, Brown said the passage indicated there is oil lying beneath the biblical territory of the Tribe of Asher, where the agricultural community is located.

PS - Don't make the mistake : read "John Brown" and not "John Browne" ! The latter is chief executive of BP, a real company which use more reliable tools to explore and find oil !

Following on from the creationism thread, I find the number of Americans who take the Bible literally astonishing. Although I don't know why I'm surprised when you look at their leader... the media and the Bible are his two tools for keeping the people down.