OK, OK, this story is a few days old, but I just had to pass it along because of the oh so sweet headline: "Christian Diets: Fewer Loaves, Lots of Fishes." Maybe I am just sensitive to this right now, having just finished the traditional Eastern Orthodox Lent (no meat, no dairy), which makes it nigh unto impossible to avoid carbs. As Frederica "grandmother of this blog" Mathewes-Green likes to quip, during Lent "we don't eat. We graze."

Actually, this is a great example of what I like to call the "photocopy the culture" option among Christian entrepreneurs (like the whole Contemporary Christian Music industry). When in doubt, the Christian marketplace just sells a copy of whatever is hot in the real marketplace, only adding a few Scripture quotations.

Here are, literally, the money paragraphs from reporter John Leland's feature in The New York Times:

Lose It for Life is among the many Christian weight-loss programs hoping to combine the success of "The South Beach Diet" with the Christian self-help pull of Rick Warren's "Purpose-Driven Life," a best seller at 22 million copies. "Look, it's no secret that some of the most popular songs, books and movies now are faith-based," said Jordan S. Rubin, author of "The Maker's Diet," which has sold more than a million copies. "Look at 'Purpose-Driven Life' and 'Left Behind' in books, 'Passion of the Christ' at the movies and musical artists like Switchfoot, who sell in the millions. In the pop secular marketplace people are embracing faith as mainstream."

And the marketplace is returning the embrace. If you have ever wondered "What Would Jesus Eat?" you need only turn to the best seller by the same name written by a Florida physician named Don Colbert. (Answer: lots of fish, grains and vegetables.) And if that fails, you can try "Body by God," "The Hallelujah Diet" and dozens of others.

Well, the Passion wasn't exactly a photocopy of anything, was it?

But, hey, readers: What are your favorite "photocopy the culture" products from the past year or so?