Illustration by AGS Media
It is impossible for me to remain silent while Donald Trump is peddling the Bible to his MAGA supporters. Now his mantra is, Let's Make America Pray Again. Trump is much better at PREYING on the sympathies of his cult-like followers than he is in actually praying to God.
Where does he get the nerve to add American political documents and the Pledge of Allegiance alongside the Psalms, Proverbs, Gospels, and Epistles of the Bible? God is not an American and all Americans are not followers of biblical instruction. We are a secular democracy informed by the First Amendment protection of freedom of religion which includes the right not to be religious if one chooses. To have a former U.S. president hawking the Bible on TV like a carnival barker calling attention to some curious or entertaining sideshow is disgraceful!
Frankly, Trump seems unfamiliar with the Bible. He cannot quote a single passage when asked to do so. His life has been in direct contradiction to some of the most basic biblical principles. He is a convicted sexual assaulter who has been ordered to pay over $80 million to one of his victims for defamation of character. He has been accused of similar actions of sexual assault by a dozen other women. He is on trial for paying a porn star to keep quiet about their sexual encounter while his third wife was at home with their new born son. His former White House aides accused him of being "untethered to the truth" and of being "morally and intellectually unfit to serve as President." Donald Trump does not attend church. He said he has never asked God to forgive his sins because he has never sinned. His "America First" policy is clearly inconsistent with the love of God who made and loves the whole of humanity of every race and region. He has tried to sell bottled water and wine, mattresses, steaks, junk degrees at Trump University, and $300,000 memberships in various Trump golf courses and clubs. He has started selling gold-toned Trump sneakers and he sold collector cards with images of himself as various action heroes. Now, he is selling Bibles! At least in the TV ad, he is not holding the Bible upside down like he did back in 2020 while standing for a photo op outside a church in Washington, DC.
Is this the time when Trump's so-called "evangelical" followers will realize that they are supporting the wrong man? God did not send Donald Trump. He is not "the chosen one." He is a con man who has reached an all-time low by promoting "the only Bible endorsed by Donald Trump." The sixty-six books of the Bible have thrived for nearly two thousand years without his endorsement.
My question is whether God is endorsing this latest scheme by America's huckster in chief? Who, I wonder is going to spend $59.99 for the God Bless USA Bible? I will certainly not be one of them.
R E C E N T:
Lest we forget
My Black History story
A call for pastoral equity in the Black Church
Trump creeping closer to white supremacy advocacy
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The Rev. Dr. Marvin A. McMickle, pastor emeritus of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, is interim senior minister, First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland. He served as president of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, Rochester, New York, from 2011 to 2019.
