Holy Wanderer: Just in time for Easter, the holiest day in the Christian calendar, Donald Trump has begun selling Bibles — the same month he posted bail after recently being found guilty of sexual assault and defamation of writer E.B. Jean Carroll and before that his next trial, on charges of paying hush money before the elections to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Nothing could better illustrate Trump's impudence, and in Americans' reaction to his recent actions, the range of views about him: from the point of view of the conman (my own, of course) to the anointed of God (his most worshipful supporters).
Opinion columnist
Jackie Calmes
Jackie Calmes takes a critical look at the national political landscape. She has decades of experience covering the White House and Congress.
Americans haven't seen a biblical chart quite like Trump's in half a century. That earlier film was a fantasy — Ryan and Tatum O'Neal played a father-daughter team conning a farmer's widow in 1973's “Paper Moon.” (The same year, the Nixon Justice Department sued Trump and his father for anti-Christian racial discrimination in renting apartments, setting off a long legal battle that ended with the Trump family signing a consent decree against the practice. Then, as now, Trump ignored Matthew 5:25: “Judge quickly with your adversary who brings you to court.”)
“Happy Holy Week! “Let’s make America pray again,” Trump wrote in a social media post on Tuesday. “As we approach Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Bible God Bless the USA.”
Yours for just $59.99, plus shipping and handling.
My Bible didn't cost much. But my song does include non-writing bonuses like the lyrics to the song that opens Trump's rallies, “God Bless the United States of America,” by Lee Greenwood, his partner in this project. There's also the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Oath of Allegiance, and the Constitution, which he says in a three-minute video: “I fight every day, like hell, to keep Americans protected.”
The ninth commandment in the Book of Exodus says: “You shall not bear false witness.” One day, Trump, a self-proclaimed warrior of the Constitution, called for the Constitution to be “repealed.”
The video promoting the Bible is gold for anti-Trump memes and satire, the kind of material tailor-made for “Saturday Night Live” without its writers changing a single word.
“You've got to keep it for your heart, for your soul,” Trump says, clutching the good book in his gut. Trump's pose brings to mind that bizarre photo he took outside St. John's Episcopal Church across from the White House in 2020. Trump rarely entered St. John's — the so-called Presidents' Church — during his four years in office, or any other church for that matter. .
However, Trump preaches in the Bible video: “Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing in this country. … That's why our country is going down the drain. … All Americans need a Bible in their homes and I have a lot of it. It's my favorite book.”
right.
Speaking of favorites, when it comes to the many reactions to Trump's babble about the Bible, Liz Cheney responded on the site formerly known as Twitter: “Happy Holy Week, Donald. Instead of selling Bibles, maybe you should buy one. And read it to your heart's content.” That includes Exodus 20:14.
Note to Trump: This is another one of the Ten Commandments. The one that says “You shall not commit adultery” in the New King James Version that you sell.
Reporters famously challenged Trump, then the candidate, early in the 2016 campaign to cite his “most favorite” Bible verses, given claims he made at the time about his love of the Bible. He refused, repeatedly insisting, “This is too personal.”
Around this time four years ago, then-President Trump also tried to assert his veneration for Christianity and Holy Week, with potentially disastrous consequences. It was the spring of 2020, and the COVID-19 virus was spreading, nearly 800 Americans had died, hundreds of thousands had fallen ill, and much of the country was on lockdown. He suddenly suggested reopening everything by Easter.
“Easter is a very special day for me,” he said. “Wouldn't it be great if all the churches were full?”
Most of them remained closed, much to the relief of public health experts. By Easter, more than 22,000 Americans had died, nearly 30 times as many in the three weeks following Trump's call to reopen the country.
Trump's display of religiosity – and that of his most ardent disciples – has recently become more pronounced, even messianic, as he once again campaigns for president. While some Christians see it as blasphemy, many of Trump's followers see more evidence that he is God's chosen one.
Here's the voiceover from the video some supporters broadcast at his rallies: “On June 14, 1946, God looked down upon His planned paradise and said, ‘I need a guard.’ So God gave us Trump.” And it continues like this. Last October, in At the start of the New York trial that ended with the former president's conviction for financial fraud, Trump posted a sketch of himself and Jesus, side by side, at the witness table.
Believers embrace him. “It's really a battle between good and evil,” one TV evangelical preacher said of the criminal charges against Trump. “There's something the enemy fears about President Trump: It's called the anointing.”
To be sure, not all Trump supporters are this enthusiastic. Some even admit he's a bit of a con man, not that they would change their vote. However, most of us, whatever our political or religious leanings, should be able to agree that anyone who aspires to lead this diverse nation should not use the Bible to divide us, let alone make money.
What would Christ do? We know this well: He cast “buyers and sellers” out of the temple. Matthew, 21:12-13.
@jackiekcalmes
