CNN
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Former President Donald Trump is formally promoting a patriotic copy of a Christian Bible that includes Lee Greenwood's well-known tune “God Bless the USA.”
“Completely satisfied Holy Week!” Trump she announced on social networks Tuesday, throughout essentially the most solemn interval of the Christian calendar, the final week of Lent, marking the struggling and loss of life of Jesus. “Throughout Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to buy a duplicate of the God Bless The USA Bible.”
The idea of a Bible lined by an American flag, in addition to the previous president's endorsement of a textual content thought of sacred by Christians, has raised considerations amongst spiritual circles. It additionally raises questions on Trump's motivations, as the previous president finds himself in the midst of a number of costly authorized battles.
“Sacrilege”, theology and the shadow of Christian nationalism
The $59.99 Bible, first launched in 2021, options an American flag and the phrases “God Bless the USA” printed on the quilt. Inside is the inscription “God Bless the USA” and the textual content of the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance and different historic American paperwork. Promotional materials for the Bible exhibits the previous president alongside nation singer Lee Greenwood.
Reactions to Trump's announcement on social media known as the approval of “sacrilege“,”heresy” and “border offensive” a quote lessons straight from the Bible that recommend exploiting folks's religion for cash ought to be condemned.
“It’s a bankrupt Christianity that sees a demagogue co-opt our religion and even our holy scriptures for his personal pursuit of energy and praises him for it as a substitute of insisting that we refuse to permit our sacred religion and the scriptures grew to become the mouthpiece for the empire,” he mentioned Roar. Benjamin Cremer on X.
Jason Cornwall pastor from South Carolinamentioned on X that Trump's endorsement of the Bible was a violation of one of many Ten Commandments of the Hebrew Regulation, which forbids taking God's identify in useless.
However the criticism doesn't finish with whether or not Trump's help is unchristian or not. In reality, that is just the start.
Historian and writer Jemar Tisby says your entire mission displays the values of Christian nationalism — the concept that America was based as a Christian nation and the federal government ought to work to sanction Christianity on a nationwide scale. The tenets of Christian nationalism are traditionally related to prejudice, nativism, and white supremacy.
“There’s a very lengthy custom of what’s and isn’t included within the Bible,” Tisby informed CNN.
“What brought about the outrage about this Bible is that it accommodates the Declaration of Independence, the US Structure and even the lyrics to a Lee Greenwood tune. So it provides it to the Bible, and it provides particular political paperwork to the Bible that utterly erase the separation of church and state.”
Tisby, who holds a Grasp of Divinity from the Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, has written concerning the risks of Christian nationalism — each to the nation and to the Christian religion.
“What’s so pernicious about that is that it performs on folks's devotion to God and their love of nation, each of which can be innocent and even good in themselves,” he mentioned.
“However on this effort, the 2 are blended. And with Trump because the spokesperson, he's sending a really clear message about what sort of Christianity and love of nation (he) is selling.”
MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Photographs
Trump was sworn in throughout his presidential inauguration in January 2017.
When Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, director of communications for the Baptist Joint Committee on Spiritual Liberty, noticed Trump's endorsement of the Bible, he mentioned he noticed a politician utilizing fears rooted in racism and prejudice to advertise a specific Christian ideology.
“After I hear 'Make America Pray Once more,' I hear Christian nationalist guarantees to in some way 'restore' Christianity to this nation. And if authoritarianism does come to america, it's virtually assured to be within the identify of Christianity, which is a really scary thought.”
Graves-Fitzsimmons holds a Grasp of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York and likewise works with the group Christians In opposition to Christian Nationalism. He says issues just like the “God Bless America” Bible are neglected by many, many Christians who disagree with Trump's insurance policies or mixing patriotism with religion.
“There’s a variety inside American Christianity that’s neglected each time politics and faith intersect,” he informed CNN. “There’s a false notion that the majority American Christians help anti-abortion restrictions and are anti-LGBTQ, and the alternative is definitely true. I might say that Christians are those most involved concerning the penalties of Christian nationalism on this nation.
The “God Bless USA” Bible brought about controversy amongst neighborhood members and publishers when it was launched in 2021. It was initially to be printed by HarperCollins Christian Publishing, however the firm handed on the deal.
HarperCollins said in 2021 that draft rejection was not an element of their resolution. (Eagle-eyed Bible lovers will observe that because of this the Trump-backed quantity makes use of the King James Model of the textual content, which is within the public area. (HarperCollins holds the US publishing rights to the best-selling New Worldwide Model translation of the Bible.)
Tisby has printed three books beneath Zondervan, a publishing home specializing in spiritual publications. He was among the many authors of the imprint who tried to dissuade them from publishing the “God Bless the USA” Bible when the concept was first launched.
“We didn't wish to be related to a writer that was going to place out a Bible like this,” he mentioned. “And I feel it's taken on a heightened sense of urgency as a result of we're not simply speaking about somebody's guide. We’re speaking concerning the sacred textual content of the Bible.”
Alex Wong/Getty Photographs/File
Singer Lee Greenwood performs throughout a 2018 election night time social gathering for U.S. Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn in Franklin, Tennessee.
Whereas there are numerous variations of the Bible—ranging broadly in worth, material, and extras resembling indexes, references, maps, and charts—this explicit mixture of the Bible and a well-liked patriotic tune is especially efficient.
Such a notion shouldn’t be a shock David W. Peters, an Anglican vicar in Pflugerville, Texas. Peters served as a Marine Corps and Military chaplain and was deployed to Iraq in 2005.
“I bear in mind closing each chapel service at Marine Corps boot camp with Lee Greenwood's 'God Bless the USA,'” he informed CNN. “We might all be singing and crying. The one emotional launch all week.”
He says the vary of reactions to one thing just like the Patriot Bible exhibits how totally different American Christianity might be relying on denomination or neighborhood.
“I feel the essence of the liberal progressive religion is compassion, so it's scary (to folks like that) how somebody can say they had been a Christian and observe an individual who isn't very compassionate.”
For individuals who view Christianity in a different way or who’re already staunch Trump supporters, Peters says he doubts this newest incident will do something to shake their religion.
“I feel it is going to be confirmed (for them) that their critics are out of contact,” he mentioned. “Why would anybody object to the Bible?”
Along with the numerous theological questions it raises, Trump's endorsement of the “God Bless the USA” Bible coincides with a number of authorized battles that might price the presumptive Republican presidential nominee a whole lot of tens of millions of {dollars}.
The FAQ part of the “God Bless America” Bible web site makes it clear that no proceeds from Bible gross sales will go to Trump's presidential marketing campaign. Nevertheless, there isn’t a point out of whether or not any proceeds could possibly be spent on his private authorized points.
03:14 – Supply: CNN
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“No, GodBlessTheUSABible.com shouldn’t be political and has nothing to do with any political marketing campaign. GodBlessTheUSABible.com shouldn’t be owned, operated or managed by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Group, CIC Ventures LLC or any of their respective administrators or associates,” the web site reads.
However it goes on to say that Trump's identify, likeness and likeness are beneath a “paid license from CIC Ventures LLC.” CIC Ventures is straight linked to Trump in his 2023 public finance disclosure.
CNN reached out to EliteSource Professional, the advertising and marketing firm behind the “God Bless USA” Bible, for extra data.
Trump has beforehand been criticized for utilizing the Bible in public. In 2020, spiritual leaders from a number of Christian denominations condemned his show of a Bible in a “{photograph}” exterior an Episcopal church close to the White Home as racial justice protests raged throughout the nation.
“You simply don't do this, Mr. President,” TV evangelist and vocal Trump supporter Pat Robertson mentioned of the incident. “It's not cool!”
In 2015, Trump additionally known as the Bible his favourite guide, however famously refused to share his favourite verse.
