Former President Donald Trump is selling his God Bless the U.S.A. Bibles for $59.99, plus shipping and taxes. It was printed in China, at a cost of slightly under $3.00 each (ap.org/news-highlights/best-ofthe- week/second-winner/2024/ ap-traces-the-printing-of-trumpsgod- bless-america-bibles-to-thecountry- he-accuses-of-stealingamerican- jobs-china/).
Trump’s Bibles have a picture of the American flag on the cover and contain the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the lyrics to Lee Greenwood’s song, God Bless the U.S.A. The Bible is the King James Version, which is in the public domain with no royalty fee. Copies signed by Trump sell for $1,000 each.
How do you feel about this? Donald Trump has been involved with many ventures, such as selling steaks, vodka, gold sneakers, watches, and coins with his image. The defunct “Trump University” was fined $25 million dollars for deceiving people who paid to attend on-line classes in something that had no resemblance to an accredited institution of higher learning (www.foxnews.com).
I have read the Bible through more times than I can remember, beginning when I was old enough to understand big words. I revere it as God’s Word. It is the basis for my values and faith. Warning bells went off when I learned about Trump’s Bible. I immediately remembered teachings in the Scriptures.
When Jesus saw the Temple desecrated by men who were exploiting those who came to worship, He overturned the money changers’ tables and drove out the cattle and sheep. “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” (John 2:14-16, NIV).
Beginning early in the Bible, warnings to not add or take away anything in God’s Word are numerous, such as, “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you” (Deuteronomy 4:2 NIV).
This recurring theme of respect for the written Word of God culminates in the final message of the Bible. While exiled on the Island of Patmos, Apostle John wrote, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book (Revelation 22:18 NIV).
One of the Ten Commandments says, “Thou shalt not take the name of the lord thy God in vain…” The old Jewish scribes, when copying the scrolls, washed ceremonially and used a new quill before writing “Yahweh” (www. gracetranscendingthetorah.com/ scrolls/writing-gods-name).
Kimberly Burnam told of a Jewish friend’s 6-year-old daughter whose prayer book fell onto the floor as she slept. Her parent awakened her the next morning, picked up the book, and put it on the bookshelf. The child got up, took the book, and kissed it. “You have to kiss it when it falls on the floor because it contains the name of God,” she said (Kimberly Burnam, Ph.D., reformjudaism.org/blog/writingtorah- and-honoring-name-of-god, December 16, 2015).
These two examples of outward expressions by scribes and the child reveal an inner reverence. Jews would consider it sacrilegious to trivialize the Torah [the Old Testament] by adding a political agenda to it. I also find Trump’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible objectionable because it deletes all Amendments to the Constitution after the Bill of Right, specifically Articles Eleven through Twenty-Seven. These include the laws that a President cannot hold the office for more than two terms; that citizens’ right to vote shall not be denied because of race; that all persons born or naturalized here are citizens, and how a President can be removed from office.
It is incomprehensible why theseAmendmentswereomitted from the Trump Bible. The only logical conclusion I find is because these are things in our Constitution that Trump has opposed in tweets and rallies.
Robert Alter, an emeritus professor of Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, wrote: “Seeing the Bible as it is meant to be seen—as a vehicle meant to prompt learning and introspection— makes it clear how shameful Trump’s exploitation of the Bible for monetary and political end is. To wrap it in a flag—any flag—and turn it into a rallying point for a political agenda, is what some biblical writers would have called an abomination before the Lord” (forward.com/opinion/ 597886/trump-usa-bibleanalysis- robert-alter/).
Professor Alter stated my feelings exactly.
Perhaps the only sentence Donald Trump is familiar with in his Bible is found on the last page. It says concisely in three words, “Made in China.”