In 2015 a group of ministers were sitting around wondering how/when to respond to the vitriol pouring forth from then candidate Donald Trump. The quandary was whether to ignore him, or to respond to every incident. (Who could do that?)
That has remained an issue! I have tried (many would argue with that) to be very limited in speaking out, in writing out. There have been times—his abusive treatment of immigrants, his declaring Canada a hostile country (we were living there!) his vast misrepresentation of other faiths—when I just couldn’t keep silent.
But this!
I don’t have the time to respond. It is Holy Week. At Kernersville Moravian Church we have 10 services in 8 days. It is exhausting. It is brain and soul draining. I don’t have time!
But…
There are times when silence is not an option!
This week, this week candidate and former President Donald J. Trump added another commodity he was to hawk. Add it to the wine, the steaks, the university, the airline, the sneakers. But this time!
He is selling the “God Bless America Bible.”
No, you can’t make this up! Though it sounds like something Saturday Night Live would create (and I am sure it will be a sketch) it really is true! Donald Trump, he of “Two Corinthians” fame; who cannot tell his favorite verse in the Bible; who has violated at least 7 of the 10 Commandments; who can’t say whether he is a Old Testament or New Testament person; who wasn’t sure how to hold a Bible outside a church.
THIS Donald Trump is selling Bibles!
What he doesn’t say is that he gets a cut of each Bible sold.
That would be enough for most people, but what set me off is that he isn’t just selling Bibles! He is adding to it! This red-letter, KJV of the Bible also includes the Declaration of Independence the Constitution of the US, and the Bill of Rights! As a part of the BIBLE!
If there had ever been any question as to whether or not he had ever read the Bible this is proof. Just read Deuteronomy 4:2, in the KJV:
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
Or perhaps Revelation 22:18-19
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Forget the grift of this. Forget the politicization of this. This is pure blasphemy.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines blasphemy as
1
a
: the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God
b
: the act of claiming the attributes of a deity
2
: irreverence toward something considered sacred or inviolable
This is a time in which every minister, pastor, priest, rabbi cannot remain silent. We must renounce this blasphemy.
What does your minister say?