facebook-pixel

Letter: The Trump Bible is a dangerous, profit-making scheme that meshes patriotism with Christianity

The Bible doesn’t say, “God Bless America,” but it does say, “For God so loved the world.”

President Donald Trump holds a Bible as he stands outside St. John's Church across Lafayette Park from the White House in Washington on June 1, 2020, after law enforcement officers used tear gas and other riot control tactics to forcefully clear peaceful protesters from the area. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The Trump Bible promotes American nationalism as America’s religion, as opposed to Christianity promoting Jesus as being the center of its religion.

Instead of Jesus being the light of the world, in Trump’s Bible, American nationalism becomes the hope and messianic force, which has its own theology, manifest destiny and American exceptionalism. This is why it is dangerous to mesh patriotism with Christianity. The Bible doesn’t say, “God Bless America,” but it does say, “For God so loved the world.”

Just as the national anthem should not be in the hymnal, the Pledge of Allegiance should not be in the Bible. The Bible, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are historical documents, and along with Lee Greenwood’s song, are being used as a package to make a profit on information that is freely available to anyone. The King James version of the Bible is only used in this scheme because of copyright laws classifying it as public domain, and this Trump Bible can only be purchased from Trump’s and Greenwood’s website, making it their personal profit.

People are paying for something that they can get for free, because of their patriotism and American nationalism, and which will probably never be read and just put on the mantle.

Rawn Swallow, Salt Lake City

Submit a letter to the editor