I generally avoid political commentary. While I have voted when called upon, I am neither a card-carrying Conservative or Liberal,[1] I am a Christ - follower. I like to stay politically informed, but when Christianity aligns itself with political power it inevitably falls on the wrong side of power. However, when America’s most renown grifter, Donald Trump announced that in addition to his hocky NFT’s, his Victory47 Cologne 99$, his “Never Surrender” Golden High-Top sneakers (399$) he is now hawking a “God Bless the USA" Bible for the low, low cost of 59.99$ it is difficult to remain silent.
On the website this Bible is described as an,
"Easy-to-read, large print, and slim design, that invites readers to explore God’s Word anywhere, any time. This bible is designed so that it delivers an easy reading experience in the trusted King James Version translation. This large print Bible will be perfect to take to church, a bible study, work, travel, etc."
This Bible also features a copy of:
· Handwritten chorus to “God Bless The USA” by Lee Greenwood
· The US Constitution
· The Bill of Rights
· The Declaration of Independence
· The Pledge of Allegiance
In the accompanying online ad, while Trump unequivocally states the Bible is his favorite book, when asked in a previous interview if he could name a single verse, he deferred because it is something too personal.
At this stage unfortunately it is not a stretch to imagine that Trump has never read his favorite book, and if he has, he missed a few pages. In the older Testament what comes to mind are commandments against lying, adultery, profaning the name of God ((Exodus 20:2-17, Deuteronomy 5:6-21), keeping for yourself the wages of a laborer (Leviticus 19:13), mocking those that are physically disabled (Leviticus 19:14), slandering your people (Leviticus 19:16), and oppressing the alien who resides with you in your own land. “The alien shall be to you as the citizen among you.” (Leviticus 19:33,34) And in the New Testament he must have slipped by the Beatitudes, “blessed are the pure in Spirit”. But I digress, that is not why I venture into this unsavoury arena. It is clear Trump's endorsement of the Bible is for his own personal political and financial agenda.
And from a marketing point of view, I get it. Publishers want to sell Bibles even if that is repeatedly to the same people. I have many. And Trump wants to buy votes. And there is a ready market among many self-described evangelicals who feel they are under siege and identity with his MAGA (make America Great Again) populace. Here I suspect a “God Bless the USA” Bible on their coffee table functions in the same way wearing a red MAGA ball cap does.
Rather my interest in this Bible endorsement goes back to an earlier posting I made in reference to the French literary critic Gerard Genette’s’ extensive research on the influence of the paratext, namely that liminal device within and outside the book, (title, commentary, translation, forwards, preface, cover, endorsement etc.) which controls one’s reading of the text. Yes, says Genette we do judge books by their cover. The point of his research is not about avoiding the paratext, it is understanding how the paratext influences in direct or indirect ways the reading of any book let alone the Bible.
Regarding the Bible, the arrangement of chapters and verses are paratexts (16th century), translation is a paratext, the cover of the Bible is a paratext (leather bound? gilded pages?) illustrations, concordance (what verses are included and excluded) and even endorsements are paratexts. (Buy this Bible and you belong to a special group, in this case a very particular MAGA group.) If one was simply looking to undo the separation of Church and the State in the USA, the American Patriots Bible has been out (2009) for some time. It is said to chronicle the key godly events that have made America great by connecting three important elements: the teachings of the Bible, the history of the United States, and the connection it has to our lives today. The Patriot’s Bible would not be one I am inclined to add to my own collection but if one really thinks the USA is that city on a hill, go for it.[2] I would however, skip the commentary but at least read the Bible.
Of course I am not anti-bible, nor am I anti-King James. Although today my “go to” Bible is an NRSV translation, my Thomas Chain reference Bible gifted to me by my parents during my Bible College days (70s) is proudly displayed in my home library. It still has the best long-lasting binding of all my Bibles. 😊
It is, however, not surprising that the God Bless the USA Bible comes only in the King James version (KJV). While the KJV might be short on accuracy (it uses the limited number of MSS documents available at the time of its translation) it is long on poetry but for the purposes of MAGA, it is arguably used because this translation is also long on nostalgia. It is the Bible my parents used and probably their parents as well. And MAGA is all about resurrecting a mythical past.
The problem however, with nostalgia writes philosopher James K. A. Smith is its selected amnesia. It can lead to an act of deliberate forgetting that leads to arrested development and a disordered orientation to the future.[3] In biblical terms it is the desire to go back to Egypt where we forget we were once slaves/aliens, but remember the fish, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; we used to eat in Egypt.[4] In American terms, MAGA likes to recall its earlier “family values,” at the expense of forgetting its history of slavery, racism, patriarchy and so on. This is not the fault of a KJV, but it is being used in this way.
At this point I can only hope, maybe Trumps’ converts will use this occasion to read the Bible. Maybe when they get to Genesis 3.7 like Adam and Eve “their eyes will be opened” this time to the claims of the gospel - love of God and your neighbour. And maybe when they read the Easter story, they will come to terms with the three people condemned on Golgatha that day. In the middle is Jesus, who pronounces “forgive them for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:39-41). Accompanying Jesus on either side are two criminals, one of which derided Jesus saying, “Are you not the Messiah? (loser[5]) Save yourself and us!’ 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’
This past Easter among his 77 posts on his Truth Social, Trump wrote, (all caps his) HAPPY EASTER TO ALL, INCLUDING CROOKED AND CORRUPT PROSECUTORS AND JUDGES THAT ARE DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO INTERFERE WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2024, AND PUT ME IN PRISON, INCLUDING THOSE MANY PEOPLE THAT I COMPLETELY & TOTALLY DESPISE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DESTROY AMERICA, A NOW FAILING NATION, LIKE "DERANGED" JACK SMITH, WHO IS EVIL AND "SICK," MRS. FANI "FAUNI" WADE…”
I am compelled to ask of the three men on the crosses that day, which one does Trump best represent? If one chooses Jesus or the criminal expressing contrition, owning a God Bless the USA or any other bible I contend will probably be of little use.
[1] Over the years I have voted at one time or another for Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, and the Green Party. If I was an American, I guess I would be classified as an independent.
[2] In President Ronald Reagan’s 1989 farewell address he said, “I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind, it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.” That said, whatever else one might think of his vision It is a long way from Trumps “build that wall” to keep out the migrant rapists, and vermin, poisoning the blood of America.
[3] James K. A. Smith, How to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now, (Brazos Press: 2022):38. (As Tony Soprano once put it, 'Remember when’ is the lowest form of conversation.”) P.39.
[4] Numbers 11:5
[5] Of course, the text does not use the word “loser” but Trump’s repeated snubbing of wounded veterans could easily lead to this claim with Jesus on the cross. "Save yourself."
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