After angering Christians all week, Trump will read from the Bible as a publicity stunt
The “America Reads the Bible” stunt reveals everything wrong with Christian Nationalism
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In the latest effort by conservatives to spread the lie that we live in a Christian Nation, members of the Trump Administration will be participating in a week-long Bible recitation. It’s part of an initiative called “America Reads the Bible,” taking place at the Museum of the Bible, to commemorate “250 Years of the Bible in America.”
Donald Trump, fresh off posting an AI image of himself as Jesus healing a Jeffrey Epstein-lookalike and getting into a one-sided flame war with Pope Leo, will be joining in the action, perhaps in an attempt to do some damage control.
A recording of Trump reading a verse from the Old Testament will be released next week as part of a celebration of the Bible, organizers of the event said Friday.
One of the organizers of the event said Trump will be reading a passage that includes 2 Chronicles 7:14, a section about repentance:
… if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
I guess that makes sense. If the man lies during every speech and press conference, he might as well read a Bible verse he doesn’t believe in either.
It’s not like they were going to ask him to read the Sermon on the Mount.
Or anything from the Gospels.
And they sure as hell weren’t going to ask him to follow the message of Jesus because he’s never been interested in that. So I guess this is the next best thing for the right-wing Christians who have latched onto a man now being dubbed the Antichrist by many on the right.
I’m glad they’re recording it. It might be the only proof we ever get of Trump actually opening up the book.
Other administration officials are also participating in the charade:
In addition to the president, the lineup features several Cabinet officials and Republican lawmakers, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; White House chief of staff Susie Wiles; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins; Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum; and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
If they really wanted to troll everyone, they would have Hegseth read Ezekiel 25:17.
In a saner world, the people who cause as much harm in the world as that group does would never be asked to hold a Bible, much less read it, but conservatives have gone all in on hypocrisy. That’s why the organizers wouldn’t even address the fact that Trump is participating in this event after a week spent pissing off countless Christians with his online antics:
Bunni Pounds, the founder of Christians Engaged and an organizer of the Bible event, welcomed the president’s participation and declined to weigh in on the controversies — though she noted that the president’s reading might be relevant.
“It’s a scripture about repentance,” Pounds said. “None of us are perfect.”
(I’ll give you a moment to come to terms with her name.)
And while no one’s perfect, the rest of us at least put in some damn effort, unlike Trump, who goes out of his way to be cruel and chaotic. That the people organizing this event won’t denounce his actions tells you a hell of a lot more about their values than some reading of the Bible that no one will ever listen to in full because why would anyone ever subject themselves to that?
On a side note, the recording by Trump is reportedly two-and-a-half minutes long. But 2 Chronicles 7:14 only takes a few seconds to read. That means he’s probably reading a longer passage that includes that verse in which God appears to Solomon. That section includes a part in which God threatens those who disobey Him.
… But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them… This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
Maybe that is the perfect passage for Trump to read. The organizers just don’t realize why.
More broadly speaking, this event isn’t really about honoring the Bible. It’s about projecting power over non-Christians. The fact that so many self-described Christian leaders are participating in the performance—when they would be appalled by a Democrat even citing a verse from the Qur’an in a speech—tells you everything you need to know about their intentions.
If any of these people actually gave a damn about Christianity, they wouldn’t be reading a section of a book they’ve never bothered to read in full for an audience that’s never going to listen to them. They would talk from the heart about things like humility, repentance, compassion, and the vulnerable. But the same dishonest, cruel authoritarians who only care about Christianity to the extent that it keeps them in power don’t actually care about following any of the lessons from the faith. They don’t care if they have a leader shaped by the Bible; they just want one who knows how to use the Bible to control everyone else. That’s what Christian Nationalism is all about.
… 𝑖𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑚𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒, 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑘 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠
There's at least a 50% chance that Trump thinks this is about people turning to him.
Further Thought: I can't help but notice there's a whole lot of emphasis from the Trump administration on reading the bible, and damned little emphasis on reading the Constitution. Why do you suppose that is?