Donald Trump signed Bibles in Alabama. Heresy? Many religious leaders say no
President Donald Trump was just doing what he could to raise spirits when he signed Bibles at an Alabama church for survivors of a tornado outbreak, many religious leaders say, though some are offended and others say he could have handled it differently. Hershael York, dean of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary School of Theology in Louisville, Kentucky, said he didn’t have a problem with Trump signing Bibles, like former presidents have, because he was asked and because it was important to the people who were asking. “Though we don’t have a national faith, there is faith in our nation, and so it’s not at all surprising that people would have politicians sign their Bibles,” he said. “Those Bibles are meaningful to them and apparently these politicians are, too.” But the Rev. Donnie Anderson, executive minister of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, said she was offended by the way Trump scrawled his signature Friday as he autographed Bibles and other things, including hats, and posed for photos. She viewed it, she said, as a “calculated political move” by the Republican president to court his evangelical voting base. Presidents have a long history of signing Bibles, though earlier presidents typically signed them as gifts to send with a spiritual message. President Ronald Reagan signed a Bible that was sent secretly to Iranian officials in 1986. President Franklin Roosevelt signed the family Bible his attorney general used to take the oath of office in 1939. It would have been different, Anderson said, if Trump had signed a Bible out of the limelight for someone with whom he had a close connection. “For me, the Bible is a very important part of my faith, and I don’t think it should be used as a political ploy,” she said. “I saw it being used just as something out there to symbolize his support for the evangelical community, and it shouldn’t be used in that way. People should have more respect for Scripture.” York said that he, personally, would not ask a politician to sign a Bible, but that he has been asked to sign Bibles after he preaches. It feels awkward, he said, but he doesn’t refuse. “If it’s meaningful to them to have signatures in their Bible, I’m willing to do that,” he said. A request for comment was left with the White House on Saturday, a day after Trump visited Alabama to survey the devastation and pay respects to tornado victims. The tornado carved a path of destruction nearly a mile wide, killing 23 people, including four children and a couple in their 80s, with 10 victims belonging to a single extended family. At the Providence Baptist Church in the Beauregard community in Alabama, the Rev. Rusty Sowell said, the president’s visit was uplifting and will help bring attention to a community that will need a long time to recover. Before leaving the church, Trump posed for a photograph with a fifth-grade volunteer and signed the child’s Bible, said Ada Ingram, a local volunteer. The president also signed her sister’s Bible, Ingram said. In photos from the visit, Trump is shown signing the cover of a Bible. Trump should have at least signed inside in a less ostentatious way, said the Rev. Dr. Kevin Cassiday-Maloney. “It just felt like hubris,” said Cassiday-Maloney, pastor at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Fargo, North Dakota. “It almost felt like a desecration of the holy book to put his signature on the front writ large, literally.” He doesn’t think politicians should sign Bibles, he said, because it could be seen as a blurring of church and state and an endorsement of Christianity over other religions. It would have been out of line if Trump had brought Bibles and given them out, but that wasn’t the case, said James Coffin, executive director of the Interfaith Council of Central Florida. “Too much is being made out of something that doesn’t deserve that kind of attention,” he said. Bill Leonard, the founding dean and professor of divinity emeritus at the Wake Forest University School of Divinity in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, woke up to Facebook posts Saturday morning by former students who were upset about Trump signing the Bibles because they don’t view him as an appropriate example of spiritual guidance. But, Leonard said, it’s important to remember that signing Bibles is an old tradition, particularly in Southern churches. Leonard said he would have viewed it as more problematic if the signings were done at a political rally. He doesn’t see how Trump could have refused at the church. “It would’ve been worse if he had said no because it would’ve seemed unkind, and this was at least one way he could show his concern along with his visit,” he said. “In this setting, where tragedy has occurred and where he comes for this brief visit, we need to have some grace about that for these folks.” Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
State Sen. Tim Melson pre-files bill to teach Bible classes in Alabama public schools
An Alabama lawmaker has pre-filed a bill in the state legislature that would allow the Bible to be taught as an elective for grades six to twelve. Florence-Republican, State Sen. Tim Melson has pre-filed SB14, which would allow teachers to teach without feeling as though they may be brekaing the law. He intentionally made the course and election option to steer clear or any potential lawsuits challenging church and state. Melson’s bill would also allow public schools to display artifacts, monuments, symbols, and texts related to the study of the Bible if displaying these items is appropriate to the overall educational purpose of the course, and would require the State Board of Education to adopt rules and policies to implement the requirements of the bill. And it looks like Melson’s not the only state lawmaker that would like to see the bill passed. “If students choose to study Biblical literacy as an elective in school, then there is no reason why that should not be allowed,” Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh said in a statement. “This bill simply allows students to study artifacts, monuments, symbols, and text related to the study of the Bible.” “I applaud Senator Melson for sponsoring this bill and I thank President Trump for bringing this issue to national attention,”continued Marsh. “I look forward to working on the passage of this bill in the upcoming session.” Marsh is referring to the fact President Donald Trump recently tweeted his support of similar bills being filed across the country that would allow for Bible literacy classes in schools. “Numerous states introducing Bible Literacy classes, giving students the option of studying the Bible. Starting to make a turn back? Great!” Numerous states introducing Bible Literacy classes, giving students the option of studying the Bible. Starting to make a turn back? Great! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2019 The 2019 legislative sessions begins March 5.
Ted Cruz spox resigns over fake Marco Rubio Bible insult
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has asked his campaign spokesman to resign for tweeting a story that falsely alleged Marco Rubio insulted the Bible. Cruz tells reporters he asked for Rick Tyler‘s resignation. Rubio has blasted Cruz for the incident and asked whether Cruz would fire anyone involved. Cruz says Tyler is “a good man” and deleted the tweet once he found it was false. Cruz is telling reporters: “We are not a campaign that is going to question the faith of another candidate for president.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Julie Delegal: We get drunk on Donald Trump, the Bundy brothers
Go ahead, America. Tie one on. Let’s get it out of our system: our sick and ailing body politic. Let’s see how drunk we can get on the likes of Donald Trump and the Bundy brothers. Let’s stagger around in swagger, enjoying the warm rush of bravado that only our American concoction can deliver. Then, let’s sober up and get down to the real business of governance. The political brew of our times — a strong swirl of xenophobia, religious bigotry, gun rights, and trickle-down economics — is, in the end, poison. It’s a specially fermented brand of identity politics, designed to extract votes from white, working-class people. The elixir helps us take our minds off the bigger, more pressing issues: our nation’s evolving role in a very scary world, and the forever-changed nature of work. Automation; overseas outsourcing; corporate dominance; cheap labor markets in the Third World; an entire sector that makes its money by gambling on Wall Street; and a broken, completely monetized electoral system: All of these things threaten to derail the American dream. And that makes us anxious. So we drink our bad brew and look around for people to blame for our struggles: Mexican immigrants. Syrian immigrants. Muslims. Gay people. Black people. Feminists. Atheists. People who don’t follow the right interpretation of the Bible. And, of course, the government. Forty years of this noxious mash has led us to a near-fatal stupor. What other than the political equivalent of “beer goggles” would prompt the eminently reasonable John McCain to pick Sarah Palin as his running mate? What else could bring us to the point where potential GOP-presidential nominee Donald Trump is seriously advocating a religious test for new immigrants? Oh, but that tough talk is so intoxicating! What a nice, nostalgic-for-high-school buzz the nation got when Palin poked fun at Obama’s “mom jeans.” What warm, heady laughs America enjoyed when Trump insulted everyone from supermodel Heidi Klum (“no longer a ‘10’”) to actor Robert DeNiro (“not Albert Einstein”). Trump saved his worst insult, however, for his biggest rivals, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. According to the reality-TV boss who can slam Muslims and leap tall buildings in a single day, Bush and Clinton are “low energy.” Maybe they’re introverts. Maybe they’re contemplative. Maybe, as my Grandma used to say, “Still waters run deep.” While Trump, by contrast, just runs. What other but our toxic, electoral swill could embolden a treasonous band of armed insurgents to take over a federal building in Oregon? Gun-toting ranchers are occupying the building at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, just outside the township of Burns. Their leader is Ammon Bundy and his two brothers, all sons of the domestic terrorist from Nevada, Cliven Bundy. Dubbed “armed protesters” by the news media, these insurrectionaries are angry that a federal court ruled against their fellow ranchers, convicted arsonists Dwight and Stephen Hammond. The court lengthened the Hammonds’ sentences for burning federal lands. The Bundy brothers, like their father, are turning land management disputes with the federal government into questions of territorial sovereignty. And while they say they don’t intend to harm anyone, they came armed, and have promised to defend themselves as necessary. That’s not peaceful protest. It’s armed insurgency. By calling for other “patriots” to come help locals “claim back their land,” the Bundy brothers are setting the stage for an armed conflict similar to their father’s Nevada standoff over impounded cattle. After the standoff, Cliven Bundy found conservative-media celebrity, which he promptly used to share his racist views with the rest of America. He claims that his states’ rights views were a revelation from God. We’ve gone around the bend, our country has, and it’s going to take more than 30 days in detox to bring us back. It’s going to take every peace-loving defender of the U.S. Constitution to stand up and say, “No more,” not only in print, but at the ballot box. Only We the People can do this. Our would-be leaders, faced with armed traitors challenging the authority of the United States government, have chosen to remain silent. They stand to lose votes, you see, for the presidency of a government that their constituents claim is illegitimate. Will we destroy ourselves with identity politics? Or will we get sober, quit blaming the “other,” and try to figure out how to make America work better for everyone? Right now, we seem to want to continue our indulgence. The first step toward healing, it is said, is admitting we have a problem. • • • Julie Delegal, a University of Florida alumna, is a contributor for Folio Weekly, Jacksonville’s alternative weekly, and writes for the family business, Delegal Law Offices. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida. For more state and national commentary visit Context Florida.
