What I’d like to say to President Trump about the Bible
I’d tell him a secret I learned from Eugene Peterson.
During a 2016 radio interview, then candidate Donald Trump was asked if he had a favorite Bible verse that impacted his thinking and character. “An eye for an eye,” he said quickly, in reference to Exodus 21:24. “If you look at what’s happening to our country, how people are taking advantage of us, we have to be firm and have to be very strong.” Never mind that most Jewish scholars don’t believe this verse teaches the pure retribution Trump suggested. His interpretation of “an eye for an eye” has proved fundamental to his self-understanding.
Fast-forward four years, through assorted compliments to various authoritarian leaders around the world, and on June 1, 2020, Trump delivered a Rose Garden address. “I am your president of law and order,” he told a nation reeling from days of protest and unrest over the police killing of George Floyd. Within minutes of announcing that the military would “dominate the streets,” his attorney general ordered flash grenades, tear gas, and rubber bullets to clear peaceful protesters and clergy from the street in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church across from the White House.
Protesters had no idea this sudden assault on their lives was to clear the way for a presidential photo op in front of the church. The bizarre scene featured the president holding a Bible with an awkwardness that will be remembered for a long time.
