Opinion: Donald Trump's God Bless the USA Bible an affront to our multi-religious nation

Our former president has announced that he is publishing a God Bless the USA Bible, complete with copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Pledge of Allegiance and the lyrics of Lee Greenwood’s hit song “God Bless the USA.” It even has the American flag on the cover and sells for only $59.99.

Of course, anyone can get a bible for free at most any church in the United States, and copies of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution for free at any Republican or Democratic county headquarters. The bibles may be in different translations, according to what particular church you get them from. Trump’s version is the King James Version, the only one in “public domain” that he did not have to pay for the right to publish.

Everyone would do well to read the Bible, especially Donald Trump and his Christian Nationalist supporters. No doubt some of them have read the scriptures, maybe even cover to cover, but there may be some passages that they missed, skipped over or maybe forgot.

MAGA folks might begin by reading Revelation 22:18: “I warn everyone who hears the words of prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book.”

The former president, his followers and publishers might want to check this out, because those plagues are fearsome.

But, how could they have missed Jesus’ famous comment, “You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free,” (John 8:32) especially given the thousands of verified lies that our former president has told. They might also note one of the Ten Commandments: “You shall not bear false witness.” Then, of course, there is that other commandment, “You shall not commit adultery.” Knowing that is one of God’s laws could have saved Trump a lot of trouble.

Jesus gave us some remarkable beatitudes: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness” does not leave much wiggle room for those who want to dodge responsibility for their crimes and misdeeds. “Blessed are the poor in spirit” is a rebuke to those who are arrogant, self-absorbed and power hungry.

Christian Nationalists and their hero might also want to re-read a well-known story in Mark 13:17. Jesus’ adversaries ask whether they should pay their taxes to Rome and he answers: “Show me a denarius” (Roman coin), and when they do, he asks, “whose image is on the coin?” They respond, “Caesar’s.” Jesus’ response is classic: “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s.” Pay your taxes, but your ultimate loyalty is to God, not Caesar or any wannabe.

This famous quote is an ancient validation of what our nation’s founders felt was so crucial that they made it the first clause of our Bill of Rights, namely, the separation of church and state. Since the Bill of Rights is conveniently located in their new Bible, MAGA folks can easily look it up. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”Christian Nationalists clearly want to do both.

MAGA folks make clear that they intend to establish the dominance of their religious views and force everyone to conform to them. The Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs case (which eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion) is an obvious example as it makes a particular theological doctrine the law of the land. Our laws have never before considered fetuses and fertilized eggs as human persons. That decision has led to the chaos we now see in courts, states and hospitals as women’s health care needs are denied.

The gross conflation of religion and nationalism in the God Bless the USA Bible is an affront to the Constitution and to our nation’s basic values. It is an affront to the multi-religious nation that we have been since our founding and that is a hallmark of our religiously and ethnically diverse and dynamic society. It is just this diversity that the former president and his supporters want to thwart. To do so while hawking a Bible, the message of which is diametrically opposed to their own, is outrageous and offensive.

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Rev. Rollin Russell is a retired pastor of the United Church of Christ and professor at Lancaster Theological Seminary.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Opinion: Trump's God Bless the USA Bible is outrageous and offensive