So, this popped up in my twitter feed this morning:

As we near #Christmas, Christians reflect on the meaning of Jesus’ teachings of love, forgiveness, and caring for others.

They asked Trump which Bible verse inspired him. He chose an Old Testament verse Jesus spoke out against: “An eye for an eye,” reflecting his vengeful soul. pic.twitter.com/d9gIRYSD2I

— Bryan Dawson (@BryanDawsonUSA) December 23, 2018

The tweet is new, but apparently the news is old.  I Googled it just now, and it looks like the quote is from years ago.  But it also looks legit.  This really is a real Trump quote.

From Politico (2006); Trump's favorite Bible verse: 'Eye for an eye'

And actually, a search through my own archives indicates I've used this before.  It was in the context of an IELTS lesson, so I just prompted my students to discuss the issue, and didn't editorialize about it myself.

But, for some reason I never went on a rant about this before.  So I'm probably overdue for a rant.

I complained way back in 2008 that the fact that this Bible verse keeps popping up as a conservative talking point indicates that conservative Christians aren't actually reading their Bibles.  To quote myself from 2008:

Back in my Calvin days, I can’t tell you the number of times a conservative Christian would try and justify the death penalty to me by quoting from the Bible “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” It used to drive me crazy because (as anyone whose actually read the bible knows) Jesus specifically repudiates this in Matthew 6:43 “You have heard that it was said ‘Eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also….”
I’m digressing here I know, but this is one of my pet peeves. 

Makes me absolutely furious how little Christians know about their own doctrines. I'd rant about itt more, but what can you do?  We are living in times when things have gotten so stupid that it's almost a waste of energy to get outraged about things like this.

I guess we'll I'm on the subject, I might as well through in a link to GOP Jesus.  Even though I know you've probably seen it already.



The joke has of course been done before.  Al Franken riffed on this same theme with "The Gospel of Supply Side Jesus" in his book: Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them

Al Franken's "Supply Side Jesus" comic - animated