Liliputin-4968

Donald J. Trump selling bibles is like Dr. Hannibal Lecter selling cookbooks ... "
Oprah Winfrey


Liliputins. What, the heck, is this?
http://stihi.ru/2021/11/24/7101


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Donald Trump Selling Bibles Sparks Fury From Christians—'Blasphemous Grift'
Story by Khaleda Rahman •
03/27/24

Donald Trump holds up a Bible outside of St John's Episcopal church across Lafayette Park in Washington, DC on June 1, 2020. The former president has sparked the ire of Christians for selling Bibles for $59.99 ahead of Easter.
Donald Trump holds up a Bible outside of St John's Episcopal church across Lafayette Park in Washington, DC on June 1, 2020. The former president has sparked the ire of Christians for selling Bibles for $59.99 ahead of Easter.
© Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump's latest venture selling Bibles has sparked the fury of Christians.

Trump, who became the presumptive Republican nominee earlier in March, posted a video on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday urging his supporters to buy the "God Bless the USA Bible," inspired by country singer Lee Greenwood's patriotic ballad.


"Happy Holy Week! Let's Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless the USA Bible," Trump wrote in the post, alongside a link to a website selling the book for $59.99. It came a day after Trump seemingly compared his legal plight to Jesus Christ's persecution.

And it comes as he faces mounting legal bills while fighting four criminal indictments and a series of civil charges while running to reclaim the White House. On Monday, a New York appeals court agreed to hold off on collecting the more than $454 million he owes following a civil fraud judgment if he puts up $175 million within 10 days.
But the move has sparked the ire of Christians.

Trump selling copies of the Bible "during Holy Week like it's just one more overpriced Trump shoe or steak has really touched a nerve among voters—we've heard from many upset Faithful America members since his video appeared," the Rev. Nathan Empsall, executive director of Faithful America, told Newsweek via email.

"Seeing the indicted, would-be dictator, sell so-called 'patriotic' Bibles does provide a parallel to Holy Week, but it's not with Jesus," Empsall added.

Related video: Donald Trump flogs ;48 'God Bless the USA' Bibles saying 'it's my favourite book' (Metro)
who doesn't love his song God Bless The USA

"Trump is doing his best impression of the corrupt moneychangers who profited by ripping off worshippers. Today, much like Jesus overturning the moneychangers' tables, Christians are sick of seeing MAGA's false prophets twist our loving faith for an agenda of hatred and selfishness. The Bible is bigger than any politician, and if Trump really wants to talk about Scripture, I suggest he try actually reading it first. He might actually learn a few things about love, humility, money, and peace."

Others took to social media to express their anger.

"Trump Bibles. This guy and his followers who excuse this crap p*** me off. He has completely trashed our political party & now he's trying to ruin our faith community for his own ends," Heath Mayo, a conservative lawyer, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"If you're a Christian, please speak up & reject this. He's making a mockery of the flock."

Tara Setmayer, a senior advisor for The Lincoln Project, called it "more blasphemous grift."

"There's NOTHING 'holy' about selling Bibles 'endorsed by Trump,'" Setmayer wrote on X.

Another person wrote: "Total blasphemy. No true Christian would support a heathenistic huckster like Trump, who is mocking their religion."


Another wrote: "He is promoting the sale of trump bibles during our most holy week of worship. This is beyond blasphemous and disrespectful to Christians and I'm really p***** off."

Asked for comment about the backlash, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told Newsweek: "These are Never Trump idiots suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome."

The website selling the Bible bills the book as "the only Bible endorsed by President Trump!"

As well as a King James Version translation, it includes copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance, as well as a handwritten chorus of "God Bless the USA" by Greenwood.

The website also states that proceeds are not going to the Trump campaign.

"GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign," it says.

"GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not owned, managed or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Ventures LLC or any of their respective principals or affiliates. GodBlessTheUSABible.com uses Donald J. Trump's name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC, which license may be terminated or revoked according to its terms."

The Bible is the latest commercial venture that Trump has pursued while campaigning for the presidency. Last month, he promoted limited edition gold Trump-branded sneakers for $399.

He has also sold digital trading cards that portrayed him in cartoon-like images as a number of characters, including as a superhero, astronaut and NASCAR driver.

Update 3/27/24, 10:40 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the Rev. Nathan Empsall.

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***
Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a character created by the American novelist Thomas Harris. Lecter is a serial killer who eats his victims. Before his capture, he was a respected forensic psychiatrist; after his incarceration, he is consulted by FBI agents Will Graham and Clarice Starling to help them find other serial killers. Hannibal Lecter is a child of Lithuanian nobility and of the Visconti and Sforza families of Italy, and he is also a cannibalistic serial killer. He is highly intelligent and cultured, with refined tastes and impeccable manners. He is deeply offended by rudeness, and often kills people who exhibit bad manners; according to the novel Hannibal, he "prefers to eat the rude".[12] Hopkins described Lecter as the "Robin Hood of killers", who kills "the terminally rude".[13]

In the novel Red Dragon, protagonist Will Graham says that psychologists refer to Lecter as a sociopath "because they don't know what else to call him". Graham claims that "he has no remorse or guilt at all", and tortured animals as a child, but he does not exhibit any of the other criteria traditionally associated with sociopathy. Asked how he himself would describe Lecter, Graham responded, "he's a monster. I think of him as one of those pitiful things that are born in hospitals from time to time. They feed it, and keep it warm, but they don't put it on the machines and it dies. Lecter is the same way in his head, but he looks normal and nobody could tell."[14]

In The Silence of the Lambs, Lecter's keeper, Dr. Frederick Chilton, claims that Lecter is a "pure sociopath" ("pure psychopath" in the film adaptation). In the film adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs, protagonist Clarice Starling says of Lecter, "They don't have a name for what he is". Lecter's pathology is explored in greater detail in Hannibal and Hannibal Rising, which explains that he was traumatized as a child in Lithuania in 1944 when he witnessed his beloved sister, Mischa, being murdered and cannibalized by a group of deserting Lithuanian Hilfswillige, one of whom claimed that Lecter unwittingly ate his sister as well.

All media in which Lecter appears portray him as intellectually brilliant, cultured and sophisticated, with refined tastes in art, music and cuisine. He is frequently depicted preparing gourmet meals from his victims' flesh, the most famous example being his admission that he once ate a census taker's liver "with some fava beans and a nice Chianti" (a "big Amarone" in the novel). Prior to his capture and imprisonment, he was a member of Baltimore, Maryland's social elite, and a sitting member of the Baltimore Philharmonic Orchestra's Board of Directors.

In the novel The Silence of the Lambs, Lecter is described through Starling's eyes: "She could see that he was small, sleek; in his hands and arms she saw wiry strength like her own." The novel also reveals that Lecter's left hand has a rare condition called mid-ray duplication polydactyly, i.e. a duplicated middle finger.[15] In Hannibal, he performs plastic surgery on his own face on several occasions, and removes his extra digit. Lecter's eyes are a shade of maroon, and reflect the light in "pinpoints of red".[16] He has small white teeth[17] and dark, slicked-back hair with a widow's peak. He also has a keen sense of smell; in Red Dragon, he immediately recognizes Will Graham by his brand of aftershave, and in The Silence of the Lambs, he is able to identify through a plexiglass window with small holes the brand of perfume that Starling wore the day before. He has an eidetic memory with which he has constructed in his mind an elaborate "memory palace" to relive memories and sensations in rich detail.

Anthony Hopkins, the actor most closely identified with the character, said he played Lecter as "ultra sane, very still ... He has such terrifying physical power, and he doesn't waste an ounce of energy. He's so contained. He's all brain."[18] His performance was inspired by HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Critic Roger Ebert elaborated on this comparison: "He is a dispassionate, brilliant machine, superb at logic, deficient in emotions."[19] According to The Guardian, before The Silence of the Lambs, films portrayed psychopathic killers as "claw-handed bogeymen with melty faces and rubber masks. By contrast, Lecter was highly intelligent with impeccable manners".[12] In the same essay, Ebert wrote,

One key to the film's appeal is that audiences like Hannibal Lecter...He may be a cannibal, but as a dinner party guest he would give value for money (if he didn't eat you). He does not bore, he likes to amuse, he has his standards, and he is the smartest person in the movie...He bears comparison, indeed, with such other movie monsters as Nosferatu, Frankenstein...King Kong and Norman Bates. They have two things in common: They behave according to their natures, and they are misunderstood. Nothing that these monsters do is "evil" in any conventional moral sense, because they lack any moral sense. They are hard-wired to do what they do. They have no choice. In the areas where they do have choice, they try to do the right thing.[20]

***
03/27/24
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Story by Peter Weber, The Week US •
*Fullscreen button
"Let's Make America Pray Again"
"Let's Make America Pray Again"
© Shawn Thew / EPA / Bloomberg via Getty Images
What happened
Former President Donald Trump, about $4.5 billion dollars richer on paper after Trump Media started trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange Tuesday, posted a video on social media hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible." Trump licensed his name to the company selling the Bible, in partnership with country music star Lee Greenwood, and "is getting royalties from purchases," The New York Times said.


Who said what
"Happy Holy Week! Let's Make America Pray Again," Trump said above his promotional video on Truth Social.

The commentary
The Bulwark's Joe Perticone laughed at Trump's "insane levels of sacrilege" during Christianity's holiest week. Christianity Today's Russell Moore compared the video to Trump selling Israelites the idolatrous golden calf "for the low, low price of five easy installments of $19.99." "Instead of selling Bibles," said former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Trump "should probably buy one. And read it, including" God's commandment against adultery.
What next?
Trump Media shares ended Tuesday up 16%, valuing the company at nearly $8 billion. Few analysts think it will stay that high. Trump can't sell his shares for six months.

Related video: Trump selling Bibles amid legal troubles (FOX 32 Chicago)
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Former president turned Bible salesman.
CNN
'Make America pray again': Trump reveals he is selling Bibles
Former President Donald Trump is officially selling a patriotic copy of the Christian Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, “God Bless the USA.”

“Happy Holy Week!” Trump announced on social media Tuesday, during the most solemn period of the Christian calendar, the last week of the Lenten season marking the suffering and death of Jesus. “As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless The USA Bible.”


The concept of a Bible covered in the American flag, as well as a former president’s endorsement of a text Christians consider to be sacred, has raised concern among religious circles. It’s also raised questions about Trump’s motivations, as the former president finds himself in the middle of several expensive legal battles.
‘Sacrilege,’ theology, and the shadow of Christian nationalism
The $59.99 Bible, which was first published in 2021, features an American flag and the words “God Bless the USA” printed on the cover. Inside, it has the words to “God Bless the USA” and the text of The Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance and other historic American documents. Promotional material for the Bible shows the former president alongside country singer Lee Greenwood.

Responses to Trump’s social media announcement called the endorsement “sacrilege,” “heresy” and “borderline offensive” and cite lessons directly from the Bible that suggest taking advantage of people’s faith for money should be condemned.


“It is a bankrupt Christianity that sees a demagogue co-opting our faith and even our holy scriptures for the sake of his own pursuit of power and praise him for it rather than insist that we refuse to allow our sacred faith and scriptures to become a mouthpiece for an empire,” said Rev. Benjamin Cremer on X.

Jason Cornwall, a pastor from South Carolina, said on X that Trump’s Bible endorsement was a violation of one of the Ten Commandments of the Hebrew Testament that forbids taking God’s name in vain.

However, the criticism doesn’t end with whether or not Trump’s endorsement is un-Christian or not. In fact, it’s just the beginning.

Historian and author Jemar Tisby says the whole project echoes the values of Christian nationalism — the idea that America was founded as a Christian nation and the government should work to sanction Christianity on a national scale. The tenets of Christian nationalism are historically tied to prejudice, nativism and white supremacy.

“There’s a very long tradition of what is included and what is not included in the Bible,” Tisby told CNN.

“What has caused outrage with this Bible is that it includes the Declaration of Independence, US Constitution, and even the lyrics to a Lee Greenwood song. So it’s adding to the Bible, and it’s adding specific political documents to the Bible that completely erase the separation of church and state.”

Tisby, who holds a Master of Divinity Degree from Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, has written about the dangers of Christian nationalism — both for the country and the Christian faith.

“What’s so pernicious about this is it plays on people’s devotion to God and their love of country, either of which by themselves could be innocuous or even good,” he said.

“But in this effort, it is blending the two. And with Trump as the spokesperson, is conveying a very clear message about what kind of Christianity and what kind of love of nation (he is) promoting.”

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Trump takes the oath of office during his presidential inauguration in January 2017. - MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images
Trump takes the oath of office during his presidential inauguration in January 2017. - MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images
© Provided by CNN
When Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, communications director for the BJC Center for Faith, Justice and Reconciliation, saw Trump’s Bible endorsement, he said he saw a politician using fears rooted in racism and prejudice to promote a specific Christian ideology.

“When I hear ‘Make America Pray Again,’ I hear Christian nationalist promises that we are going to somehow ‘restore’ Christianity in this country. And if authoritarianism does come to the United States, it’s all but guaranteed it will be done in the name of Christianity, which is a very scary thought.”

Graves-Fitzsimmons holds a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City and also works with the group Christians Against Christian Nationalism. He says things like the “God Bless America” Bible overlook the many, many Christians who do not agree with Trump’s politics or the blending of patriotism with faith.

“There is a diversity within American Christianity that gets overlooked whenever politics and religion intersect,” he told CNN. “There’s this false notion that most American Christians are pushing for anti-abortion restrictions, and are anti-LGBTQ, and the opposite is actually true. Christians, I would argue, are the ones who are most concerned about the effects of Christian nationalism in this country.”

This version of the Bible has drawn controversy before
The “God Bless the USA” Bible drew controversy from community members and publishers when it was published in 2021. It was originally supposed to be published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing, but the company passed on the deal.

HarperCollins said in 2021 that pushback to the concept was not a factor in their decision. (Eagle-eyed Bible buffs will note this is why the Trump-backed tome uses the King James Version of the text, which is in the public domain. (HarperCollins holds US publishing rights to the bestselling New International Version translation of the Bible.)

Tisby has published three books under Zondervan, the HarperCollins imprint specializing in religious publications. He was among the imprint’s writers who tried to discourage them from publishing the “God Bless the USA” Bible when the idea was first introduced.

“We did not want to be associated with a publisher who’s going to publish a Bible like this,” he said. “And I think it took on an elevated sense of urgency because we’re not just talking about someone’s book. We’re talking about the sacred text of the Bible.”

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Singer Lee Greenwood performs during an election night party in 2018 for US Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn in Franklin, Tennessee. - Alex Wong/Getty Images/File

© Provided by CNN
While there are innumerable versions of the Bible — ranging widely in price, theme, and additions like indices, references, maps and graphs — this particular combination of the Bible and a beloved patriotic song is especially potent.

Such a notion doesn’t come as a surprise to David W. Peters, an Anglican vicar in Pflugerville, Texas. Peters served as an enlisted Marine Corps and Army Chaplain and was deployed to Iraq in 2005.

“I am reminded of how we closed every Marine Corps boot camp chapel service with Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’,” he told CNN. “We’d all sing and cry. The only emotional release in the week.”

He says the range of reactions to something like a patriotic Bible shows just how different American Christianity can be, depending on the denomination or community.

“I think the essence of liberal progressive faith is compassion, so it is mind boggling (to such people) how someone could say they were a Christian and follow a guy who is very much not compassionate.”

For people who view Christianity differently, or who are already unshakeable supporters of Trump, Peters says he doubts this latest incident will do anything to shake their faith.

“I think it will confirm (to them) that their critics are out of touch,” he said. “Why would anyone object to a Bible?”

It’s not clear where proceeds from the Bible’s sales will go
In addition to the multitude of theological questions it raises, Trump’s endorsement of the “God Bless the USA” Bible coincides with several legal battles that could put the presumptive Republican nominee for president on the line for hundreds of millions of dollars.

The FAQ section of the “God Bless America” Bible website clarifies that no proceeds from the sales of the Bible will go towards Trump’s presidential campaign. However, there is no mention of whether any proceeds could be put toward his personal legal troubles.

“No, GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign. GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not owned, managed or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Ventures LLC or any of their respective principals or affiliates,” the site reads.

However, it goes on to say Trump’s name, likeness and image are under “paid license from CIC Ventures LLC.” CIC Ventures is directly linked to Trump in his 2023 public financial disclosures.

CNN has reached out to EliteSource Pro, the marketing company behind the “God Bless the USA” Bible, for more information.

Trump has been criticized before for his use of the Bible in public settings. In 2020, religious leaders from several Christian denominations condemned his display of the Bible in a “photo-op” in front of an Episcopal church near the White House as racial justice protests raged around the country.

“You just don’t do that, Mr. President,” televangelist and vocal Trump supporter Pat Robertson said of the incident. “It isn’t cool!”

In 2015, Trump also called the Bible his favorite book, but famously declined to share a favorite verse.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com


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USA Bible founder says Trump endorsement means he believes 'same thing' as every American
Story by David Badash • 5h • 2 min read

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 WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - JANUARY 20: Outgoing US President Donald Trump waves to supporters lined along on the route to his Mar-a-Lago estate on January 20, 2021 in West Palm Beach, Florida (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images).
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - JANUARY 20: Outgoing US President Donald Trump waves to supporters lined along on the route to his Mar-a-Lago estate on January 20, 2021 in West Palm Beach, Florida (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images).
© provided by AlterNet
Amid the controversy of Donald Trump endorsing, promoting, and reportedly earning royalties from the “God Bless the USA Bible,” Lee Greenwood, the creator of the book, is speaking out to defend the ex-president.

He says there’s no difference between when Trump took the presidential oath of office by placing his hand on a bible, and now endorsing Greenwood’s version of the book, which sells for $59.99.


“You have to remember that when President Trump took his oath of office, he put his hand on a Bible to swear that he would defend the country and the Constitution,” says Greenwood, a singer-songwriter whose “God Bless the U.S.A.” has been used by many Republicans over the past few decades, with Trump playing it at his rallies.
Greenwood, speaking on the far-right media outlet Real America’s Voice, also says that Trump’s endorsement merely telegraphs that he believes the “same thing” that every other American believes.

READ MORE: Trump Brags NYPD Showed Him ‘Love’ at Slain Officer’s Wake

“This is just more of the same except for now, he’s actually telling the world and telling our country and all of its citizens, I will protect you and I will make sure that you know that I believe in the same thing you believe in, that this country was founded on faith.”

Related video: Trump selling bibles 'sends a message' to non-Christians: Bradley Onishi (MSNBC)
First it was sneakers and perfume.
MSNBC
Trump selling bibles 'sends a message' to non-Christians: Bradley Onishi
Not all Americans are Christian. A survey last month found seven out of 10 Americans oppose or are skeptical of Christian nationalism. And experts – not to mention founding father John Adams – have said America was not founded as a Christian nation.

In 2022 religious liberty expert Amanda Tyler, the executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC), told the Center for American Progress, “I believe that the single biggest threat to religious freedom in the United States today is Christian nationalism.”

Nor do all Christians support Trump’s endorsement of the “God Bless the USA Bible.”

READ MORE: ‘Hunger Games at NBC News’: New McDaniel Revelations Have ‘Enraged’ Staffers, Report Says

“Catholics on social media criticized Trump for using the Bible to make a buck, with some saying that if the real estate mogul thought it was so important for every American to have a Bible, then he should give it away for free — instead of selling it for $59.99,” The National Catholic Register reports. “For others, the most egregious offense was that the God Bless The USA Bible packaged the divinely inspired Word of God together with political documents, mixing the sacred and the profane.”

Watch Greenwood’s remarks below or at this link.


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