LETTER: Trump Bible the idea of a grifter

I would like to comment on the new Trump Bible, which includes the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Many religious thinkers today, including Evangelical pastors, are condemning this as being blasphemous and heretical.

It probably is those things but the problem that I have with it is purely historical.

First of all, many of the founding fathers had very Deist beliefs. This includes Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, and Madison. These were men of the Enlightenment. To combine religious and governmental or political documents would have been anathema to the way they thought. Afterall, one reason for the American Revolution was that the colonists were trying to break away from the authoritarianism of the Church of England sponsored by the English Parliament. They wanted all religions to be respected by not respecting or recognizing any one particular religion in the Constitution.

The Treaty of Tripoli forged by Washington and Adams — “the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.”

Franklin — “Lighthouses are more useful than churches.” and “Whoever shall introduce into public affairs the principles of primitive Christianity will change the face of the world.”

Jefferson — “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”

What do we make of this Trump Bible then? It is obviously the idea of a grifter. One who preys on the gullibility of those who know neither the basic tenants of their faith nor history of their country. If you truly love your faith and your country read these works separately. The Bible is there for our relationship to God. The Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights is there for our governmental relationship to each other.

Antonio Flores

Rio Rancho