Posted on 04/18/2016 6:26:47 AM PDT by shortstop
He was wrong on the theology.
But he’s not running for pastor in chief. He’s running for commander in chief.
And if you’re eight months away from possibly swearing in as president, maybe you weigh and calculate your answers in a way not obvious to the rest of us.
I’m talking about Donald Trump and the answer to a question I asked him last week. In the run up to the New York presidential primary, he called in to WSYR radio in Syracuse and I got to speak to him for a few minutes. I asked him several things over a variety of subjects.
One of those things was, basically, “What’s your favorite Bible verse?”
His answer ambled a bit. It began and ended with praise for the Bible, but in the middle he expressed some admiration for “An eye for an eye.”
I cringed when he said it. So did others. The next day Buzzfeed reported the answer, and that led to a media flurry that culminated with reporting on Fox and ABC.
Most of the reporting pointed out that that verse – “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” – is known by most folks because Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount specifically repudiated it. He called his followers to a higher standard, and famously commanded them to turn the other cheek.
The answer seemed to bear out the perception that Donald Trump’s knowledge of the Bible and traditional Christianity are sparse.
I was embarrassed by the attention the answer drew. Small-time reporters – of which I am one – sometimes pathetically try to draw attention to themselves by asking some trick question of prominent people. I don’t believe in that. Interviews are not some contest between me and the guest, they are opportunities for listeners to hear directly from candidates and others. The questioner is merely a facilitator. I was grateful for Donald Trump’s time, and though my questions were rigorous, they were not gotchas.
But this one ended up being played like a gotcha.
Though that carries with it an assumption that may not be correct. Namely, that Donald Trump is so dense that he doesn’t even know how to answer a simple Bible question.
One of the ironies of Donald Trump is that he is either really smart or really dumb, and you’re never really sure which one it is. There is something inscrutable about him and his abilities. Sometimes I wonder if that is on purpose. I wonder if his years of business and negotiations have led him to adapt a non-threatening posture, coming off like a potential goof, in order to gain an advantage.
For example, though the “Eye for an eye” quote is being cited as proof of Trump being a blockhead, there is very little else in the interview that would support that conclusion. In fact, he handled the rest of the conversation with a purposeful, intelligent, skilled focus.
He spoke to me in a classic technique reminiscent of Carnegie and Covey graduates – he used my name, he repeatedly tied his priorities with mine, and he used a courteous, gracious and collegial tone. Further, he turned almost all of my questions back to his specific campaign points for upstate New York. He was always on point, he was always in command, he was always delivering message.
So why do we presume he wasn’t doing that when he said, “An eye for an eye?”
Why do we presume that he gave that answer for evangelicals in the heartland?
Why couldn’t he have given that answer to send a message not to domestic voters but to international adversaries?
What if that wasn’t for the pastor, but was for Putin?
What if Donald Trump believes that next year this time he will be president of the United States and responsible for the security of this country? What if he, in that crazy-like-a-fox way that he seems sometimes to have, threw that answer out there to communicate to our adversaries the policy of his administration?
What if he was telling Putin or the Chinese or the Iranians or the Cubans or the jihadis that on Inauguration Day America was going to grow a pair?
I’m a little embarrassed that my question ended up in the online news feeds.
But I’m proud that it probably ended up in Trump dossiers compiled by foreign intelligence agencies.
I want them to know that the man apt to be the next president of the United States believes in “An eye for an eye.”
Or, in the new American translation, “You eff with us, and we’ll eff with you.”
Because that attitude, understood by the bad guys, will help keep them on their side of the line. It will keep America and the world safer. It will end a season of American weakness and capitulation – the twin inviters of attack. It sends the message that the next president will fight for America, if need be.
Trump’s answer was bad theology, but it was good statesmanship.
He’s not running to save your soul, he’s running to save your country.
There is nothing wrong with Trump’s bible reference:
“You must show no pity for the guilty! Your rule should be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
Deut. 19:21
“an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot,”
Exodus 21:24
The Old Testamant IS part of the Bible.
Not to be terribly difficult, but the eye-for-eye (EFE) bible quote is generally misused by everyone. I’m even convinced that Jesus was addressing that same misunderstanding.
EFE is about civil punishment if one checks the old testament. It refers to a punishment being commensurate with a crime. You don’t take a life for a tooth. Justice requires taking no more than a tooth for a tooth.
So, Jesus was addressing people misusing a legal prescription and saying it meant they could take revenge for harm they perceived having happened to themselves. Jesus is saying that in personal relationships that forgiveness is better than vengeance.
He is not talking about international relations or about criminal law. In THOSE areas the wisdom of EFE still applies. A punishment/retaliation should be in proportion to the crime. We still practice this in our law and it is reflected in our Constitution that forbids cruel and unusual punishment. It is preserved in just law theory that calls for proportionality of response.
That’s not to say Trump understands all this, but he might. I have no way of knowing.
Kjam, While Donald Trump may not have read enough of the Bible to satisfy you, he demonstrates at every rally that he understands the important part. We are to love one another. Anyone who can’t see that Donald Trump is filled with the Spirit is either not paying attention or is on the other side. I hope you are just not paying attention.
Agree.... I think Trumpy uses it to justify “I’m a counter puncher. If they hit me, I hit them back even harder.” It is how he lives his life. But I’m just guessing about Trumpy based on what I’ve seen of him and what I’ve heard him say.
Wait?? We are/were supposed to put out a literal eye or knock out a literal tooth?! Just checking.
At the end meant to type just war theory but mistakenly typed just law.
Jesus is my King.
Whats wrong with saying that?
None of this is to say the EFE quote isn’t his favorite bible verse. It might be. It would make him a good general if he understands it correctly and a bad friend if he doesn’t.
That was the limitation. The MOST their justice system could justly impose for a knocked out tooth is a tooth.
Bullseye. Good post. Thanks.
LOL
They really knocked out a tooth, for instance?
I would interpret his response as “ I don’t have a favorite verse but I heard about this eye for an eye thing so I’ll use that”.
Based on his statements he doesn’t go to God for guidance or help. So he probably doesn’t put an importance on Gods Word.
Yes, in foreign policy this is sometimes referred to as a “proportional response”.
Whether Trump intended the phrase “an eye for an eye” to be taken in the Biblically correct “proportional” sense or the incorrect “payback” sense,either way I think it was far more appropriate than “Turn the other cheek”.
The Christian ethic of “turning the other cheek” may be central to an individual Christian’s salvation, but it has no place in the lexicon of a commander in chief.
Forgiveness is a personal thing. A President does not forgive on behalf of the citizenry. In fact, it kind of reminds me of Obama’s apology tours. Apologies are also personal. I don’t want my President apologizing or forgiving on my behalf - that’s for me to do. A commander in chief should be acting according to policies and protocols solely in the interest of the nation, not according to some higher spiritual calling that transcends nationality. We very much need that in the world, but that is not the job of the President.
Any Christian who would say they’re an American first, and a Christian second isn’t a Christian.
I imagine. There’s a lot about the avenger of blood and about cities of refuge. An avenger of blood could take your life if you didn’t make it to a city of refuge. If the leaders of that city believed your action to have caused an accidental death, then you could live there. If they didn’t, they kicked you out, and the avenger of blood could then take life for life. I have no biblical example of a tooth for tooth, but they sound serious about this elsewhere.
Forget it man, I don’t think he is going to understand what you are saying anymore than Trump would.
He said. He loves God in that same interview, but that wasn’t reported. Nor did he say he never asked for forgiveness.
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