S5, Ep. 23: The Bible doesn’t need Trump’s endorsement

Respecting Religion

When former President Donald Trump announced during Holy Week that he was endorsing the “God Bless the USA” Bible, the reaction was swift. But, beyond the punchlines and the obvious concerns, Amanda Tyler and Holly Hollman discuss why the video is concerning to our current political moment and the continued rise of Christian nationalism. Not all examples are this obvious – what does this mean to those important conversations?

Segment 1 (starting at 00:38): Why is this a problem?

The New York Times has more about the video and the marketing in this article by By Michael Gold and Maggie Haberman: Trump’s Newest Venture? A $60 Bible.

Segment 2 (starting at 08:11): Reacting to the video pitch

You can watch the video endorsing the Bible at this link on YouTube.

Amanda and Holly talked about using the Bible as a prop and the idea of “divinely inspired” founding documents in episode 21 of this season, titled “But … is it Christian nationalism?”

Dr. Jemar Tisby shared about how he and other authors worked to stop an earlier version of this Bible in an article on his Substack: Three Years Ago We Stopped Harper Collins/Zondervan from Publishing the "God Bless the USA" Bible

Segment 3 (starting at 26:44): Understanding how this is part of a larger political strategy

Holly read from this piece by Michael C. Bender in The New York Times: The Church of Trump: How He’s Infusing Christianity Into His Movement

Amanda discussed her experience attending the ReAwaken America tour in episode 22 of season 4.

Amanda read from this piece by David French in The New York Times: Trump is no Savior

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