PREVpolitics0 Skeptic's Annotated Bible / Quran / Book of Mormon

Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God. Jeremiah 42:6

Trivia: Who broke Jeremiah's wooden yoke?

Politics in the The Bible

Since it's an election year (2012), I thought I'd start a new SAB category: Politics.

Here's the first verse, used by Senator James Inhofe to prove that human-caused climate change does not exist.

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. Genesis 8:22
I'll be adding more verses as I come across them, so you'll start to see them now and then in the SAB.

    Genesis

  1. "Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over ... every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
    This verse is used to justify Christian opposition to birth control, concern for the environment, and animal rights. The earth was made for humans, and they can do as they damn well please with it. Ann Coulter says, presumably using this verse as for justification, "God gave us the earth. We have dominion over the plants, the animals, the trees. God said, 'Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It's yours.'" 1:28
  2. "To dress and keep it"
    Some believers claim that this verse requires them to be environmentalists. 2:15
  3. "Am I my brother's keeper?"
    Quoted by President Obama at the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast, implying that the answer is, "Yes, we are our brother's keeper," although Cain probably meant something more like, "I don't know, it's not my day to watch him." 4:9
  4. "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."
    Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) claims that this verse proves that human influenced climate change is impossible. 8:22
  5. "I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."
    According to David Barton, this verse requires the US to support Israel. 12:3
  6. God gave Abraham and his descendants all of the land of Canaan "forever". This promise is still used to justify the unending battles over the land in the Middle East. 13:14-15, 15:18, 17:8, 22:17-18, 26:4
  7. Exodus

  8. "Thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers."
    Only Christian men should be rulers. 18:21
  9. In his November 20, 2014 speech on immigration, President Obama quoted this commandment, saying, "Scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger -- we were strangers once, too." 22:21, 23:9
  10. "The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel."
    The Christian Right uses this verse to justify an absolute flat tax, where everyone, rich or poor, pays the same dollar amount in taxes. 30:15
  11. Leviticus

  12. "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."
    This verse is inscribed on the Liberty Bell and was used by abolitionists in their fight against slavery. Leviticus 25:10
  13. Numbers

  14. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, the first freethought/democracy martyrs, refused to follow Moses blindly, saying that everyone is holy and should be free to think for him or herself. God killed them and their families for daring to challenge Moses. 16:1-35
  15. Deuteronomy

  16. God will choose the king (and he won't be a foreigner). 17:15
  17. The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. 28:43
    (See here for an example of how this verse is used to justify the mistreatment of immigrants by bible-believers.)
  18. Choose life (!) 30:19
  19. Joshua

  20. Scott Pruit, Trump's former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, quoted this verse to justify preventing EPA scientists from serving as scientific advisors if they have previously obtained EPA funding for their research. 24:15
  21. 2 Chronicles

  22. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray ... then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
    The Christian Right uses this verse to argue for a Christian Nation. But it can also be interpreted to mean that Christians should pray, not vote. 7:14
  23. "Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD."
    Hate the sinner and vote for Christians -- or God will pour his wrath out on you. 19:2
  24. Ezra

  25. David Barton at Glenn Beck's "University" says that this verse is the basis for the American Founding Fathers' decision not to tax churches. 7:24
  26. Psalms

    This verse is often used by Bible believers to argue against the separation of church and state.

  27. "Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his days be few; and let another take his office."
    A prayer for Christian terrorists. 109:8-9
  28. Proverbs

  29. "A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just."
    The Religious Right uses this verse to oppose estate taxes. 13:22
  30. "He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want."
    A verse for the 47%. 22:16
  31. "The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it." 29:7
  32. "Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy."
    President Obama quoted these verses at the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast to show why Christians (unlike Mitt Romney) should care about the poor. 31:8-9
  33. Jeremiah

  34. Christians often cite this verse as biblical proof that a fetus is a person. Their rationale is if God knows us in the womb, then fetuses are people, too. Of course, they overlook the verses that show God's willingness to kill both the born and unborn. 1:5, 22:3
  35. Ezekiel

  36. "The prince shall not take of the people's inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of their possession; but he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own possession: that my people be not scattered every man from his possession."

    This verse is sometimes used to justify protecting the rich from taxation. 46:18

  37. Zechariah

  38. "In that day ... all the people of the earth be gathered together against it."
    According to Michele Bachmann, this prophecy was fulfulled on July 20th, 2015, with the signing of the Iran nuclear agreement.
    (So soon, no doubt, we'll see the astonished blind horses and mad riders that God promises to send in the next verse.) 12:3
  39. Matthew

  40. "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath." Isn't this from the Republican Party platform? 13:12
  41. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
    Quoted by Elizabeth Warren in her 2012 Democratic National Convention speech. 25:40
  42. Mark

  43. "For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath." -- The US Republican Party motto 4:25
  44. From his comments on the widow's mites, it appears that Jesus favored progressive taxation. 12:41-43
  45. Luke

  46. "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have." Jesus was the first Republican. 8:18
  47. "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more."
    Quoted by President Obama at the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast, in support of increased taxes on the wealthy. 12:48
  48. "Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him." These verses are used by Republicans to justify protecting the rich from taxation. 19:24-26
  49. "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's."
    Pay your taxes. Keep state and church separate. 20:25
  50. From his comments on the widow's mites, it appears that Jesus favored progressive taxation. 21:1-3
  51. Acts

  52. The early Christians were the first communists, living a life that was the exact opposite of George Bush's "ownership society." 2:44-45
  53. Imagine no possessions: The early Christians were communists. (See 5:1-11 for the dark side of Christian communism.) 4:32-35
  54. Romans

  55. The Religious Right often uses Romans 1:21-25 to condemn environmentalists. 1:21-25
  56. David Barton says there will never be an AIDS vaccine because AIDS is God's punishment for AIDS. 1:27
  57. "Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil."
    Robert Jeffress, one of President Trump's advisors, uses this verse to say that "God has given Trump authority to take out Kim Jong Un." 13:3
  58. Paul says you should pay your taxes and honor the government. 13:6-7
  59. 2 Corinthians

  60. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 3:17

    One of the most-quoted verses in the Bible. It is also one of the most absurd.

  61. "For your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men ... Thanks be to God."
    God loves liberals! 9:13-15
  62. 1 Thessalonians

  63. "The trump of God" 4:16

    Donald Trump is the trump of God -- or so says WND, anyway. Donald Trump is God's final warning to America.

  64. 1 Timothy

  65. "The law is not made for a righteous man, but ... for them that defile themselves with mankind."
    The religious right says that these verses require that homosexuality be illegal. 1:9-10
  66. Buffet Rule Bible verse
    "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be ... ready to distribute." 6:17-18
  67. Wisdom

    God gives power to kings.

    Those who are in power should love wisdom.

    God has chosen me to be king, and told me to build a temple.

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