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At one time or another, almost every politician in America has made a reference to the Bible…usually to support their political agenda or to show how “Christian” they are. But sometimes, their references to Scripture aren’t exactly “biblical.”
Of course, some seem to do it more frequently than others.
Take President Obama’s administration for example. While speaking about his upbringing that was centered on morality and faith, the leader of the free world said, “Those who wait on the Lord will soar on wings like eagles, and they will run and not be weary, and they will walk and not faint.” (The actual quote from Isaiah reads, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”)
Granted, it’s not a really big mistake, but unfortunately for President Obama, he was addressing those in attendance of the annual National Prayer Breakfast.
Whoops.
But that wouldn’t be the last time a member of the White House misquoted the Bible…that same year.
On November 2nd, Press Secretary Jay Carney was defending President Obama’s earlier statement, “I trust in God, but God wants to see us help ourselves by putting people back to work,” to members of the press corps. Carney tried to lend his support by saying, “I believe the phrase from the Bible is, ‘The Lord helps those who help themselves.’”
Ummm…no, it’s not.
In fact, neither that phrase, nor anything like it, appears in the Holy Bible. It was an embarrassing mistake on Carney’s part, but not an uncommon one. Numerous surveys, including those from Christian pollster George Barna, have shown that most Americans believe that particular phrase is scriptural.
Sadly, America – its politicians included – has moved so far away from the values of Christianity that many of them can no longer even distinguish between what is and what is not biblical. Until our nation places more emphasis on (truly) understanding the Word of God, we can expect more of these public blunders by our public servants.
Click here for the online report about President Obama; click here for the online report about the Press Secretary.
Topics Illustrated Include:
America
Bible
Embarrassing
God’s Word
Leadership
Mistake
Misunderstanding
Politicians
Politics
(Resource cataloged by David R Smith)
