{"id":13097,"date":"2019-03-11T13:00:45","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T17:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=13097"},"modified":"2019-03-11T13:00:45","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T17:00:45","slug":"president-trump-criticized-mocked-signing-bibles-residents-alabama-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2019\/03\/president-trump-criticized-mocked-signing-bibles-residents-alabama-church","title":{"rendered":"President Trump is Criticized and Mocked after Signing Bibles for Residents at Alabama Church"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Gage<\/a>
Gage Skidmore\/Flickr.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

President Donald Trump did something that some are praising him for and others are criticizing him for – he\u00a0autographed the Bibles of Alabama residents devastated by a recent tornado outbreak.<\/p>\n

Trump met with first responders and survivors at a Baptist church in the eastern part of the state, after tornadoes left a path of destruction a mile wide and killed 23 people.<\/p>\n

While many are outraged by his decision to sign these Bibles some even calling it heresy, many religious leaders are pointing out the fact that it\u2019s an age old tradition and that it was helpful for those who wanted him to sign them.<\/p>\n

According to the Associated Press, Hershael York, dean of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary School of Theology in Lousiville. Kentucky, said he didn\u2019t have a problem with Trump signing Bibles, like former presidents have, because he was asked and because it was important to the people who were asking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough we don\u2019t have a national faith, there is faith in our nation, and so it\u2019s not at all surprising that people would have politicians sign their Bibles,\u201d he said. \u201cThose Bibles are meaningful to them and apparently these politicians are too.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the flip side, there are people who were offended by Trump\u2019s actions. According to the Associated Press, Rev. Donnie Anderson, executive minister of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, said she was offended by the way Trump scrawled his signature as he autographed Bibles and other things, including hats, and posed for photos. She felt it was a \u201ccalculated political move\u201d by the Republican president to ignite the evangelical voting base.<\/p>\n

Religious leaders aren\u2019t calling heresy as presidents have a long history of signing Bibles, including presidents Ronald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt. Earlier presidents typically signed them as a gifts with a spiritual message.<\/p>\n

During the president\u2019s disaster tour, he passed wrecked homes and fallen trees en route to the Baptist church. There he thanked volunteers and commented on the destruction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw things that you wouldn\u2019t believe,\u201d Trump told reporters.<\/p>\n

Following the visit to the church, Trump met privately with relatives of those who were killed by the tornado including a family that lost 10 people. After this, first lady Melania Trump and the president visited a memorial to the victims.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We want to know what you think.<\/h3>\nTake Our Survey<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump did something that some are praising him for and others are criticizing him for – he\u00a0autographed the Bibles of Alabama residents devastated by a recent tornado outbreak. Trump met with first responders and survivors at a Baptist church in the eastern part of the state, after tornadoes left a path of destruction…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":565,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2499,1660,2498,2500],"class_list":["post-13097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian","tag-breaking-christian-news","tag-christian-news","tag-president-trump-president-trump-signs-bibles","tag-tornado-victims"],"yoast_head":"\nPresident Trump is Criticized and Mocked after Signing Bibles for Residents at Alabama Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2019\/03\/president-trump-criticized-mocked-signing-bibles-residents-alabama-church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President Trump is Criticized and Mocked after Signing Bibles for Residents at Alabama Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Donald Trump did something that some are praising him for and others are criticizing him for – he\u00a0autographed the Bibles of Alabama residents devastated by a recent tornado outbreak. 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