title:  When Asked What His Favorite Bible Lesson Is, Trump Settles On The One With Facial Mutilation
text: Of all the biblical teachings Donald Trump could choose from, the Republican front-runner landed on the one best known for telling people to be vindictive.Donald Trump was a guest on WHAM 1180 AM when he got a question that by now he should have prepared for and somehow still clearly hasn t: What s your favorite Bible verse? Trump s flailing response speaks volumes.When host Bob Lonsberry asked him what passage particularly  informed  his character, Trump stumbled around before finally landing on  eye for an eye. Well, I think many. I mean, when we get into the Bible, I think many, so many. And some people, look, an eye for an eye, you can almost say that. That s not a particularly nice thing. The adage goes that crimes should be punished by committing an equally severe punishment on the transgressor. If a victim loses an eye, then the assailant should have his ripped out. Notably, the New Testament is steadfastly against this form of justice. Even worse, Trump may very well think the founder of Christianity was weak for not agreeing with him. Jesus Christ famously condemned the practice and instead suggested people learn to turn the other cheek. You have heard that it was said,  AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.  But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. The  eye for an eye  model isn t even unique to Judeo-Christian tenets. Long before Judaism, the Sumerians were doing the same. Needless to say, in the intervening thousands of years, legal codes and moral philosophers have evolved beyond this crude form of punishment. It seems part of Making America Great Again means rewinding ethical progress by about 4,000 years.During his interview he pivoted from the Bible to saying America is an embarrassment for not being more vengeful. If you look at what s happening to our country, I mean, when you see what s going on with our country, how people are taking advantage of us, and how they scoff at us and laugh at us. And they laugh at our face, and they re taking our jobs; they re taking our money; they re taking the health of our country.And we have to be firm and have to be very strong. And we can learn a lot from the Bible, that I can tell you. Astonishingly, this isn t even the first time Trump has gotten a softball religious question and managed to strike out. Earlier, he said his favorite quote from the Bible was  never bend to envy  a line which does not appear in the Bible. In this respect, Trump is getting a bit better. At least the things he s citing now actually exist   even if they are the values Jesus deliberately spoke out against.But then who can blame Trump for being biblically illiterate, isn t there something in there about Heaven, camels, eyes of needles, and billionaire real estate tycoons?Featured image by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images