Which Bible Verse Should Obama Pick?
I just finished reading an interesting article concerning the tradition of the President choosing a Scripture reference upon which to place his hand upon while taking his oath of office.
According to Gleaves Whitney, a presidential historian at Michigan’s Grand Valley State University, II Chronicles 7:14 was used for three swearing-in ceremonies: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
In this season of economic distress, however, the president-elect may prefer to follow the lead of Franklin Roosevelt. When FDR first took the oath of office in 1933, the country was reeling under the crushing weight of the Great Depression.
“Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment,” Roosevelt said in his inaugural address.
If Obama wants to stress that theme again on January 20, he may prefer to follow Bill Clinton’s lead from the 1997 inaugural and open the Bible to Isaiah 58:12: “Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations, and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach.”
If you have the time, you can read through the article here.
This got me thinking, which verse should Mr. Obama choose? I think this quotation from the KJV would be appropriate:
My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change: – Proverbs 24:21
Any other ideas for a good verse to use?
What do we know about that man to be allowed to use Lincoln bible. His religion, we don’t even know what religion he practice. If anyone going to call trinity church a church with that Rev. Wright, is mistaken. That is not a church, its a group of radicals gather under one roof. He is a christian on his mother side, and a muslim on his father side,and it didn’t matter if he practice it or not. How about his native-born status. His mother was a citizen of the United States, and his father is a citizen of Kenya. According to the constitution he is not a native born, therefore he is not qualify to be president. How about his senate seat, he didn’t know about the corruption that was going on, or he was just sitting there playing crosswords puzzules. And they going to let him use president Lincoln bible. History in the making right. I don’t know which history, American history or African history.
I forgot that I have a verse for him “Thou shall not kill”. As an African he can stop the genocide in Darfur. As an American he can bring the troops home as he promised, in 16 months.
How about Ezekiel 23:18-20, which reads “When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister. Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.” (NIV) Can you imagine what the reaction would be?
Here are a few verse I like from Exodus 21:
[21:2] “… When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.”
[21:7-8] “When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.”
[21:26-27] “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free for the eye’s sake. If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free for the tooth’s sake.”