*A pro-Trump pastor (Mark Burns) addressing a conservative conference last week used his interpretation of Bible passages to suggest that the right should use violence if necessary to return former President Donald Trump to the White House in 2024.
Burns quoted from the Bible several times to justify the use of violence while speaking at a ReAwaken America Tour event, which kicked off Thursday (May 18) at the Trump National Doral in Miami and will travel across the country, reports Newsweek. Several high-profile conservative speakers are on the bill, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
“You got to get to the point where you realize that when they smack you in the face you smack them back two times harder,” Burns told the Doral crowd Thursday, citing Matthew 5:38-40, which actually reads, “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”
Burns then noted that the “Bible says the violent take it… and we take it by force,” in reference to Matthew 11:12, which actually reads, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”
Commenting on the speeches delivered to crowds at the ReAwaken America Tour, ADL Director Jonathan Greenblatt described those remarks as “objectionable” and “offensive.”
“It’s outrageous, and it’s all together ordinary in Trump world,” he added on Friday during an appearance on MSNBC. “People like Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, these are the people who make the ReAwaken America tour what it is, this combination of conspiracy theories, anti-vax fantasies, and rank antisemitism all the way through.”
The ReAwaken America Tour has faced criticism over its embrace of right-wing conspiracy theories and Christian nationalism, with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) describing it as “a series of controversial far-right conferences.” Baptist minister Brian Kaylor posted a clip of Burns preaching to the ReAwaken America crowd to denounce his rhetoric.
Pastor Mark Burns preaches the hope of a second coming of Donald Trump during ReAwaken America at Trump Doral. He also calls for war as he rewrites Bible to cut “turn the other cheek” (which Trump world does often: https://t.co/pt4zezjvKy) pic.twitter.com/EFBBT56JHc
— Brian Kaylor (@BrianKaylor) May 12, 2023
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