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From the beginning, our Founders quoted Scripture, mostly because they were devout Christians, but even those who were not known to be devout---Franklin and Jefferson in particular, often made reference to the Bible---quoting Scripture.
However, in their time, there was a Christian consensus in American culture, and their Scripture citing was rooted in the belief that God would help and bless us if we properly recognized Him and His Word.
Today, the so-called religious Left is regularly misusing Scripture to authenticate non-biblical actions by quoting the Bible.
William Shakespeare wrote, "The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose."
So can liberal progressives.
It was Shakespeare in the Merchant of Venice who wrote, "The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart, O' what a goodly outside falsehood hath."
Shakespeare is right. In Matthew 4 and Genesis 3, the devil is doing just that---quoting Scripture for his own purpose.
On Earth Day a couple of years ago, Nancy Pelosi infamously "quoted the Bible" saying, "The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, to 'minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.' On this Earth Day, and every day, let us honor the earth and our future generations with a commitment to fight climate change."
She has repeated this claim a number of times. There is nothing even close to that in the Bible. The Bible says man is to "subdue" the earth and he has been given "dominion" over God's Creation.
Stewardship and management of the earth. Not worship.
This is a combination of Gaia---the worship of Mother Earth, eastern mysticism and nonsense.
Paul Wilson wrote an excellent article for Media Research Council a couple of years ago titled, "Rewriting the Bible: The Gospel According to Liberals."
It's worse now than it was then.
When progressives have an agenda to push, they'll use any tool at hand. They rail against the presence of religion---especially Christianity---in civic life, often mocking Christians as "Taliban" agitating for theocracy.
But other times, they find faith to be a handy weapon to bludgeon conservatives. And they'll go so far as to reinterpret and rewrite the Bible to justify any progressive cause, no matter how outrageous.
In 2010, MSNBC news anchor Melissa Harris-Perry summed up this strategy by calling for progressives to "re-imagine the Bible as a tool of progressive social change."
The Huffington Post gushed in reporting that the Bible contains "all kinds" of "liberal, lefty, progressive values."
Harris-Perry's "re-imagining" of the Bible has become standard procedure for those who seek to "transform" the culture.
Progressives---politicians, journalists and leaders of the religious Left--- have "quoted" the Bible in advocating for socialism, homosexual "marriage", abortion and a host of other progressive ideas.
Washington Post contributor Anthony Stevens-Arroyo argued that the Bible was the inspiration for Karl Marx's dictum, "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."
A Huffington Post contributor has claimed that Jesus was homosexual, saying, "Christ lives in every individual of every different shade of sexual orientation and gender identity."
Writer Nynia Chance with RH Reality Check has said that the Bible supported abortion---"There's times where the Bible states God commands that one [abortion] take place."
Academics and journalists have actively changed the words and content of the Bible to further their ideology.
A few years ago, "anonymous" editors created the" Queen James Bible" that "resolved any homophobic interpretations of the Bible"---their words, not mine.
You may recall a year of so ago the media hyped a small papyrus fragment indiscreetly titled, "Gospel of Jesus' wife," which claimed Jesus had been married, wile they hid the evidence that the fragment was a hoax. On "Good Morning America," ABC's Elizabeth Vargas even reported that the fragment was a "real life Da Vinci Code."
Take a few moments and read Wilson's in depth article on how the progressive Left twists the Bible and the Truth. It's informative and will give you a more clear understanding when you hear or read the news or watch entertainment.
Progressives regularly dismiss the Bible as repressive and irrelevant.
Seattle's own Dan Savage told a crowd of 3000 teenagers at a journalism convention in Seattle, "The Bible is bull s__t."
But the progressives are also opportunistic. Just as progressives become federalists when its constitutionally convenient, they become Bible scholars when they believe it can be used as a "tool of progressive social change."
Recently when President Trump announced his new budget, the progressive Left began quoting Scripture citing the Bible to support their socialistic views and attack the president for cutting funding for "meals on wheels," which his budget does not do.
Kristen Powers, formerly with Fox News, now with CNN and part of the religious Left, immediately began attacking the president with Scripture regarding his budget. Powers tweeted, "You don't have to be a Christian or believe in Jesus to know that Christians are called to feed the hungry," citing Matthew 25.
All Christians want to help as many people as possible, and that is proven every time there is a natural disaster or crises---Christians are the first to show up, however, God has not called nations to socialism. Nor is Matthew 25 about nations feeding the hungry. Jesus is instructing Christians to "care for the least of these"---in direct reference to other Christians.
Some hypocrisy is more blatant.
In the 2015 Democratic Convention, Elizabeth Warren also cited Matthew 25. Her interpretation was, "The passage teaches us that God is in all of us and we are called to action---not sit, not to wait---but to act, all of us together."
Ironically, it was this same convention that went into an uproar, yelling and booing the insertion of "God" into the Party platform.
From the garden of Eden, to the days of the biblical prophets, to New Testament times, to 2017, there has always been an attempt to twist Scripture and twist Truth. It will continue as long as time continues.
Among the warnings in the New Testament, the warning against false doctrines or false teaching is emphasized more than any other---even love or unity.
Matthew, John, Paul and Jude all address the issue.
It was Jesus who said (Matt. 7:15), "Beware of false prophets, who come in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves."
Much of His ministry involved confronting the false teachers of His day.
He warned (Matt. 24:4-5), "See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name saying 'I am the Christ' and will mislead many."
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant.