Florida Sen. Marco Rubio found himself responding to charges that he tweets the “most Republican part of the Bible” over the weekend.
A Politico op-ed published on Sunday asserted that Mr. Rubio and his peers favor the Old Testament’s book of Proverbs because it is “Republican” in nature. Professor Joel Baden of Hebrew Bible at Yale Divinity School suggested the lawmaker’s tweets constitute a form of confirmation bias.
“Some of the statements in Proverbs look strikingly similar to those made by modern-day conservative policymakers,” the author wrote Sunday. “Take, for example, Representative Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), who, arguing that poorer people should pay more for health care, recently said, ’Those people who lead good lives, they’re healthy.’ “
“It’s not quite a direct quote from Proverbs, but it’s not too far from these: ’The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry’ (Proverbs10:3) and ’A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich’ (Proverbs 10:4). In short: Proverbs is probably the most Republican book of the entire Bible.”
Mr. Rubio seemed befuddled by the piece’s premise.
“Proverbs is the Republican part of the bible? I don’t think Solomon had yet joined the GOP when he wrote the first 29 chapters of Proverbs,” the senator tweeted to his 2.73 million followers.
Mr. Baden then suggested the lawmaker should diversify his biblical tweets.
“One might advise Rubio to read, and tweet, more widely: from Ecclesiastes, perhaps, or from prophets such as Amos: ’Because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of stone — but you shall not live in them’ (Amos 5:11),” the author wrote. “Maybe Leviticus: ’When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him.’”
Proverbs is the Republican part of the bible?I don’t think Solomon had yet joined the GOP when he wrote the first 29 chapters of Proverbs. https://t.co/2bGhkGwoqH
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 9, 2017
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.