In a telling interview with a Rochester, New York radio station, Republican Presidential front-runner Donald Trump revealed the Bible passage which has most informed his thinking-- An Eye for an Eye.
Naturally, Mr Trump did not spew out the exact scriptural reference, so for all he knew it was the Code of Hammurabi instead of the Book of Levitucus 24:19-21. It's not exactly something that one would hear about from Two Corinthians (sic). Nor did Trump appreciate how St. Augustine marked it as a controversial passage showing the vengeful nature of the Old Testament.
An eye for an eye is known as the Lex Taliones (Latin for Law of the Talon) for a law of retaliation which today has particular relevance in tort law, for translating non-economic losses into money.
Considering Trump's public persona, which craves flattery but lashes out when others' oppose him and his persistent pugilism, Trump's memory verse rings true. Trump's candid scriptural citation certainly peers into what burnishes his soul.
Elections certainly ought to be about vetting ideas of how to govern the polity. But they can also act as a measure of a man's character. To install a leader of the free world who swears by lex taliones may make being a pirate commonplace.
Cavaet emptor.
Considering Trump's public persona, which craves flattery but lashes out when others' oppose him and his persistent pugilism, Trump's memory verse rings true. Trump's candid scriptural citation certainly peers into what burnishes his soul.
Elections certainly ought to be about vetting ideas of how to govern the polity. But they can also act as a measure of a man's character. To install a leader of the free world who swears by lex taliones may make being a pirate commonplace.
Cavaet emptor.
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