Nancy Pelosi loves to quote a Bible verse that isn't actually in the Bible at all
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a habit of quoting a line that she says is from the Bible but does not, in fact, appear anywhere in the holy text.
- The Catholic Democrat has referenced the line nearly a dozen times on the Congressional Record: "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."
- "I can't find it in the Bible, but I quote it all the time," Pelosi conceded this week. "I keep reading and reading the Bible—I know it's there someplace."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a habit of quoting a line that she says is in the Bible but does not, in fact, appear anywhere in the holy book.
"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," Pelosi often says.
Slate found that the California Democrat has delivered the line 11 times between 2002 and 2018 on the Congressional Record. But at an event with a group of Christian colleges this week, Pelosi conceded that the message might not be biblical.
"I can't find it in the Bible, but I quote it all the time," Pelosi, who is Catholic, told the gathering. "I keep reading and reading the Bible —I know it's there someplace. It's supposed to be in Isaiah."
Two professors of religion told Slate that the closest message to Pelosi's in the Bible is Proverbs 14:31, which discusses aiding the poor: "Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honor him."
Politicians frequently refer to the bible, and sometimes misquote it. Recently, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez referenced a biblical message after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders suggested the US government should leave environmental protection up to God.
"'Genesis 1: God looked on the world & called it good not once, not twice, but seven times. Genesis 2: God commands all people to "serve and protect" creation. Leviticus: God mandates that not only the people, but the land that sustains them, shall be respected,'" Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
She went on: "You shouldn't need a Bible to tell you to protect our planet, but it does anyway."
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