A searing essay in the Christian Post Friday examines Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s misapplication of the Bible to justify “far-left positions” on everything from economic policy to same-sex marriage.

Writing for the Christian Post, guest columnist John Stonestreet observes that a growing biblical illiteracy in America allows public figures like Buttigieg to make ridiculous claims in the name of sacred Scripture with almost no pushback from the public.

This year, South Bend’s Mayor Pete cited the Bible as justifying taking the life of an unborn child through abortion, insisting that there are “a lot of parts of the Bible that talk about how life begins with breath, and so even that is something that we can interpret differently.”

Yet the Bible “clearly treats unborn babies as persons,” Stonestreet notes, just as Jesus “clearly affirms the Genesis account of marriage as between a man and a woman.”

“In fact, the Bible Buttigieg goes to for his political positions is missing a lot of pages, and suspiciously reads a whole lot like his party’s platform,” the writer declares.

Buttigieg’s sermonizing is effective, Stonestreet says, not because of the strength of his biblical argumentation, but because of “the incredible void left when many pastors … won’t apply Scripture to cultural issues.”

If Christian preachers were doing their job, he suggests, the faithful would easily refute Buttigieg’s revisionist biblical opinions.

Too many pastors “only teach the Bible as a personal, private self-help book,” rather than applying biblical teaching to public issues, for fear that such applications are “too political,” he said.

Buttigieg is “Very Nice,” Stonestreet writes, citing a tweet he received from a friend. “Reducing Christianity to bland platitudes and vague kindness leaves us utterly defenseless when the snake oil salesman is vaguely kind too.”

“Too many Christians are left with the impression that Christianity is about being ‘nice’ and happy. Mayor Pete is ‘nice’ and happy,” he notes.

Christianity is deeply personal, but this does not make it private, Stonestreet asserts, since proclaiming the Gospel means taking a public stance. “And if Christianity is true, its truth applies to every sphere of life,” he writes.

Pastors “who use the Scripture to coddle our emotions, but never apply Scripture to hot-button issues, will leave their flocks cripplingly vulnerable when politicians twist the Bible to their own ends,” he concludes.

In his latest biblical howler, Mayor Pete sent out a Christmas tweet insisting that Jesus was born in Bethlehem “not as a citizen but as a refugee.”

In point of fact, Joseph and Mary followed the law by returning to Bethlehem — the City of David — for the Roman census, because Joseph was “of David’s house and line.” Jesus, who would be referred to as the “Son of David,” was born in his own ancestral town, not in some foreign land.

Saying Jesus was born “a refugee” may be politically expedient for pushing mass immigration, but it certainly has no basis in fact.

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