Jesse Benton’s Grammar Error of Biblical Proportions
Before Jesse Benton added chapters to the Book of James, he committed a grievous grammatical sin.
Benton, the former campaign aide to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who recently cut ties with the re-election effort , at least in part, because of the distracting misinformation he said the media kept flinging about, at the end of his resignation letter transgressed against the communications gods by signing off with an erroneous quote.
As conservative pundit Erick Erickson pointed out after digesting Benton’s resignation letter, there is no chapter 16 in the book of James.
James 16:33 does not exist. That would be John. https://t.co/6etezJj4sn
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) August 29, 2014
The inspirational passage Benton presumably meant to hang his hat on belongs to the disciple John, who theoretically shared said thought in the final Gospel of the New Testament.
But first there was Benton’s mangling of the word choice rules for “affect” and “effect”:
Working for Mitch McConnell is one of the great honors of my life. He is a friend, a mentor and a great man this commonwealth desperately needs. I cannot, and will not, allow any possibility that my circumstances will
effect
the voters’ ability to hear his message and assess his record. This election is far too important and the stakes way too high.
To recap, “affect” is a verb that means to influence. “Effect” is primarily used as a noun that means result. Effect, when used as a verb, means simply to cause. So Benton either meant to use the word “affect” or his use of the word “effect” as a verb would change the meaning of the sentence to the following, ahem, effect: “I cannot and, and will not, allow any a possibility that my circumstances will cause the voters’ ability to hear his message and assess his record.”
On a side note, the first chapter of James in the King James version of the Bible has a section about “The Tongue,” which states, in James 1:5. “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!”
Vaya con Dios, Jesse Benton.
