U.S. - Biblical scholars confirmed Thursday that Jesus's famous command to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" was never intended to include those who disagree with you politically.

Carefully studying the context and historical background of the Sermon on the Mount, a wide range of biblical experts have come to the conclusion that Christians are under no obligation to love their political foes. An intense, months-long study of contextual clues within the gospel of Matthew led to their exciting conclusion, scholars claim.

"In context, Jesus was most likely referring to the Romans, which means there's absolutely no modern application that can be derived from the text," Dr. Andrew Bookman of Dallas Theological Seminary said. "You can now continue to hate liberals or whoever your political enemies happen to be without guilt or worry that you're going directly against Scripture."

"A huge weight off all our minds - praise the Lord!" he added.

At publishing time, the same panel of scholars and academics had posited that Paul's command to pray for our leaders only applies when a Republican is in office.