The Trump phenomenon's most telling and distinctive instances – not its most significant, nor most harsh, nor most threatening, nor most senseless, but potentially its most enlightening – came earlier this autumn. In the course of multiple weeks, the nation's leader began displaying everyone his intentions for a lavish reception room double the dimensions of the White House and then began solo dismantling the eastern section to build it.
He has committed acts ten thousand times worse – the current estimate of fatalities due to his slashing to USAID stands at 600,000 and growing, and presently research projected his fossil fuel policies would cause deaths another 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No former leader would have dared – genuinely, no former commander would have contemplated – independently wrecking major areas of the White House to construct a royal-themed celebration hall, with the enthusiastic participation of some of America's wealthiest, almost all of whom have business with federal agencies.
We went from 'the humble will receive the world' to 'the meek shall die from cholera'
As bewildering as it is to watch the chief executive attempt to overturn the established notion regarding democracy and replace it with its polar opposite, there exists a significant segment of Americans who might not perceive it completely novel. This includes individuals like us – in older age cohorts a near majority – who were raised as mainline Protestant Christians.
We have watched throughout the years as politically conservative religious groups converted the Savior we were raised with into exactly the opposite of our perception of his character. Essentially, they converted a persona of affection into a symbol of hostility who approves exactly the harshness that he criticized in the Gospel; this has happened more gradually, across decades instead of months, yet it remains unsettling via comparable methods, a bewildering emotional blow for countless people.
A Toxic Christianity Establishes Itself
So let me first describe the Savior from my childhood, as conceptually Christ is the focus within Christian belief, and because the fastest-growing cadre among Americans might have little sense of him since they are atheists or uncertain individuals or spiritual independents. I take no issue with any of these traditions, nor with alternative spiritual paths; yet I maintain that there are pearls of significant worth within Christian narrative.
It is decidedly absolutely not the story of a powerful ruler arising; conversely, a baby is born to displaced parents in an automotive shelter, who must quickly flee to a foreign land to avoid undercover officers. The infant develops in humble circumstances, a laboring woodworker; his message is about love for fellow humans, especially for the disadvantaged – and not a sentimental love, but tangible care, shown by providing food and sheltering. The Savior's reaction to hostility is to present the other cheek – not as a gesture of submissive tolerance, but as a way to teach the assailant; his crime policy is that if someone steals your jacket you ought to provide them your pullover too.
The evident and direct reality that Christ in biblical accounts requests a form of extreme compassion centered on the needy is what has always made Christianity somewhat of a provocative belief system: engaging for the masses, but because of its natural unconventionality demanding to be controlled. During the 1950s it was controlled through watering down – Protestantism was so prevalent that it essentially baptized the status quo.
A Conflict for the Finest Among Us
So I have been encouraged to see the determined opposition to Trump arise during the previous year. It has served as great solace to participate in developing the campaign that has protested openly via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated electorate to turn out in significant amounts in the off-year elections. We must have to persist with it, and with identical determination, with American flags during all protests and requests to the best parts of American history.
We're going to be asked ... how did you receive the immigrant? Did you welcome them and welcome him or reject?
The nation is most protected, to put it differently, by relationship to the best within national tradition, similar to Christianity is best defended through connection to what makes it special and magnificent, specifically the model of Christ. In all circumstances does it mean feigning the most negative of both America and Christianity was nonexistent; it means both humility and faith, a mixture that committed US believers should be comfortable with.
