The Trump phenomenon's most illuminating and characteristic occasions – not its most significant, nor cruelest, nor most threatening, nor stupidest, but possibly its most revealing – occurred earlier this fall. In the course of a few weeks, the nation's leader started showing all observers his intentions for an ornate dance hall double the dimensions than the White House and then commenced unilaterally ripping down the East Wing to build it.
He has done things ten thousand times worse – the present calculation of casualties due to his slashing to USAID is 600,000 and growing, and recently an analysis predicted his fossil fuel policies would cause deaths 1.3 million more. But nothing as definitional. No other president would have dared – truly, no previous leader would have imagined – independently wrecking major areas of the White House to construct a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the direct cooperation of some of the richest Americans, almost all of whom maintain dealings with federal agencies.
We transitioned from 'the meek shall inherit the Earth' toward 'the gentle will succumb to cholera'
As bewildering as it is to observe the leader attempt to overturn the established notion of democracy and replace it with its polar opposite, there is one large group within America who should not find it totally unfamiliar. This includes individuals like us – within elder demographics almost a majority – who were raised as conventional Protestant believers.
We have watched over the years while conservative evangelical congregations converted the Savior we grew up with into the complete reverse of our understanding of him. Fundamentally, they converted a persona of affection into a symbol of animosity who endorses exactly the harshness that he criticized in scripture; this transformation occurred at a slower pace, across decades instead of months, but it is nonetheless unsettling via comparable methods, a disorienting gut punch for numerous individuals.
A Harmful Christianity Gains Ground
Therefore allow me to outline the Savior from my upbringing, since in theory the Savior is the core of Christian religion, and since the rapidly expanding group within America might have little sense regarding him since they are skeptics or uncertain individuals or religiously unaffiliated. I have no problem with any of these traditions, nor with alternative spiritual paths; yet I maintain that exist valuable insights of substantial value within Christian narrative.
It is unquestionably absolutely not the story of a powerful ruler appearing; conversely, a child comes into the world to displaced parents in a garage, who must quickly flee to another nation to escape undercover officers. The baby grows up in humble circumstances, a working carpenter; his doctrine is about love for others, particularly for the disadvantaged – not simply tender feelings, but practical compassion, expressed by feeding and housing. Jesus' answer to hostility is to offer the other cheek – not as a gesture of passive acceptance, but as a method to educate the aggressor; his crime policy is that if someone steals your coat you must offer him your sweater also.
The obvious and clear reality that Christ of the gospels calls for a kind of radical love concentrated on the needy has consistently rendered the Christian faith rather a controversial faith: attractive to the general public, but owing to its intrinsic extremism demanding to be restrained. In the fifties it was contained via weakening – Protestantism was so dominant that it essentially baptized the status quo.
A Battle for the Best Within Us
Therefore I have felt encouraged to see the persistent defiance regarding Trump arise during the previous year. It has served as great solace to participate in developing the initiative that has protested openly via continuous gatherings, and likely has encouraged electorate to show up in significant amounts in interim political contests. We will need to continue it, and in the same spirit, featuring US banners during all protests and requests to the finest aspects of American history.
We will be questioned ... regarding how you welcomed the foreigner? Did you accept these individuals and welcome him or not?
The country is optimally secured, to put it differently, by reference to the best about American history, exactly as the Christian faith is best defended through connection to that which renders it special and magnificent, particularly the pattern of Christ. In both situations does it imply pretending the most damaging regarding America and Christian faith did not happen; it represents both humility and faith, a blend that serious American Christians should embrace.
