The Trump phenomenon's most revealing and characteristic occasions – not its most significant, nor most harsh, nor most threatening, nor stupidest, but potentially its most enlightening – occurred earlier this fall. Over the span of multiple weeks, the nation's leader started showing the public his intentions for a lavish reception room two times larger compared to the White House and then began independently demolishing the East Wing to construct it.
He has done things countless times more severe – the present calculation of fatalities resulting from his reductions to USAID stands at 600,000 and increasing, and presently an analysis forecast his petroleum strategies would cause deaths 1.3 million more. However nothing as distinctive. No former leader would have attempted – truly, no former commander would have conceived – unilaterally destroying significant portions of the presidential residence in order to erect a Versailles-style party room, with the active collaboration of numerous America's wealthiest, almost all of whom conduct transactions with the government.
We transitioned from 'the meek shall inherit the world' toward 'the humble will perish from cholera'
As bewildering as it is to witness the chief executive attempt to overturn the established notion of democracy and substitute it with its complete opposite, there exists a significant segment among Americans who wouldn't consider it completely novel. That is those of us – within elder demographics almost a majority – who were raised within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have watched throughout the years as rightwing evangelical churches transformed the Christ we learned about into exactly the opposite of our perception of his character. At its most basic, they transformed an image of affection into a symbol of hate who approves precisely the cruelties that he condemned in the Gospel; this transformation occurred at a slower pace, through multiple decades rather than months, however it is still unsettling in the same ways, a disorienting gut punch for numerous individuals.
A Harmful Christianity Takes Hold
Hence I shall explain the Savior that I grew up with, since in theory Christ is the focus of any Christian faith, and given that the rapidly expanding group within America might have little sense regarding him since they are atheists or doubters or spiritual independents. I take no issue with these various perspectives, nor with different religions; but I do think that there are pearls of substantial value within Christian narrative.
It is unquestionably absolutely not the narrative of an authoritative monarch appearing; instead, an infant arrives to homeless parents in a garage, who are forced to hastily depart to a different country to evade undercover officers. The baby grows up in humble circumstances, a laboring woodworker; his message is about love for other people, specifically for the impoverished – and not a sentimental love, but practical compassion, demonstrated through nourishing and protecting. Jesus' answer to hostility is to turn the other cheek – not as a demonstration of submissive tolerance, but as a means to teach the aggressor; his approach to wrongdoing states that when someone steals your coat you should give the person your additional clothing too.
The obvious and straightforward truth that the Savior in biblical accounts requests a form of extreme compassion concentrated on the poor has perpetually caused the Christian faith something of a controversial faith: attractive to the populace, but owing to its intrinsic extremism needing to be restrained. In the 1950s it was contained via weakening – Protestant Christianity was so widespread that it essentially baptized the status quo.
A Struggle for the Highest Among Us
Hence I have become inspired to observe the determined opposition regarding Trump emerge over the last twelve months. It has served as substantial consolation to help build the movement that has taken to the streets via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated voters to participate in numbers in interim political contests. We must have to maintain it, and through comparable resolve, displaying national flags throughout each rally and appeals to the highest qualities in US history.
We will be questioned ... how did you receive the foreigner? Did you welcome them and receive them or refuse?
The country is optimally secured, to put it differently, by relationship to the highest within national tradition, exactly as the Christian faith is best defended by reference to that which renders it unique and wonderful, specifically the model of Christ. In neither case does it mean feigning the most damaging about the nation and Christian faith did not happen; it represents both meekness and belief, a blend that serious US believers should embrace.
