The Trump phenomenon's most illuminating and defining instances – not its most important, nor most brutal, nor most dangerous, nor most foolish, but perhaps its most illuminating – occurred earlier this fall. During the period of a few weeks, the nation's leader began displaying the public his intentions for a gilded ballroom twice the size compared to the White House and then commenced unilaterally ripping down the East Wing portion to construct it.
He has committed acts 10,000 times as bad – the present calculation of deaths resulting from his reductions to international aid stands at 600,000 and rising, and this week research projected his fossil fuel policies would result in fatalities another 1.3 million. However nothing as distinctive. No previous president would have dared – truly, no former commander would have imagined – solo demolishing major areas of the executive mansion to build a Versailles-style party room, with the direct cooperation of some of the nation's most affluent, almost all of whom maintain dealings with public institutions.
We transitioned from 'the gentle will obtain the world' toward 'the meek shall die from cholera'
As confusing as it is to watch the president attempt to overturn the traditional concept of democracy and exchange it with its complete opposite, there exists a significant segment of Americans who should not find it totally unfamiliar. That encompasses people such as ourselves – in older age cohorts a near majority – who were brought up as mainline Protestant Christians.
We have witnessed throughout the years as rightwing evangelical churches turned the Jesus we were raised with into exactly the opposite of our perception of his character. Essentially, they transformed an image of compassion into a symbol of hate who approves precisely the cruelties that he denounced in scripture; this change developed at a slower pace, across decades instead of months, however it is still disturbing via comparable methods, a confusing personal impact for countless people.
A Damaging Christianity Establishes Itself
Hence I shall explain the Savior that I grew up with, because theoretically Jesus is the center within Christian belief, and given that the rapidly expanding group within America could have minimal awareness regarding him since they are skeptics or doubters or nones. I take no issue with any of these traditions, nor with any other faith; but I do think that contain precious wisdom of substantial value in the Christian story.
It is decidedly not the account of a powerful ruler appearing; conversely, a baby is born to homeless parents in a storage space, who must quickly flee to a different country to evade undercover officers. The baby grows up in humble circumstances, an employed craftsman; his doctrine concerns compassion for others, particularly for the poor – not simply tender feelings, but tangible care, shown by providing food and sheltering. Christ's response to aggression is to present the other cheek – not as an act of passive acceptance, but as a method to educate the aggressor; his method regarding offenses states that when an individual takes your jacket you ought to provide the person your additional clothing as well.
The apparent and clear fact that the Savior of the gospels advocates for a kind of radical love centered on the impoverished has consistently rendered Christianity something of a scandalous religion: attractive to the populace, but because of its inherent radicalness demanding to be restrained. In the fifties it was controlled by dilution – Protestantism was so prevalent that it practically sanctified existing conditions.
A Struggle for the Best Within Us
So I have been inspired to witness the persistent defiance to Trump develop in this past year. It has provided great solace to assist in constructing the movement that has demonstrated publicly via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated electorate to turn out in numbers in the off-year elections. We shall require to persist with it, and through comparable resolve, displaying national flags during all protests and appeals to the highest qualities within national heritage.
We will be questioned ... about how you treated the stranger? Did you welcome them and welcome him or refuse?
America is best defended, essentially, through connection to the best about American history, exactly as the Christian faith is best defended by relationship to that which renders it special and beautiful, particularly the pattern of Christ. In neither case does it mean pretending the worst of both America and Christianity did not happen; it represents both modesty and faith, a mixture that genuine American Christians should embrace.
