The Trump phenomenon's most telling and characteristic instances – not its most important, nor cruelest, nor most dangerous, nor stupidest, but perhaps its most illuminating – occurred earlier this fall. In the course of several weeks, the US president began displaying the public his designs for a lavish reception room double the dimensions than the White House and subsequently started unilaterally ripping down the East Wing to build it.
He has performed deeds 10,000 times as bad – the existing assessment of casualties resulting from his reductions to foreign assistance amounts to 600,000 and rising, and presently research predicted his energy policies would cause deaths 1.3 million more. But nothing as definitional. No previous president would have attempted – genuinely, no former commander would have imagined – solo demolishing significant portions of the White House to construct a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the active collaboration of some of the nation's most affluent, almost all of whom maintain dealings with federal agencies.
We moved from 'the meek shall inherit the Earth' toward 'the gentle will succumb from cholera'
As bewildering as it is to watch the president attempt to overturn the established notion of democracy and exchange it with its polar opposite, there is one large group of Americans who should not find it completely novel. That encompasses people such as ourselves – within elder demographics a near majority – who were raised as conventional Protestant believers.
We have watched across decades as politically conservative religious groups transformed the Christ we learned about into the complete reverse of our perception of his character. Essentially, they transformed an image of affection into an icon of animosity who endorses specifically the brutality that he condemned in the Gospel; this transformation occurred more gradually, across decades as opposed to months, however it is still disconcerting in the same ways, a disorienting gut punch for numerous individuals.
A Toxic Christianity Establishes Itself
Therefore allow me to outline the Jesus from my childhood, since in theory Jesus is the center of Christian religion, and given that the quickly increasing segment among Americans might have little sense regarding him as they consider themselves atheists or agnostics or spiritual independents. I have no problem with these various perspectives, nor with alternative spiritual paths; yet I maintain that there are pearls of great price in the Christian story.
It is decidedly absolutely not the narrative of a mighty king appearing; instead, a child comes into the world to homeless parents in a storage space, who need to rapidly escape to a different country to evade undercover officers. The child matures in humble circumstances, a laboring woodworker; his doctrine is about love for fellow humans, particularly for the impoverished – not merely emotional affection, but tangible care, shown by providing food and protecting. The Savior's reaction to violence is to offer the opposite cheek – not as a demonstration of compliant endurance, but as a method to teach the attacker; his method regarding offenses indicates that whenever a person pilfers your jacket you should give him your sweater also.
The apparent and straightforward fact that the Savior from scripture calls for a form of extreme compassion centered on the needy is what has always made Christian religion rather a controversial faith: appealing to the populace, but due to its inherent radicalness requiring to be controlled. In the fifties it was controlled by dilution – Protestantism was so prevalent that it essentially sanctified existing conditions.
A Struggle for the Highest of Us
So I have been heartened to observe the persistent defiance against Trump arise in this past year. It has served as significant comfort to help build the movement that has demonstrated publicly through repeated demonstrations, and seems to have inspired voters to participate in significant amounts during minor elections. We shall require to maintain it, and in the same spirit, displaying national flags at every demonstration and appeals to the finest aspects in US history.
We shall be interrogated ... about how you treated the immigrant? Did you accept these individuals and receive them or refuse?
The country is optimally secured, in other words, by relationship to the finest about American history, similar to Christianity is best defended by reference to elements that cause it to be unique and beautiful, particularly the pattern of the Savior. In both situations does it imply pretending the worst of both America and Christianity was nonexistent; it means both meekness and belief, a mixture that serious national faithful ought to accept.
