Trumpism's most illuminating and defining instances – not its most crucial, nor most brutal, nor most threatening, nor most foolish, but potentially its most enlightening – came earlier this autumn. In the course of a few weeks, the nation's leader began displaying everyone his intentions for a gilded ballroom double the dimensions than the White House and subsequently started solo dismantling the eastern section to erect it.
He has performed deeds countless times more severe – the current estimate of casualties from his cuts to USAID amounts to 600,000 and increasing, and recently a study projected his petroleum strategies would cause deaths another 1.3 million. However nothing as distinctive. No other president would have attempted – truly, no former commander would have contemplated – unilaterally destroying major areas of the presidential residence to construct a royal-themed celebration hall, with the direct cooperation of some of the nation's most affluent, nearly all of which conduct transactions with the government.
We transitioned from 'the gentle will obtain the Earth' into 'the humble will perish of cholera'
As bewildering as it is to watch the president try to upend the traditional concept regarding democracy and replace it with its direct contrary, there exists a significant segment of Americans who should not find it entirely new. That is those of us – among senior generations a near majority – who were educated within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have observed across decades as rightwing evangelical churches converted the Savior we grew up with into exactly the opposite of our perception of his character. At its most basic, they transformed an image of love into a symbol of hate who approves specifically the brutality that he condemned in the Gospel; this has happened at a slower pace, through multiple decades instead of months, yet it remains disturbing in the same ways, a confusing personal impact for numerous individuals.
A Toxic Christianity Takes Hold
So let me first describe the Jesus that I grew up with, since in theory Christ is the focus of any Christian faith, and because the rapidly expanding group within America may possess limited understanding regarding him because they identify as skeptics or doubters or spiritual independents. I raise no objection with these different approaches, nor with alternative spiritual paths; but I do think that exist valuable insights of substantial value in the Christian story.
It is unquestionably not the story of a mighty king emerging; instead, an infant arrives to parents without shelter in an automotive shelter, who must quickly flee to another nation to evade undercover officers. The baby grows up in humble circumstances, a laboring woodworker; his teaching concerns compassion for others, especially for the poor – and not a sentimental love, but tangible care, expressed by feeding and sheltering. The Savior's reaction to hostility is to offer the opposite cheek – not as a demonstration of submissive tolerance, but as a means to instruct the attacker; his approach to wrongdoing indicates that whenever someone steals your jacket you should give him your sweater as well.
The apparent and direct reality that the Savior from scripture advocates for a type of profound affection focused on the poor has perpetually caused Christian religion something of a provocative belief system: appealing to the general public, but owing to its intrinsic extremism demanding to be contained. In the 1950s it was restrained through watering down – Protestant Christianity was so widespread that it essentially sanctified existing conditions.
A Conflict for the Best Within Us
Hence I have become encouraged to observe the determined opposition to Trump emerge in this past year. It has served as significant comfort to participate in developing the campaign that has taken to the streets through repeated demonstrations, and appears to have motivated citizens to turn out in numbers during minor elections. We shall require to persist with it, and in the same spirit, with American flags throughout each rally and calls to the best parts within national heritage.
We will be questioned ... how did you receive the stranger? Did you welcome them and embrace them or refuse?
The country is optimally secured, in other words, by reference to the highest within national tradition, just as Christianity is best defended through connection to what makes it distinctive and wonderful, specifically the model of Christ. In all circumstances does it mean feigning the worst of both America and Christianity did not happen; it signifies both modesty and faith, a mixture that committed US believers should be comfortable with.
