The Trump phenomenon's most illuminating and distinctive instances β not its most important, nor cruelest, nor most dangerous, nor most foolish, but potentially its most enlightening β occurred earlier this fall. Over the span of a few weeks, the US president commenced revealing everyone his plans for an ornate dance hall two times larger than the White House and then began unilaterally ripping down the East Wing to build it.
He has done things ten thousand times worse β the present calculation of casualties due to his slashing to foreign assistance stands at 600,000 and growing, and this week a study forecast his energy policies would kill another 1.3 million. However nothing as distinctive. No former leader would have dared β really, no former commander would have contemplated β unilaterally destroying major areas of the presidential residence to build a royal-themed celebration hall, with the direct cooperation of numerous America's wealthiest, nearly all of which have business with public institutions.
We moved from 'the meek shall inherit the Earth' to 'the humble will perish of cholera'
As disorienting as it is to witness the president seek toι’ θ¦ the old idea of democracy and substitute it with its complete opposite, there remains a substantial portion among Americans who should not find it totally unfamiliar. That encompasses people such as ourselves β in older age cohorts a near majority β who were brought up as mainline Protestant Christians.
We have watched across decades while conservative evangelical congregations transformed the Christ we learned about into the total contrary of who we understood him to be. At its most basic, they converted a persona of love into a figure of hate who approves exactly the harshness that he denounced in biblical teachings; this change developed at a slower pace, through multiple decades rather than months, however it is still disconcerting in the same ways, a confusing personal impact for countless people.
A Toxic Christianity Takes Hold
Hence I shall explain the Christ from my upbringing, because theoretically Jesus is the center of any Christian faith, and because the rapidly expanding group among Americans might have little sense about him because they identify as atheists or uncertain individuals or spiritual independents. I raise no objection with these various perspectives, nor with alternative spiritual paths; but I do think that contain precious wisdom of substantial value in the Christian story.
It is decidedly definitely not the story of a mighty king arising; rather, a baby is born to displaced parents in a storage space, who must quickly flee to another nation to avoid covert authorities. The child matures in modest conditions, a laboring woodworker; his teaching focuses on affection for others, specifically for the impoverished β not merely emotional affection, but practical compassion, shown by providing food and protecting. Jesus' answer to hostility is to offer the other cheek β not as a demonstration of submissive tolerance, but as a method to educate the assailant; his crime policy indicates that whenever a person pilfers your coat you should give the person your additional clothing as well.
The evident and straightforward reality that the Savior in biblical accounts calls for a type of extreme compassion focused on the needy is what has always made Christian religion somewhat of a scandalous religion: attractive to the populace, but owing to its intrinsic extremism demanding to be controlled. In the fifties it was restrained via weakening β The Protestant faith was so widespread that it basically blessed current circumstances.
A Conflict for the Best of Us
So I have been inspired to see the persistent defiance against Trump emerge in this past year. It has been great solace to assist in constructing the initiative that has taken to the streets through repeated demonstrations, and appears to have motivated citizens to turn out in numbers in interim political contests. We shall require to persist with it, and in the same spirit, with American flags throughout each rally and requests to the highest qualities in US history.
We will be questioned ... regarding how you welcomed the immigrant? Did you receive him and receive them or reject?
The country is optimally secured, in other words, by reference to the best in US heritage, similar to Christianity is best defended through connection to that which renders it special and wonderful, particularly the pattern of the Savior. In neither case does it mean pretending the most negative regarding America and Christianity never occurred; it represents both modesty and belief, a blend that committed US believers ought to accept.
