Trumpism's most revealing and characteristic moments – not its most important, nor most brutal, nor most hazardous, nor most senseless, but possibly its most revealing – came earlier this autumn. During the period of multiple weeks, the US president commenced revealing all observers his intentions for an ornate dance hall two times larger of the White House and then began solo dismantling the East Wing portion to build it.
He has committed acts countless times more severe – the current estimate of deaths from his cuts to international aid amounts to 600,000 and increasing, and this week research projected his fossil fuel policies would kill 1.3 million more. However nothing as distinctive. No other president would have attempted – really, no former commander would have conceived – unilaterally destroying large sections of the White House in order to erect a royal-themed celebration hall, with the direct cooperation of multiple America's wealthiest, nearly all of which have business with the government.
We moved from 'the meek shall inherit the planet' to 'the humble will perish to cholera'
As confusing as it is to observe the president try to upend the established notion regarding democracy and substitute it with its complete opposite, there exists a significant segment within America who might not perceive it completely novel. This includes individuals like us – among senior generations a near majority – who were brought up as conventional Protestant believers.
We have witnessed across decades while conservative evangelical congregations transformed the Christ we were raised with into the complete reverse of our perception of his character. Fundamentally, they transformed an image of love into an icon of animosity who approves exactly the harshness that he condemned in the Gospel; this change developed more gradually, through multiple decades rather than months, however it is still disconcerting through similar means, a confusing personal impact for many of us.
A Harmful Christianity Gains Ground
So let me first describe the Savior from my upbringing, as conceptually Jesus is the center within Christian belief, and since the fastest-growing cadre within America could have minimal awareness about him because they identify as non-believers or uncertain individuals or religiously unaffiliated. I raise no objection with these different approaches, nor with different religions; however I believe that there are pearls of great price in the Christian story.
It is decidedly absolutely not the narrative of a mighty king arising; rather, an infant arrives to homeless parents in an automotive shelter, who must quickly flee to a different country to avoid secret police. The infant develops in humble circumstances, a laboring woodworker; his teaching focuses on affection for fellow humans, especially for the poor – not merely emotional affection, but practical compassion, expressed by feeding and housing. Christ's response to hostility is to present the additional cheek – not as a gesture of compliant endurance, but as a method to teach the aggressor; his approach to wrongdoing is that if someone steals your jacket you should give them your pullover as well.
The apparent and clear reality that the Jesus in biblical accounts calls for a kind of extreme compassion centered on the poor has perpetually caused Christianity somewhat of a scandalous religion: appealing to the masses, but because of its natural unconventionality needing to be restrained. During the 1950s it was contained by dilution – Protestantism was so widespread that it essentially sanctified existing conditions.
A Battle for the Best of Us
So I have been heartened to see the persistent defiance regarding Trump arise over the last twelve months. It has served as great solace to help build the movement that has protested openly via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated voters to participate in numbers in interim political contests. We shall require to continue it, and in the same spirit, with American flags throughout each rally and requests to the highest qualities of American history.
We shall be interrogated ... how did you receive the foreigner? Did you accept these individuals and welcome him or refuse?
The country is optimally secured, to put it differently, by reference to the best in US heritage, exactly as the Christian faith is best defended by relationship to elements that cause it to be distinctive and beautiful, which is the example of Christ. In neither case does it mean pretending the worst of both America and religious tradition did not happen; it represents both modesty and faith, a blend that genuine US believers should embrace.
