The Trump phenomenon's most revealing and defining moments – not its most significant, nor cruelest, nor most threatening, nor most senseless, but perhaps its most illuminating – occurred earlier this fall. Over the span of several weeks, the nation's leader started showing everyone his plans for a lavish reception room double the dimensions than the White House and subsequently started independently demolishing the eastern section to construct it.
He has committed acts countless times more severe – the present calculation of fatalities due to his slashing to international aid amounts to 600,000 and rising, and recently research predicted his energy policies would cause deaths an additional 1.3 million. Yet nothing as characteristic. No other president would have risked – truly, no former commander would have contemplated – independently wrecking significant portions of the White House to build a royal-themed celebration hall, with the direct cooperation of numerous the nation's most affluent, the majority of whom maintain dealings with federal agencies.
We moved from 'the humble will receive the world' to 'the meek shall die from cholera'
As bewildering as it is to witness the president try to upend the traditional concept about democracy and replace it with its direct contrary, there remains a substantial portion of Americans who wouldn't consider it entirely new. That is those of us – in older age cohorts a near majority – who were educated as conventional Protestant believers.
We have watched across decades while conservative evangelical congregations turned the Jesus we learned about into exactly the opposite of our perception of his character. At its most basic, they converted a persona of compassion into a figure of animosity who approves precisely the cruelties that he criticized in scripture; this change developed more gradually, across decades instead of months, however it is still unsettling via comparable methods, a disorienting gut punch for numerous individuals.
A Harmful Christianity Establishes Itself
So let me first describe the Savior from my childhood, as conceptually the Savior is the core of Christian religion, and given that the fastest-growing cadre of Americans might have little sense about him as they consider themselves non-believers or agnostics or nones. I have no problem with these different approaches, nor with alternative spiritual paths; however I believe that contain precious wisdom of significant worth within Christian narrative.
It is decidedly not the narrative of an authoritative monarch emerging; conversely, a child comes into the world to displaced parents in a storage space, who are forced to hastily depart to a foreign land to evade secret police. The infant develops in simple surroundings, a laboring woodworker; his doctrine is about love for others, especially for the poor – not simply tender feelings, but practical compassion, shown by providing food and housing. The Savior's reaction to aggression is to present the additional cheek – not as an act of compliant endurance, but as a way to teach the attacker; his crime policy states that when a person pilfers your outer garment you must offer the person your additional clothing as well.
The apparent and straightforward truth that the Jesus from scripture requests a kind of profound affection concentrated on the needy has perpetually caused the Christian faith somewhat of a provocative belief system: attractive to the masses, but due to its inherent radicalness needing to be controlled. In the 1950s it was controlled through watering down – Protestantism was so prevalent that it basically sanctified existing conditions.
A Struggle for the Highest Within Us
Therefore I have felt encouraged to see the persistent defiance regarding Trump arise during the previous year. It has been great solace to assist in constructing the campaign that has taken to the streets via continuous gatherings, and likely has encouraged citizens to participate in numbers in interim political contests. We shall require to maintain it, and in the same spirit, displaying national flags at every demonstration and requests to the finest aspects in US history.
We shall be interrogated ... regarding how you welcomed the foreigner? Did you accept these individuals and welcome him or refuse?
America is best defended, to put it differently, through connection to the best about American history, similar to Christianity is best defended by relationship to elements that cause it to be unique and beautiful, which is the example of the Savior. In neither case does it mean feigning the most negative of both America and religious tradition was nonexistent; it represents both humility and belief, a blend that genuine national faithful ought to accept.
