The Trump phenomenon's most telling and distinctive instances – not its most important, nor cruelest, nor most dangerous, nor most senseless, but possibly its most revealing – occurred earlier this fall. In the course of several weeks, the US president began displaying all observers his plans for a gilded ballroom two times larger compared to the White House and then began unilaterally ripping down the East Wing to erect it.
He has performed deeds ten thousand times worse – the present calculation of fatalities due to his slashing to foreign assistance is 600,000 and growing, and this week an analysis projected his fossil fuel policies would result in fatalities another 1.3 million. However nothing as distinctive. No former leader would have dared – genuinely, no previous leader would have imagined – solo demolishing large sections of the presidential residence to build a Versailles-style party room, with the active collaboration of numerous the richest Americans, almost all of whom conduct transactions with federal agencies.
We transitioned from 'the meek shall inherit the Earth' into 'the gentle will succumb to cholera'
As disorienting as it is to observe the president try to upend the established notion about democracy and substitute it with its direct contrary, there exists a significant segment among Americans who should not find it totally unfamiliar. That encompasses people such as ourselves – among senior generations a near majority – who were educated as conventional Protestant believers.
We have witnessed across decades as politically conservative religious groups turned the Jesus we learned about into the complete reverse of who we understood him to be. Fundamentally, they converted a persona of compassion into a figure of animosity who blesses exactly the harshness that he denounced in biblical teachings; this has happened more slowly, over decades rather than months, yet it remains disconcerting through similar means, a disorienting gut punch for many of us.
A Harmful Christianity Gains Ground
So let me first describe the Savior that I grew up with, since in theory the Savior is the core of Christian religion, and since the rapidly expanding group of Americans could have minimal awareness of him as they consider themselves skeptics or doubters or nones. I raise no objection with these various perspectives, nor with different religions; yet I maintain that contain precious wisdom of significant worth in the Christian story.
It is decidedly absolutely not the story of a powerful ruler arising; conversely, an infant arrives to homeless parents in an automotive shelter, who must quickly flee to a foreign land to avoid undercover officers. The infant develops in simple surroundings, an employed craftsman; his message concerns compassion for others, particularly for the impoverished – and not a sentimental love, but a concrete one, shown by providing food and housing. The Savior's reaction to hostility is to present the opposite cheek – not as a demonstration of submissive tolerance, but as a way to instruct the assailant; his method regarding offenses indicates that whenever an individual takes your jacket you must offer him your sweater too.
The evident and direct reality that the Jesus in biblical accounts calls for a form of radical love focused on the needy has consistently rendered Christianity rather a scandalous religion: engaging for the masses, but because of its intrinsic extremism needing to be contained. During the 1950s it was restrained via weakening – Protestantism was so dominant that it basically sanctified existing conditions.
A Conflict for the Best Within Us
Therefore I have felt inspired to witness the steadfast resistance to Trump develop during the previous year. It has served as substantial consolation to participate in developing the movement that has taken to the streets via continuous gatherings, and seems to have inspired voters to participate in numbers in the off-year elections. We must have to continue it, and through comparable resolve, featuring US banners throughout each rally and appeals to the best parts in US history.
We will be questioned ... how did you receive the immigrant? Did you receive him and welcome him or refuse?
America is best defended, in other words, through connection to the highest about American history, similar to Christianity is best defended through connection to what makes it special and beautiful, particularly the pattern of Jesus. In both situations does it mean acting as if the worst regarding America and Christian faith did not happen; it signifies both meekness and faith, a combination that serious American Christians should be comfortable with.
