The Trump phenomenon's most telling and distinctive instances – not its most significant, nor most harsh, nor most hazardous, nor stupidest, but possibly its most revealing – came earlier this autumn. In the course of several weeks, the nation's leader commenced revealing all observers his designs for a lavish reception room twice the size of the White House and then commenced unilaterally ripping down the East Wing portion to construct it.
He has performed deeds 10,000 times as bad – the present calculation of deaths from his cuts to USAID stands at 600,000 and increasing, and recently research forecast his energy policies would result in fatalities 1.3 million more. Yet nothing as characteristic. No other president would have attempted – really, no other president would have contemplated – independently wrecking major areas of the White House to construct a royal-themed celebration hall, with the direct cooperation of some of America's wealthiest, almost all of whom have business with public institutions.
We moved from 'the humble will receive the Earth' toward 'the meek shall die from cholera'
As bewildering as it is to observe the leader try to upend the established notion of democracy and replace it with its polar opposite, there exists a significant segment of Americans who wouldn't consider it totally unfamiliar. This includes individuals like us – among senior generations close to half – who were brought up as mainline Protestant Christians.
We have watched throughout the years as politically conservative religious groups transformed the Christ we were raised with into the complete reverse of our understanding of him. Essentially, they transformed an image of compassion into a symbol of animosity who blesses exactly the harshness that he condemned in the Gospel; this change developed more gradually, over decades instead of months, but it is nonetheless unsettling through similar means, a bewildering emotional blow for many of us.
A Toxic Christianity Gains Ground
Therefore allow me to outline the Savior from my childhood, because theoretically the Savior is the core of any Christian faith, and because the rapidly expanding group of Americans might have little sense about him because they identify as non-believers or doubters or spiritual independents. I have no problem with these different approaches, nor with different religions; yet I maintain that contain precious wisdom of great price in the Christian story.
It is emphatically definitely not the narrative of an authoritative monarch emerging; conversely, a child comes into the world to displaced parents in a garage, who must quickly flee to a different country to evade covert authorities. The child matures in humble circumstances, a laboring woodworker; his teaching concerns compassion for fellow humans, specifically for the disadvantaged – not simply tender feelings, but practical compassion, expressed by feeding and housing. The Savior's reaction to violence is to offer the opposite cheek – not as an act of passive acceptance, but as a means to instruct the assailant; his method regarding offenses is that if an individual takes your outer garment you should give them your pullover too.
The apparent and direct reality that the Jesus from scripture requests a form of profound affection centered on the impoverished has perpetually caused Christianity somewhat of a provocative belief system: engaging for the general public, but due to its intrinsic extremism demanding to be contained. In the 1950s it was restrained by dilution – Protestant Christianity was so dominant that it basically baptized the status quo.
A Conflict for the Highest Among Us
So I have been inspired to observe the persistent defiance regarding Trump develop in this past year. It has provided great solace to assist in constructing the campaign that has demonstrated publicly via continuous gatherings, and likely has encouraged citizens to show up in significant amounts in interim political contests. We will need to maintain it, and through comparable resolve, displaying national flags during all protests and calls to the finest aspects in US history.
We're going to be asked ... how did you receive the foreigner? Did you accept these individuals and welcome him or not?
The country is optimally secured, in other words, through connection to the highest in US heritage, similar to Christianity is best defended by relationship to elements that cause it to be unique and wonderful, which is the example of the Savior. In all circumstances does it mean feigning the most damaging about the nation and Christianity never occurred; it signifies both humility and faith, a mixture that serious US believers should embrace.
