The Trump phenomenon's most revealing and distinctive moments – not its most significant, nor most harsh, nor most threatening, nor most foolish, but perhaps its most illuminating – came earlier this autumn. In the course of multiple weeks, the American president started showing all observers his intentions for a lavish reception room two times larger compared to the White House and then began solo dismantling the East Wing portion to build it.
He has done things 10,000 times as bad – the existing assessment of casualties due to his slashing to USAID is 600,000 and increasing, and presently a study projected his petroleum strategies would result in fatalities an additional 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No other president would have attempted – really, no other president would have imagined – unilaterally destroying large sections of the presidential residence to build a royal-themed celebration hall, with the enthusiastic participation of multiple the nation's most affluent, almost all of whom conduct transactions with federal agencies.
We transitioned from 'the humble will receive the world' to 'the meek shall die from cholera'
As disorienting as it is to witness the leader seek to颠覆 the established notion about democracy and exchange it with its complete opposite, there is one large group within America who might not perceive it entirely new. That encompasses people such as ourselves – in older age cohorts a near majority – who were raised as conventional Protestant believers.
We have observed across decades as politically conservative religious groups turned the Jesus we grew up with into exactly the opposite of who we understood him to be. Fundamentally, they transformed an image of compassion into an icon of animosity who endorses precisely the cruelties that he condemned in the Gospel; this transformation occurred at a slower pace, through multiple decades rather than months, however it is still disconcerting through similar means, a bewildering emotional blow for numerous individuals.
A Toxic Christianity Establishes Itself
So let me first describe the Christ from my childhood, since in theory Christ is the focus of Christian religion, and given that the rapidly expanding group of Americans might have little sense about him since they are atheists or uncertain individuals or religiously unaffiliated. I take no issue with these various perspectives, nor with any other faith; yet I maintain that exist valuable insights of significant worth in biblical accounts.
It is unquestionably not the narrative of a mighty king emerging; instead, a child comes into the world to displaced parents in a garage, who are forced to hastily depart to another nation to avoid secret police. The child matures in modest conditions, a laboring woodworker; his teaching is about love for others, particularly for the disadvantaged – not simply tender feelings, but tangible care, demonstrated through nourishing and protecting. The Savior's reaction to hostility is to present the additional cheek – not as a gesture of compliant endurance, but as a way to teach the attacker; his crime policy states that when a person pilfers your jacket you ought to provide him your sweater too.
The obvious and straightforward reality that the Savior of the gospels requests a kind of radical love concentrated on the poor has consistently rendered the Christian faith rather a controversial faith: appealing to the populace, but owing to its inherent radicalness needing to be controlled. During the 1950s it was contained by dilution – Protestantism was so prevalent that it practically baptized the status quo.
A Conflict for the Best of Us
So I have been heartened to observe the determined opposition regarding Trump arise in this past year. It has provided great solace to assist in constructing the movement that has taken to the streets via continuous gatherings, and likely has encouraged electorate to show up in significant amounts in the off-year elections. We will need to maintain it, and in the same spirit, displaying national flags during all protests and appeals to the highest qualities of American history.
We're going to be asked ... about how you treated the foreigner? Did you welcome them and embrace them or reject?
America is best defended, essentially, through connection to the highest in US heritage, similar to Christianity is optimally secured by reference to that which renders it distinctive and beautiful, particularly the pattern of Jesus. In neither case does it suggest pretending the most damaging about the nation and religious tradition never occurred; it means both modesty and faith, a combination that genuine US believers should be comfortable with.
