The Trump phenomenon's most illuminating and characteristic occasions – not its most significant, nor cruelest, nor most threatening, nor stupidest, but possibly its most revealing – came earlier this autumn. In the course of a few weeks, the US president began displaying the public his intentions for an ornate dance hall twice the size than the White House and then commenced solo dismantling the East Wing to erect it.
He has done things ten thousand times worse – the present calculation of casualties due to his slashing to USAID stands at 600,000 and growing, and recently a study predicted his energy policies would kill 1.3 million more. But nothing as definitional. No other president would have attempted – genuinely, no previous leader would have imagined – unilaterally destroying large sections of the presidential residence to build a Versailles-style party room, with the direct cooperation of some of the richest Americans, almost all of whom conduct transactions with public institutions.
We transitioned from 'the humble will receive the world' toward 'the gentle will succumb from cholera'
As bewildering as it is to witness the leader try to upend the traditional concept of democracy and replace it with its direct contrary, there is one large group within America who should not find it completely novel. This includes individuals like us – in older age cohorts a near majority – who were brought up within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have witnessed over the years as politically conservative religious groups transformed the Christ we were raised with into the complete reverse of who we understood him to be. Fundamentally, they converted a persona of compassion into a symbol of animosity who approves specifically the brutality that he criticized in biblical teachings; this transformation occurred at a slower pace, through multiple decades as opposed to months, yet it remains disturbing via comparable methods, a bewildering emotional blow for numerous individuals.
A Toxic Christianity Gains Ground
So let me first describe the Jesus from my upbringing, because theoretically Christ is the focus of Christian religion, and given that the quickly increasing segment within America could have minimal awareness about him as they consider themselves non-believers or agnostics or nones. I have no problem with any of these traditions, nor with alternative spiritual paths; however I believe that there are pearls of significant worth in the Christian story.
It is emphatically definitely not the story of a mighty king emerging; conversely, a child comes into the world to homeless parents in a storage space, who must quickly flee to a different country to evade undercover officers. The infant develops in simple surroundings, a laboring woodworker; his message is about love for other people, especially for the disadvantaged – and not a sentimental love, but a concrete one, shown by providing food and sheltering. Jesus' answer to violence is to offer the other cheek – not as a demonstration of compliant endurance, but as a way to instruct the aggressor; his approach to wrongdoing states that when an individual takes your outer garment you must offer them your pullover as well.
The apparent and clear truth that Christ in biblical accounts requests a kind of profound affection focused on the needy has perpetually caused Christianity somewhat of a provocative belief system: appealing to the masses, but because of its inherent radicalness needing to be controlled. During the 1950s it was contained by dilution – Protestant Christianity was so widespread that it basically baptized the status quo.
A Conflict for the Finest Within Us
Therefore I have felt heartened to observe the persistent defiance to Trump develop over the last twelve months. It has served as substantial consolation to participate in developing the movement that has taken to the streets through repeated demonstrations, and seems to have inspired voters to turn out in significant amounts in interim political contests. We will need to maintain it, and through comparable resolve, with American flags at every demonstration and requests to the highest qualities of American history.
We're going to be asked ... regarding how you welcomed the stranger? Did you accept these individuals and embrace them or reject?
The nation is most protected, to put it differently, through connection to the best in US heritage, exactly as the Christian faith is most protected by reference to what makes it unique and wonderful, which is the example of Jesus. In all circumstances does it mean pretending the worst about the nation and Christian faith never occurred; it signifies both modesty and belief, a mixture that committed US believers should be comfortable with.
