The Trump phenomenon's most illuminating and defining instances – not its most important, nor most harsh, nor most dangerous, nor most senseless, but potentially its most enlightening – occurred earlier this fall. Over the span of several weeks, the US president started showing everyone his designs for a lavish reception room double the dimensions than the White House and then began solo dismantling the eastern section to erect it.
He has performed deeds countless times more severe – the current estimate of casualties due to his slashing to international aid is 600,000 and rising, and this week a study predicted his fossil fuel policies would result in fatalities 1.3 million more. But nothing as definitional. No former leader would have attempted – genuinely, no former commander would have contemplated – independently wrecking significant portions of the presidential residence to construct a royal-themed celebration hall, with the direct cooperation of numerous the richest Americans, nearly all of which have business with the government.
We moved from 'the meek shall inherit the planet' into 'the humble will perish from cholera'
As bewildering as it is to watch the chief executive attempt to overturn the traditional concept of democracy and replace it with its complete opposite, there is one large group of Americans who wouldn't consider it entirely new. That is those of us – within elder demographics almost a majority – who were raised as conventional Protestant believers.
We have watched throughout the years while conservative evangelical congregations transformed the Christ we learned about into the complete reverse of our understanding of him. At its most basic, they turned a figure of love into a symbol of animosity who endorses precisely the cruelties that he condemned in the Gospel; this transformation occurred more gradually, over decades rather than months, but it is nonetheless unsettling via comparable methods, a confusing personal impact for many of us.
A Damaging Christianity Takes Hold
So let me first describe the Jesus from my upbringing, as conceptually the Savior is the core within Christian belief, and given that the quickly increasing segment of Americans could have minimal awareness about him since they are non-believers or agnostics or nones. I take no issue with these various perspectives, nor with different religions; however I believe that there are pearls of great price within Christian narrative.
It is emphatically not the account of a mighty king arising; conversely, a child comes into the world to parents without shelter in an automotive shelter, who need to rapidly escape to a different country to evade secret police. The child matures in humble circumstances, a laboring woodworker; his teaching focuses on affection for others, specifically for the disadvantaged – not merely emotional affection, but tangible care, expressed by feeding and housing. The Savior's reaction to aggression is to offer the additional cheek – not as a gesture of compliant endurance, but as a method to teach the attacker; his crime policy indicates that whenever a person pilfers your jacket you should give him your sweater also.
The apparent and straightforward reality that the Jesus in biblical accounts calls for a form of radical love centered on the needy is what has always made Christian religion somewhat of a controversial faith: attractive to the masses, but because of its inherent radicalness needing to be controlled. In the 1950s it was contained through watering down – The Protestant faith was so widespread that it practically sanctified existing conditions.
A Battle for the Finest Among Us
Hence I have become encouraged to observe the determined opposition regarding Trump emerge over the last twelve months. It has served as substantial consolation to participate in developing the initiative that has taken to the streets through repeated demonstrations, and appears to have motivated electorate to participate in significant amounts in the off-year elections. We must have to maintain it, and in the same spirit, featuring US banners during all protests and appeals to the best parts of American history.
We shall be interrogated ... regarding how you welcomed the stranger? Did you welcome them and welcome him or not?
The nation is most protected, essentially, by relationship to the finest about American history, exactly as the Christian faith is optimally secured through connection to what makes it unique and beautiful, specifically the model of the Savior. In both situations does it imply pretending the most damaging of both America and Christian faith never occurred; it signifies both humility and faith, a combination that genuine national faithful should embrace.
