The Trump phenomenon's most telling and defining instances – not its most significant, nor cruelest, nor most dangerous, nor most foolish, but perhaps its most illuminating – came earlier this autumn. Over the span of several weeks, the American president began displaying everyone his designs for an ornate dance hall two times larger of the White House and subsequently started solo dismantling the East Wing portion to construct it.
He has done things countless times more severe – the present calculation of casualties resulting from his reductions to international aid is 600,000 and rising, and recently a study forecast his fossil fuel policies would kill another 1.3 million. However nothing as distinctive. No previous president would have attempted – really, no previous leader would have imagined – unilaterally destroying major areas of the White House in order to erect a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the direct cooperation of numerous the nation's most affluent, almost all of whom maintain dealings with the government.
We transitioned from 'the meek shall inherit the planet' to 'the meek shall die from cholera'
As disorienting as it is to watch the president try to upend the old idea regarding democracy and exchange it with its direct contrary, there is one large group among Americans who might not perceive it entirely new. That encompasses people such as ourselves – in older age cohorts almost a majority – who were educated as conventional Protestant believers.
We have watched across decades as rightwing evangelical churches turned the Jesus we learned about into the complete reverse of our perception of his character. At its most basic, they turned a figure of affection into a symbol of hate who approves precisely the cruelties that he denounced in scripture; this has happened more gradually, across decades rather than months, but it is nonetheless disturbing via comparable methods, a confusing personal impact for many of us.
A Toxic Christianity Establishes Itself
So let me first describe the Christ that I grew up with, since in theory Christ is the focus of any Christian faith, and because the rapidly expanding group of Americans could have minimal awareness about him since they are atheists or doubters or religiously unaffiliated. I raise no objection with these various perspectives, nor with different religions; yet I maintain that contain precious wisdom of great price in biblical accounts.
It is decidedly not the narrative of an authoritative monarch emerging; conversely, an infant arrives to homeless parents in an automotive shelter, who are forced to hastily depart to a foreign land to evade undercover officers. The baby grows up in modest conditions, an employed craftsman; his teaching concerns compassion for fellow humans, particularly for the poor – and not a sentimental love, but a concrete one, shown by providing food and sheltering. Jesus' answer to violence is to present the additional cheek – not as an act of passive acceptance, but as a means to educate the aggressor; his crime policy is that if someone steals your outer garment you should give the person your additional clothing also.
The apparent and clear reality that the Savior of the gospels advocates for a kind of extreme compassion centered on the impoverished is what has always made Christianity somewhat of a scandalous religion: attractive to the masses, but because of its intrinsic extremism requiring to be controlled. During the 1950s it was restrained by dilution – Protestantism was so prevalent that it essentially blessed current circumstances.
A Battle for the Finest of Us
Hence I have become encouraged to see the determined opposition to Trump arise during the previous year. It has been substantial consolation to assist in constructing the movement that has demonstrated publicly via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated voters to participate in large quantities in the off-year elections. We must have to persist with it, and with identical determination, featuring US banners throughout each rally and requests to the best parts within national heritage.
We will be questioned ... how did you receive the stranger? Did you welcome them and embrace them or refuse?
America is best defended, essentially, by reference to the highest in US heritage, just as Christianity is optimally secured through connection to elements that cause it to be distinctive and wonderful, specifically the model of the Savior. In both situations does it mean pretending the worst regarding America and Christian faith did not happen; it signifies both meekness and conviction, a blend that serious US believers should embrace.
