The Trump movement's most telling and characteristic moments – not its most significant, nor cruelest, nor most hazardous, nor stupidest, but possibly its most revealing – emerged earlier this harvest season. Over the span of multiple weeks, the US president started showing everyone his intentions for a gilded ballroom double the dimensions of the White House and then commenced solo dismantling the East Wing portion to construct it.
He has committed acts 10,000 times as bad – the current estimate of deaths resulting from his reductions to international aid stands at 600,000 and growing, and this week an analysis projected his fossil fuel policies would kill 1.3 million more. However nothing as distinctive. No previous president would have risked – truly, no former commander would have imagined – solo demolishing large sections of the presidential residence to build a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the enthusiastic participation of some of the richest Americans, the majority of whom maintain dealings with federal agencies.
We moved from 'the gentle will obtain the world' to 'the humble will perish to cholera'
As confusing as it is to observe the leader attempt to overturn the traditional concept of democracy and substitute it with its polar opposite, there is one large group of Americans who wouldn't consider it completely novel. That is those of us – within elder demographics a near majority – who were raised within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have witnessed throughout the years while conservative evangelical congregations turned the Jesus we grew up with into exactly the opposite of our perception of his character. At its most basic, they turned a figure of affection into a figure of hate who approves precisely the cruelties that he criticized in scripture; this change developed more slowly, through multiple decades rather than months, however it is still disconcerting in the same ways, a disorienting gut punch for numerous individuals.
A Harmful Christianity Takes Hold
So let me first describe the Savior from my upbringing, because theoretically Christ is the focus of Christian religion, and given that the quickly increasing segment within America might have little sense about him as they consider themselves atheists or uncertain individuals or spiritual independents. I have no problem with any of these traditions, nor with different religions; but I do think that contain precious wisdom of substantial value in biblical accounts.
It is decidedly absolutely not the narrative of a mighty king emerging; instead, a child comes into the world to displaced parents in a garage, who need to rapidly escape to a foreign land to avoid secret police. The baby grows up in modest conditions, a working carpenter; his teaching focuses on affection for fellow humans, particularly for the impoverished – not merely emotional affection, but tangible care, expressed by feeding and sheltering. The Savior's reaction to aggression is to turn the opposite cheek – not as an act of compliant endurance, but as a means to teach the attacker; his crime policy states that when a person pilfers your outer garment you should give them your pullover also.
The evident and straightforward fact that the Savior in biblical accounts requests a form of extreme compassion centered on the poor is what has always made Christianity somewhat of a scandalous religion: appealing to the masses, but due to its intrinsic extremism requiring to be restrained. During the 1950s it was contained via weakening – Protestant Christianity was so widespread that it basically baptized the status quo.
A Struggle for the Best Within Us
Hence I have become heartened to witness the steadfast resistance against Trump arise during the previous year. It has provided significant comfort to help build the initiative that has taken to the streets via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated citizens to turn out in significant amounts during minor elections. We will need to continue it, and with identical determination, displaying national flags throughout each rally and calls to the best parts in US history.
We're going to be asked ... how did you receive the stranger? Did you accept these individuals and embrace them or not?
The country is optimally secured, to put it differently, by relationship to the best within national tradition, exactly as the Christian faith is most protected by reference to what makes it unique and beautiful, specifically the model of Christ. In both situations does it suggest acting as if the most negative about the nation and religious tradition did not happen; it means both meekness and conviction, a blend that committed American Christians ought to accept.
