Trumpism's most illuminating and characteristic moments – not its most crucial, nor most harsh, nor most hazardous, nor stupidest, but possibly its most revealing – came earlier this autumn. In the course of multiple weeks, the US president started showing all observers his intentions for an ornate dance hall double the dimensions of the White House and then began independently demolishing the East Wing to construct it.
He has performed deeds ten thousand times worse – the existing assessment of fatalities due to his slashing to USAID stands at 600,000 and increasing, and recently research predicted his energy policies would cause deaths 1.3 million more. But nothing as definitional. No previous president would have attempted – really, no previous leader would have imagined – unilaterally destroying large sections of the White House to construct a royal-themed celebration hall, with the enthusiastic participation of numerous America's wealthiest, nearly all of which maintain dealings with the government.
We moved from 'the meek shall inherit the Earth' into 'the gentle will succumb of cholera'
As disorienting as it is to observe the president attempt to overturn the old idea of democracy and replace it with its polar opposite, there remains a substantial portion within America who wouldn't consider it completely novel. That is those of us – within elder demographics a near majority – who were raised as conventional Protestant believers.
We have witnessed over the years as rightwing evangelical churches transformed the Christ we learned about into exactly the opposite of our perception of his character. Fundamentally, they converted a persona of affection into an icon of hostility who endorses precisely the cruelties that he condemned in the Gospel; this transformation occurred more slowly, across decades as opposed to months, however it is still unsettling in the same ways, a disorienting gut punch for countless people.
A Damaging Christianity Gains Ground
So let me first describe the Savior from my childhood, as conceptually the Savior is the core of Christian religion, and since the fastest-growing cadre within America could have minimal awareness regarding him as they consider themselves non-believers or uncertain individuals or religiously unaffiliated. I raise no objection with these various perspectives, nor with different religions; yet I maintain that contain precious wisdom of substantial value in biblical accounts.
It is unquestionably not the account of a mighty king arising; conversely, an infant arrives to homeless parents in an automotive shelter, who are forced to hastily depart to a foreign land to avoid secret police. The child matures in simple surroundings, an employed craftsman; his doctrine concerns compassion for others, particularly for the impoverished – not simply tender feelings, but tangible care, demonstrated through nourishing and sheltering. Jesus' answer to aggression is to turn the additional cheek – not as a gesture of compliant endurance, but as a means to instruct the attacker; his crime policy is that if a person pilfers your outer garment you must offer the person your additional clothing as well.
The evident and straightforward reality that the Savior of the gospels requests a kind of radical love concentrated on the needy has perpetually caused Christianity somewhat of a controversial faith: appealing to the general public, but due to its intrinsic extremism requiring to be restrained. In the 1950s it was restrained by dilution – The Protestant faith was so dominant that it basically sanctified existing conditions.
A Battle for the Highest Among Us
Therefore I have felt encouraged to see the persistent defiance against Trump arise in this past year. It has served as significant comfort to participate in developing the campaign that has protested openly through repeated demonstrations, and seems to have inspired citizens to turn out in significant amounts in interim political contests. We will need to continue it, and with identical determination, with American flags throughout each rally and appeals to the highest qualities within national heritage.
We shall be interrogated ... regarding how you welcomed the stranger? Did you receive him and welcome him or reject?
America is best defended, to put it differently, by reference to the finest about American history, similar to Christianity is best defended by relationship to elements that cause it to be unique and beautiful, particularly the pattern of the Savior. In both situations does it suggest feigning the worst about the nation and Christian faith did not happen; it signifies both meekness and conviction, a blend that genuine US believers ought to accept.
