Trumpism's most revealing and distinctive instances – not its most crucial, nor most harsh, nor most threatening, nor stupidest, but possibly its most revealing – came earlier this autumn. During the period of a few weeks, the American president started showing everyone his intentions for a lavish reception room twice the size of the White House and subsequently started solo dismantling the eastern section to erect it.
He has done things countless times more severe – the current estimate of fatalities from his cuts to USAID stands at 600,000 and increasing, and recently research forecast his energy policies would kill an additional 1.3 million. However nothing as distinctive. No former leader would have dared – truly, no former commander would have conceived – unilaterally destroying major areas of the executive mansion to construct a Versailles-style party room, with the enthusiastic participation of numerous the nation's most affluent, nearly all of which maintain dealings with federal agencies.
We transitioned from 'the meek shall inherit the Earth' toward 'the gentle will succumb from cholera'
As confusing as it is to observe the president attempt to overturn the established notion of democracy and exchange it with its direct contrary, there remains a substantial portion of Americans who wouldn't consider it totally unfamiliar. This includes individuals like us – in older age cohorts a near majority – who were raised as conventional Protestant believers.
We have observed across decades as rightwing evangelical churches transformed the Christ we grew up with into the complete reverse of our perception of his character. At its most basic, they transformed an image of compassion into a symbol of animosity who endorses precisely the cruelties that he condemned in biblical teachings; this change developed more slowly, over decades as opposed to months, yet it remains disturbing via comparable methods, a bewildering emotional blow for numerous individuals.
A Harmful Christianity Gains Ground
Therefore allow me to outline the Christ that I grew up with, as conceptually Christ is the focus of any Christian faith, and because the fastest-growing cadre within America may possess limited understanding about him since they are non-believers or doubters or religiously unaffiliated. I have no problem with these various perspectives, nor with different religions; however I believe that there are pearls of significant worth within Christian narrative.
It is emphatically not the narrative of an authoritative monarch arising; instead, an infant arrives to displaced parents in an automotive shelter, who must quickly flee to another nation to avoid undercover officers. The infant develops in humble circumstances, an employed craftsman; his teaching is about love for fellow humans, particularly for the impoverished – not merely emotional affection, but practical compassion, expressed by feeding and protecting. Jesus' answer to hostility is to offer the opposite cheek – not as a demonstration of passive acceptance, but as a way to teach the assailant; his approach to wrongdoing indicates that whenever a person pilfers your outer garment you must offer them your pullover as well.
The apparent and direct reality that the Savior from scripture requests a form of extreme compassion centered on the poor has consistently rendered Christian religion rather a scandalous religion: attractive to the masses, but because of its intrinsic extremism demanding to be restrained. In the fifties it was contained through watering down – Protestant Christianity was so prevalent that it practically sanctified existing conditions.
A Struggle for the Highest Among Us
So I have been heartened to observe the steadfast resistance to Trump emerge in this past year. It has provided substantial consolation to assist in constructing the movement that has taken to the streets via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated electorate to show up in significant amounts during minor elections. We will need to persist with it, and with identical determination, with American flags during all protests and calls to the best parts of American history.
We're going to be asked ... regarding how you welcomed the stranger? Did you receive him and welcome him or refuse?
The nation is most protected, to put it differently, by relationship to the finest within national tradition, just as Christianity is most protected by relationship to elements that cause it to be distinctive and magnificent, specifically the model of Christ. In neither case does it suggest feigning the most negative of both America and religious tradition never occurred; it signifies both modesty and belief, a combination that serious national faithful should be comfortable with.
