The Trump phenomenon's most illuminating and characteristic occasions – not its most significant, nor most harsh, nor most hazardous, nor most foolish, but possibly its most revealing – emerged earlier this harvest season. During the period of several weeks, the nation's leader began displaying the public his designs for a lavish reception room double the dimensions of the White House and then began solo dismantling the East Wing to construct it.
He has done things countless times more severe – the existing assessment of casualties resulting from his reductions to USAID stands at 600,000 and growing, and this week a study forecast his energy policies would cause deaths 1.3 million more. But nothing as definitional. No other president would have dared – genuinely, no other president would have contemplated – unilaterally destroying significant portions of the executive mansion to construct a royal-themed celebration hall, with the direct cooperation of some of the richest Americans, the majority of whom conduct transactions with federal agencies.
We moved from 'the gentle will obtain the world' toward 'the meek shall die from cholera'
As disorienting as it is to watch the chief executive attempt to overturn the traditional concept about democracy and exchange it with its complete opposite, there exists a significant segment within America who wouldn't consider it entirely new. That encompasses people such as ourselves – in older age cohorts a near majority – who were raised within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have witnessed throughout the years as politically conservative religious groups turned the Jesus we grew up with into the total contrary of our perception of his character. Essentially, they transformed an image of compassion into a symbol of hostility who blesses exactly the harshness that he criticized in scripture; this transformation occurred at a slower pace, across decades instead of months, yet it remains disconcerting in the same ways, a confusing personal impact for numerous individuals.
A Toxic Christianity Gains Ground
So let me first describe the Jesus that I grew up with, since in theory the Savior is the core of any Christian faith, and because the fastest-growing cadre within America might have little sense of him as they consider themselves non-believers or agnostics or spiritual independents. I have no problem with these different approaches, nor with alternative spiritual paths; however I believe that contain precious wisdom of significant worth in the Christian story.
It is decidedly absolutely not the story of a mighty king arising; conversely, a child comes into the world to parents without shelter in a storage space, who are forced to hastily depart to another nation to escape covert authorities. The infant develops in modest conditions, an employed craftsman; his message focuses on affection for other people, particularly for the poor – not merely emotional affection, but tangible care, expressed by feeding and sheltering. Christ's response to aggression is to offer the other cheek – not as a demonstration of compliant endurance, but as a way to teach the assailant; his method regarding offenses states that when a person pilfers your coat you must offer him your sweater as well.
The evident and direct truth that Christ in biblical accounts calls for a form of extreme compassion concentrated on the impoverished has perpetually caused Christianity somewhat of a provocative belief system: attractive to the general public, but because of its natural unconventionality demanding to be contained. In the 1950s it was controlled by dilution – Protestant Christianity was so prevalent that it basically sanctified existing conditions.
A Conflict for the Best Within Us
So I have been heartened to witness the steadfast resistance regarding Trump develop in this past year. It has served as significant comfort to assist in constructing the movement that has taken to the streets through repeated demonstrations, and seems to have inspired voters to participate in large quantities in the off-year elections. We will need to persist with it, and with identical determination, displaying national flags during all protests and appeals to the best parts in US history.
We shall be interrogated ... regarding how you welcomed the immigrant? Did you receive him and embrace them or refuse?
The country is optimally secured, in other words, by reference to the best in US heritage, similar to Christianity is most protected through connection to that which renders it special and wonderful, particularly the pattern of the Savior. In neither case does it suggest feigning the most damaging of both America and religious tradition did not happen; it represents both meekness and conviction, a combination that serious US believers ought to accept.
