The Trump movement's most telling and defining instances – not its most crucial, nor cruelest, nor most dangerous, nor most senseless, but potentially its most enlightening – came earlier this autumn. Over the span of multiple weeks, the American president began displaying all observers his designs for a gilded ballroom double the dimensions than the White House and then began unilaterally ripping down the East Wing to erect it.
He has done things countless times more severe – the present calculation of fatalities due to his slashing to international aid stands at 600,000 and increasing, and recently research projected his fossil fuel policies would kill 1.3 million more. However nothing as distinctive. No former leader would have attempted – truly, no previous leader would have contemplated – solo demolishing significant portions of the executive mansion to construct a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the direct cooperation of some of the nation's most affluent, nearly all of which maintain dealings with the government.
We transitioned from 'the meek shall inherit the planet' toward 'the meek shall die of cholera'
As bewildering as it is to observe the leader try to upend the traditional concept regarding democracy and replace it with its direct contrary, there exists a significant segment within America who should not find it completely novel. That encompasses people such as ourselves – among senior generations close to half – who were brought up within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have witnessed over the years as rightwing evangelical churches turned the Jesus we were raised with into exactly the opposite of our understanding of him. Fundamentally, they turned a figure of love into a symbol of hostility who approves precisely the cruelties that he criticized in the Gospel; this transformation occurred more slowly, across decades instead of months, yet it remains unsettling in the same ways, a confusing personal impact for numerous individuals.
A Toxic Christianity Takes Hold
Therefore allow me to outline the Christ from my childhood, as conceptually Christ is the focus within Christian belief, and given that the rapidly expanding group of Americans may possess limited understanding about him since they are atheists or uncertain individuals or nones. I have no problem with these various perspectives, nor with different religions; yet I maintain that there are pearls of great price in biblical accounts.
It is unquestionably not the narrative of a mighty king appearing; conversely, a baby is born to displaced parents in an automotive shelter, who must quickly flee to a different country to avoid covert authorities. The child matures in modest conditions, a laboring woodworker; his teaching is about love for other people, especially for the poor – and not a sentimental love, but tangible care, shown by providing food and sheltering. Christ's response to violence is to present the other cheek – not as a demonstration of passive acceptance, but as a means to educate the assailant; his crime policy is that if an individual takes your coat you must offer them your pullover also.
The obvious and clear reality that Christ from scripture calls for a type of extreme compassion focused on the impoverished is what has always made the Christian faith something of a provocative belief system: appealing to the populace, but owing to its inherent radicalness needing to be controlled. During the 1950s it was controlled by dilution – The Protestant faith was so prevalent that it practically baptized the status quo.
A Struggle for the Finest Among Us
Hence I have become inspired to witness the persistent defiance regarding Trump emerge in this past year. It has been great solace to participate in developing the initiative that has protested openly via continuous gatherings, and seems to have inspired electorate to turn out in numbers in interim political contests. We shall require to maintain it, and through comparable resolve, displaying national flags during all protests and requests to the best parts of American history.
We shall be interrogated ... regarding how you welcomed the stranger? Did you welcome them and receive them or refuse?
The country is optimally secured, in other words, through connection to the finest within national tradition, exactly as the Christian faith is best defended through connection to elements that cause it to be special and beautiful, specifically the model of the Savior. In neither case does it imply pretending the most damaging of both America and religious tradition never occurred; it means both humility and faith, a combination that genuine national faithful ought to accept.
