The Trump phenomenon's most illuminating and distinctive occasions – not its most significant, nor most brutal, nor most threatening, nor most senseless, but potentially its most enlightening – came earlier this autumn. Over the span of a few weeks, the nation's leader started showing all observers his designs for a lavish reception room two times larger of the White House and subsequently started solo dismantling the East Wing to build it.
He has performed deeds 10,000 times as bad – the current estimate of fatalities resulting from his reductions to foreign assistance amounts to 600,000 and rising, and this week research forecast his energy policies would result in fatalities 1.3 million more. However nothing as distinctive. No former leader would have attempted – really, no previous leader would have contemplated – unilaterally destroying large sections of the executive mansion to build a royal-themed celebration hall, with the active collaboration of some of the richest Americans, the majority of whom conduct transactions with federal agencies.
We went from 'the humble will receive the Earth' to 'the meek shall die from cholera'
As bewildering as it is to observe the leader attempt to overturn the old idea about democracy and replace it with its complete opposite, there remains a substantial portion among Americans who should not find it totally unfamiliar. This includes individuals like us – among senior generations almost a majority – who were educated as conventional Protestant believers.
We have witnessed across decades while conservative evangelical congregations turned the Jesus we learned about into the complete reverse of our perception of his character. Essentially, they converted a persona of affection into an icon of animosity who approves precisely the cruelties that he criticized in the Gospel; this transformation occurred more slowly, through multiple decades as opposed to months, but it is nonetheless unsettling through similar means, a confusing personal impact for many of us.
A Harmful Christianity Establishes Itself
So let me first describe the Savior from my childhood, because theoretically the Savior is the core of any Christian faith, and since the fastest-growing cadre of Americans may possess limited understanding of him because they identify as non-believers or uncertain individuals or religiously unaffiliated. I have no problem with these various perspectives, nor with alternative spiritual paths; but I do think that there are pearls of substantial value in the Christian story.
It is unquestionably not the account of a powerful ruler arising; instead, a baby is born to displaced parents in a garage, who are forced to hastily depart to a foreign land to escape secret police. The child matures in simple surroundings, an employed craftsman; his teaching focuses on affection for fellow humans, especially for the impoverished – not merely emotional affection, but tangible care, demonstrated through nourishing and housing. The Savior's reaction to aggression is to turn the other cheek – not as a gesture of submissive tolerance, but as a means to educate the aggressor; his approach to wrongdoing states that when someone steals your outer garment you must offer the person your additional clothing also.
The obvious and direct reality that Christ in biblical accounts requests a kind of extreme compassion concentrated on the impoverished has perpetually caused the Christian faith rather a scandalous religion: appealing to the masses, but because of its natural unconventionality needing to be restrained. During the 1950s it was contained through watering down – Protestantism was so widespread that it practically blessed current circumstances.
A Battle for the Finest Within Us
So I have been heartened to observe the persistent defiance to Trump develop over the last twelve months. It has provided significant comfort to participate in developing the campaign that has protested openly in rally after rally, and seems to have inspired citizens to show up in numbers in interim political contests. We will need to continue it, and with identical determination, with American flags during all protests and calls to the finest aspects in US history.
We shall be interrogated ... how did you receive the stranger? Did you accept these individuals and welcome him or refuse?
The nation is most protected, in other words, by reference to the finest within national tradition, exactly as the Christian faith is most protected through connection to what makes it special and wonderful, specifically the model of the Savior. In all circumstances does it mean feigning the worst of both America and Christian faith did not happen; it means both modesty and faith, a blend that serious US believers should be comfortable with.
