The Trump movement's most revealing and defining instances – not its most crucial, nor most brutal, nor most dangerous, nor most senseless, but potentially its most enlightening – occurred earlier this fall. Over the span of a few weeks, the American president began displaying all observers his intentions for a lavish reception room double the dimensions of the White House and then commenced independently demolishing the East Wing portion to construct it.
He has performed deeds 10,000 times as bad – the present calculation of deaths from his cuts to international aid is 600,000 and increasing, and presently a study projected his petroleum strategies would result in fatalities 1.3 million more. Yet nothing as characteristic. No previous president would have dared – genuinely, no former commander would have imagined – unilaterally destroying major areas of the White House to build a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the enthusiastic participation of numerous the richest Americans, almost all of whom have business with federal agencies.
We transitioned from 'the gentle will obtain the planet' toward 'the humble will perish to cholera'
As confusing as it is to witness the president try to upend the traditional concept about democracy and substitute it with its direct contrary, there exists a significant segment of Americans who should not find it completely novel. That is those of us – in older age cohorts almost a majority – who were educated as mainline Protestant Christians.
We have watched over the years while conservative evangelical congregations transformed the Christ we grew up with into the complete reverse of our understanding of him. At its most basic, they transformed an image of compassion into a symbol of animosity who endorses specifically the brutality that he denounced in scripture; this has happened more slowly, over decades rather than months, but it is nonetheless unsettling in the same ways, a confusing personal impact for numerous individuals.
A Damaging Christianity Takes Hold
Therefore allow me to outline the Christ from my childhood, as conceptually Jesus is the center of any Christian faith, and given that the rapidly expanding group among Americans may possess limited understanding about him because they identify as non-believers or uncertain individuals or nones. I take no issue with these different approaches, nor with alternative spiritual paths; yet I maintain that exist valuable insights of significant worth within Christian narrative.
It is decidedly definitely not the story of a mighty king arising; instead, an infant arrives to parents without shelter in a storage space, who need to rapidly escape to a different country to avoid covert authorities. The baby grows up in simple surroundings, an employed craftsman; his message focuses on affection for others, particularly for the disadvantaged – and not a sentimental love, but a concrete one, shown by providing food and protecting. Christ's response to hostility is to turn the other cheek – not as a gesture of submissive tolerance, but as a method to educate the aggressor; his method regarding offenses is that if an individual takes your jacket you should give the person your additional clothing too.
The evident and direct fact that the Jesus from scripture advocates for a form of profound affection focused on the impoverished has perpetually caused Christianity something of a controversial faith: engaging for the general public, but owing to its inherent radicalness requiring to be contained. In the fifties it was contained via weakening – Protestantism was so widespread that it practically blessed current circumstances.
A Battle for the Best Within Us
So I have been encouraged to observe the persistent defiance against Trump emerge during the previous year. It has been great solace to assist in constructing the movement that has taken to the streets via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated voters to turn out in significant amounts in the off-year elections. We must have to persist with it, and in the same spirit, featuring US banners at every demonstration and appeals to the highest qualities in US history.
We're going to be asked ... how did you receive the stranger? Did you receive him and welcome him or not?
America is best defended, in other words, through connection to the best in US heritage, just as Christianity is most protected through connection to elements that cause it to be special and magnificent, which is the example of Christ. In neither case does it imply feigning the worst of both America and Christianity did not happen; it represents both meekness and faith, a blend that genuine US believers should be comfortable with.
