The Trump phenomenon's most illuminating and distinctive moments – not its most crucial, nor cruelest, nor most hazardous, nor stupidest, but possibly its most revealing – came earlier this autumn. Over the span of multiple weeks, the American president started showing the public his designs for an ornate dance hall two times larger compared to the White House and subsequently started unilaterally ripping down the East Wing 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 presently research projected his petroleum strategies would result in fatalities 1.3 million more. Yet nothing as characteristic. No former leader would have attempted – truly, no other president would have conceived – unilaterally destroying large sections of the White House to construct a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the direct cooperation of some of the nation's most affluent, almost all of whom maintain dealings with federal agencies.
We moved from 'the meek shall inherit the world' into 'the humble will perish to cholera'
As confusing as it is to witness the leader try to upend the old idea regarding democracy and exchange it with its polar opposite, there is one large group within America who wouldn't consider it entirely new. This includes individuals like us – in older age cohorts close to half – who were brought up as conventional Protestant believers.
We have watched throughout the years as rightwing evangelical churches transformed the Christ we grew up with into the complete reverse of who we understood him to be. At its most basic, they converted a persona of love into a symbol of hostility who approves specifically the brutality that he condemned in the Gospel; this has happened more gradually, across decades rather than months, but it is nonetheless disconcerting via comparable methods, a confusing personal impact for countless people.
A Harmful Christianity Gains Ground
So let me first describe the Christ from my childhood, because theoretically Christ is the focus within Christian belief, and since the rapidly expanding group among Americans may possess limited understanding regarding him because they identify as atheists or doubters or spiritual independents. I take no issue with any of these traditions, nor with alternative spiritual paths; yet I maintain that there are pearls of significant worth in biblical accounts.
It is unquestionably not the account of a powerful ruler appearing; rather, a baby is born to parents without shelter in a garage, who are forced to hastily depart to a different country to evade undercover officers. The baby grows up in modest conditions, a laboring woodworker; his teaching is about love for others, especially for the poor – not simply tender feelings, but tangible care, shown by providing food and sheltering. Jesus' answer to hostility is to present the opposite cheek – not as a gesture of compliant endurance, but as a way to instruct the attacker; his method regarding offenses is that if a person pilfers your coat you should give the person your additional clothing also.
The evident and direct truth that the Savior in biblical accounts requests a form of extreme compassion centered on the needy has consistently rendered Christian religion somewhat of a provocative belief system: engaging for the populace, but due to its intrinsic extremism requiring to be contained. During the 1950s it was contained via weakening – Protestant Christianity was so dominant that it essentially sanctified existing conditions.
A Struggle for the Highest of Us
Hence I have become inspired to see the determined opposition against Trump arise over the last twelve months. It has provided great solace to participate in developing the initiative that has taken to the streets in rally after rally, and likely has encouraged electorate to participate in numbers in interim political contests. We will need to persist with it, and in the same spirit, with American flags at every demonstration and calls 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 refuse?
America is best defended, in other words, through connection to the finest within national tradition, similar to Christianity is optimally secured by reference to that which renders it distinctive and beautiful, which is the example of Christ. In both situations does it mean feigning the worst of both America and Christian faith was nonexistent; it means both humility and faith, a combination that genuine US believers should embrace.
