The Trump movement's most telling and defining moments – not its most important, nor most harsh, nor most hazardous, nor most senseless, but possibly its most revealing – occurred earlier this fall. Over the span of multiple weeks, the US president commenced revealing the public his designs for a lavish reception room twice the size 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 deaths from his cuts to international aid is 600,000 and growing, and this week a study forecast his energy policies would kill 1.3 million more. But nothing as definitional. No former leader would have attempted – genuinely, no previous leader would have conceived – solo demolishing significant portions of the White House to construct a Versailles-style party room, with the enthusiastic participation of numerous the richest Americans, the majority of whom conduct transactions with federal agencies.
We transitioned from 'the gentle will obtain the Earth' to 'the gentle will succumb of cholera'
As confusing as it is to observe the president try to upend the old idea regarding democracy and replace it with its direct contrary, there exists a significant segment among Americans who should not find it completely novel. That is those of us – within elder demographics a near majority – who were raised as mainline Protestant Christians.
We have watched across decades as politically conservative religious groups turned the Jesus we grew up with into the complete reverse of our perception of his character. At its most basic, they converted a persona of compassion into a figure of animosity who approves specifically the brutality that he condemned in scripture; this transformation occurred at a slower pace, through multiple decades as opposed to months, but it is nonetheless unsettling via comparable methods, a confusing personal impact for numerous individuals.
A Harmful Christianity Establishes Itself
Therefore allow me to outline the Christ from my childhood, since in theory Christ is the focus within Christian belief, and since the rapidly expanding group among Americans might have little sense regarding him since they are atheists or uncertain individuals or religiously unaffiliated. I raise no objection with any of these traditions, nor with any other faith; however I believe that there are pearls of significant worth in biblical accounts.
It is emphatically absolutely not the narrative of an authoritative monarch appearing; instead, a baby is born to displaced parents in a storage space, who need to rapidly escape to a different country to evade undercover officers. The infant develops in modest conditions, a laboring woodworker; his doctrine focuses on affection for others, particularly for the poor – and not a sentimental love, but practical compassion, shown by providing food and sheltering. Jesus' answer to hostility is to present the other cheek – not as a demonstration of passive acceptance, but as a means to teach the attacker; his crime policy is that if someone steals your outer garment you ought to provide the person your additional clothing as well.
The evident and direct fact that the Jesus in biblical accounts advocates for a form of radical love centered on the poor has consistently rendered Christianity somewhat of a scandalous religion: engaging for the general public, but owing to its intrinsic extremism demanding to be contained. During the 1950s it was contained via weakening – Protestant Christianity was so dominant that it basically sanctified existing conditions.
A Battle for the Highest Among Us
Therefore I have felt encouraged to see the determined opposition against Trump emerge during the previous year. It has been great solace to assist in constructing the initiative that has protested openly in rally after rally, and seems to have inspired voters to show up in large quantities in the off-year elections. We will need to continue it, and through comparable resolve, displaying national flags during all protests and calls to the highest qualities of American history.
We're going to be asked ... how did you receive the foreigner? Did you receive him and receive them or reject?
The nation is most protected, essentially, by reference to the highest in US heritage, exactly as the Christian faith is best defended by relationship to what makes it distinctive and beautiful, specifically the model of Christ. In both situations does it suggest feigning the worst of both America and Christianity never occurred; it signifies both humility and faith, a mixture that committed American Christians ought to accept.
