The Trump phenomenon's most telling and distinctive instances – not its most important, nor most harsh, nor most dangerous, nor most foolish, but possibly its most revealing – occurred earlier this fall. In the course of a few weeks, the nation's leader started showing all observers his plans for an ornate dance hall two times larger than the White House and then commenced independently demolishing the East Wing portion to build it.
He has performed deeds ten thousand times worse – the current estimate of deaths due to his slashing to international aid stands at 600,000 and rising, and recently an analysis forecast his energy policies would result in fatalities 1.3 million more. But nothing as definitional. No former leader would have attempted – really, no other president would have conceived – independently wrecking large sections of the White House to build a Versailles-style party room, with the active collaboration of some of the richest Americans, the majority of whom conduct transactions with the government.
We transitioned from 'the humble will receive the Earth' into 'the meek shall die of cholera'
As bewildering as it is to watch the chief executive try to upend the old idea of democracy and replace it with its complete opposite, there remains a substantial portion among Americans who should not find it entirely new. That is those of us – in older age cohorts a near majority – who were raised as mainline Protestant Christians.
We have witnessed throughout the years while conservative evangelical congregations turned the Jesus we learned about into exactly the opposite of our perception of his character. Fundamentally, they turned a figure of affection into a figure of hostility who approves precisely the cruelties that he denounced in scripture; this transformation occurred more gradually, over decades instead of months, however it is still unsettling in the same ways, a bewildering emotional blow for many of us.
A Harmful Christianity Establishes Itself
Therefore allow me to outline the Christ that I grew up with, since in theory the Savior is the core within Christian belief, and given that the quickly increasing segment within America may possess limited understanding of him since they are non-believers or uncertain individuals or spiritual independents. I have no problem with any of these traditions, nor with any other faith; yet I maintain that exist valuable insights of substantial value in the Christian story.
It is emphatically not the story of an authoritative monarch appearing; instead, a child comes into the world to homeless parents in an automotive shelter, who need to rapidly escape to a foreign land to escape covert authorities. The infant develops in simple surroundings, an employed craftsman; his teaching concerns compassion for fellow humans, particularly for the impoverished – and not a sentimental love, but practical compassion, expressed by feeding and housing. Christ's response to aggression is to offer the other cheek – not as a demonstration of submissive tolerance, but as a method to teach the aggressor; his crime policy states that when someone steals your coat you must offer him your sweater as well.
The evident and direct truth that Christ from scripture requests a kind of extreme compassion centered on the impoverished has consistently rendered Christian religion somewhat of a scandalous religion: attractive to the populace, but owing to its intrinsic extremism needing to be restrained. In the fifties it was contained via weakening – Protestant Christianity was so dominant that it essentially baptized the status quo.
A Battle for the Best Within Us
So I have been heartened to observe the determined opposition regarding Trump develop over the last twelve months. It has served as significant comfort to help build the movement that has demonstrated publicly in rally after rally, and seems to have inspired electorate to show up in large quantities in the off-year elections. We must have to continue it, and with identical determination, featuring US banners at every demonstration and appeals to the highest qualities in US history.
We shall be interrogated ... about how you treated the foreigner? Did you welcome them and welcome him or refuse?
The nation is most protected, essentially, by reference to the best about American history, just as Christianity is best defended by relationship to elements that cause it to be special and wonderful, particularly the pattern of Jesus. In neither case does it mean pretending the most damaging regarding America and Christian faith did not happen; it represents both meekness and faith, a blend that committed national faithful should embrace.
