Trumpism's most illuminating and defining occasions – not its most significant, nor most harsh, nor most hazardous, nor stupidest, but possibly its most revealing – occurred earlier this fall. In the course of several weeks, the American president started showing the public his designs for an ornate dance hall double the dimensions of the White House and then commenced solo dismantling the eastern section to construct it.
He has done things countless times more severe – the current estimate of casualties from his cuts to USAID amounts to 600,000 and growing, and this week research forecast his fossil fuel policies would cause deaths 1.3 million more. However nothing as distinctive. No other president would have dared – truly, no other president would have conceived – independently wrecking significant portions of the presidential residence to build a Versailles-style party room, with the active collaboration of some of the nation's most affluent, nearly all of which maintain dealings with public institutions.
We moved from 'the gentle will obtain the Earth' toward 'the meek shall die of cholera'
As disorienting as it is to observe the chief executive try to upend the traditional concept of democracy and substitute it with its direct contrary, there is one large group among Americans who should not find it completely novel. This includes individuals like us – in older age cohorts almost a majority – who were educated as mainline Protestant Christians.
We have observed over the years as politically conservative religious groups converted the Savior we learned about into exactly the opposite of who we understood him to be. At its most basic, they converted a persona of love into an icon of hate who endorses exactly the harshness that he denounced in scripture; this has happened at a slower pace, through multiple decades rather than months, however it is still disconcerting through similar means, a disorienting gut punch for numerous individuals.
A Toxic Christianity Takes Hold
So let me first describe the Christ from my upbringing, because theoretically Jesus is the center within Christian belief, and because the quickly increasing segment of Americans might have little sense of him because they identify as non-believers or agnostics or nones. I take no issue with any of these traditions, nor with different religions; however I believe that contain precious wisdom of significant worth within Christian narrative.
It is decidedly definitely not the story of a mighty king arising; instead, a baby is born to displaced parents in an automotive shelter, who must quickly flee to a different country to evade secret police. The baby grows up in modest conditions, a working carpenter; his doctrine is about love for fellow humans, especially for the poor – and not a sentimental love, but practical compassion, expressed by feeding and housing. Christ's response to aggression is to offer the opposite cheek – not as a gesture of submissive tolerance, but as a way to educate the attacker; his approach to wrongdoing is that if someone steals your coat you must offer the person your additional clothing too.
The evident and direct reality that the Savior in biblical accounts advocates for a type of extreme compassion concentrated on the needy is what has always made Christianity something of a scandalous religion: appealing to the masses, but owing to its inherent radicalness needing to be controlled. In the 1950s it was controlled via weakening – Protestantism was so widespread that it practically blessed current circumstances.
A Conflict for the Highest Within Us
So I have been inspired to observe the steadfast resistance to Trump develop in this past year. It has served as substantial consolation to assist in constructing the initiative that has taken to the streets in rally after rally, and appears to have motivated voters to turn out in numbers during minor elections. We will need to maintain it, and through comparable resolve, featuring US banners during all protests and requests to the finest aspects within national heritage.
We're going to be asked ... regarding how you welcomed the foreigner? Did you welcome them and receive them or not?
The country is optimally secured, in other words, by reference to the finest within national tradition, similar to Christianity is most protected by relationship to that which renders it unique and wonderful, specifically the model of Jesus. In neither case does it suggest acting as if the most negative regarding America and Christian faith did not happen; it signifies both humility and belief, a blend that genuine national faithful should embrace.
