The Trump movement's most revealing and characteristic occasions – not its most significant, nor most harsh, nor most threatening, nor stupidest, but possibly its most revealing – emerged earlier this harvest season. In the course of several weeks, the nation's leader started showing the public his intentions for an ornate dance hall double the dimensions of the White House and then commenced unilaterally ripping down the East Wing portion to erect it.
He has performed deeds ten thousand times worse – the current estimate of fatalities due to his slashing to USAID is 600,000 and rising, and this week a study predicted his fossil fuel policies would kill an additional 1.3 million. Yet nothing as characteristic. No former leader would have risked – genuinely, no former commander would have conceived – unilaterally destroying large sections of the executive mansion in order to erect a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the active collaboration of multiple the richest Americans, the majority of whom have business with public institutions.
We transitioned from 'the gentle will obtain the Earth' into 'the gentle will succumb from cholera'
As bewildering as it is to observe the president try to upend the old idea regarding democracy and substitute it with its polar opposite, there remains a substantial portion among Americans who should not find it totally unfamiliar. That is those of us – within elder demographics close to half – who were educated as conventional Protestant believers.
We have observed across decades while conservative evangelical congregations transformed the Christ we were raised with into exactly the opposite of our perception of his character. Essentially, they turned a figure of compassion into a figure of hostility who endorses precisely the cruelties that he condemned in scripture; this change developed more gradually, through multiple decades instead of months, however it is still unsettling in the same ways, a confusing personal impact for numerous individuals.
A Toxic Christianity Establishes Itself
So let me first describe the Jesus from my childhood, since in theory the Savior is the core of any Christian faith, and because the rapidly expanding group of Americans could have minimal awareness regarding him since they are atheists or doubters or spiritual independents. I have no problem with these different approaches, nor with alternative spiritual paths; however I believe that there are pearls of substantial value in the Christian story.
It is unquestionably definitely not the story of a mighty king arising; rather, a child comes into the world to displaced parents in a storage space, who need to rapidly escape to another nation to avoid secret police. The baby grows up in modest conditions, a working carpenter; his teaching focuses on affection for others, particularly for the disadvantaged – and not a sentimental love, but practical compassion, demonstrated through nourishing and protecting. Jesus' answer to aggression is to offer the additional cheek – not as an act of compliant endurance, but as a method to educate the assailant; his method regarding offenses is that if an individual takes your outer garment you should give the person your additional clothing too.
The apparent and direct fact that the Savior in biblical accounts calls for a type of radical love centered on the needy has consistently rendered the Christian faith somewhat of a provocative belief system: appealing to the populace, but due to its inherent radicalness needing to be controlled. In the fifties it was restrained by dilution – Protestantism was so dominant that it practically baptized the status quo.
A Battle for the Highest of Us
So I have been heartened to see the steadfast resistance regarding Trump arise in this past year. It has served as great solace to participate in developing the movement that has taken to the streets in rally after rally, and likely has encouraged citizens to show up in numbers in interim political contests. We will need to maintain it, and in the same spirit, displaying national flags throughout each rally and requests to the finest aspects within national heritage.
We will be questioned ... how did you receive the stranger? Did you accept these individuals and receive them or reject?
The country is optimally secured, to put it differently, by reference to the finest within national tradition, similar to Christianity is optimally secured by reference to elements that cause it to be unique and beautiful, which is the example of the Savior. In neither case does it mean acting as if the most damaging about the nation and religious tradition was nonexistent; it signifies both meekness and belief, a blend that genuine American Christians should be comfortable with.
