The Trump phenomenon's most telling and characteristic occasions – not its most important, nor most brutal, nor most dangerous, nor most foolish, but possibly its most revealing – occurred earlier this fall. Over the span of a few weeks, the American president started showing all observers his designs for an ornate dance hall double the dimensions compared to the White House and then commenced unilaterally ripping down the East Wing to erect it.
He has committed acts 10,000 times as bad – the present calculation of deaths due to his slashing to international aid stands at 600,000 and growing, and presently a study forecast his petroleum strategies would cause deaths another 1.3 million. Yet nothing as characteristic. No former leader would have risked – genuinely, no former commander would have contemplated – unilaterally destroying significant portions of the executive mansion to build a Versailles-style party room, with the direct cooperation of numerous America's wealthiest, the majority of whom maintain dealings with public institutions.
We moved from 'the meek shall inherit the Earth' into 'the humble will perish from cholera'
As bewildering as it is to observe the president try to upend the traditional concept regarding democracy and exchange it with its complete opposite, there exists a significant segment among Americans who should not find it completely novel. This includes individuals like us – among senior generations almost a majority – who were educated within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have watched over the years as rightwing evangelical churches converted the Savior we grew up with into the total contrary of our understanding of him. Essentially, they converted a persona of affection into an icon of animosity who approves precisely the cruelties that he condemned in the Gospel; this has happened more slowly, through multiple decades instead of months, yet it remains disconcerting through similar means, a disorienting gut punch for countless people.
A Toxic Christianity Gains Ground
So let me first describe the Christ from my upbringing, as conceptually the Savior is the core of Christian religion, and because the fastest-growing cadre of Americans could have minimal awareness of him as they consider themselves non-believers or uncertain individuals or nones. 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; instead, a baby is born to displaced parents in a garage, who must quickly flee to another nation to escape covert authorities. The infant develops in humble circumstances, a working carpenter; his doctrine is about love for others, especially for the impoverished – and not a sentimental love, but tangible care, shown by providing food and protecting. Jesus' answer to aggression is to offer the additional cheek – not as a demonstration of submissive tolerance, but as a way to teach the assailant; his approach to wrongdoing is that if an individual takes your jacket you ought to provide him your sweater also.
The obvious and direct fact that the Savior in biblical accounts advocates for a form of radical love focused on the impoverished is what has always made Christianity rather a provocative belief system: appealing to the general public, but because of its natural unconventionality requiring to be controlled. In the 1950s it was controlled by dilution – The Protestant faith was so dominant that it basically baptized the status quo.
A Battle for the Finest Within Us
Therefore I have felt heartened to see the persistent defiance against Trump develop over the last twelve months. It has served as great solace to help build the initiative that has demonstrated publicly through repeated demonstrations, and appears to have motivated electorate to turn out in numbers in the off-year elections. We will need to persist with it, and in the same spirit, with American flags during all protests and appeals to the finest aspects of American history.
We shall be interrogated ... how did you receive the immigrant? Did you accept these individuals and embrace them or refuse?
The country is optimally secured, essentially, by relationship to the best within national tradition, similar to Christianity is most protected by relationship to that which renders it distinctive and beautiful, which is the example of Jesus. In both situations does it imply feigning the worst of both America and religious tradition did not happen; it means both modesty and conviction, a combination that genuine American Christians should be comfortable with.
