Trumpism's most illuminating and defining instances – not its most important, nor most brutal, nor most hazardous, nor stupidest, but potentially its most enlightening – came earlier this autumn. Over the span of multiple weeks, the American president started showing all observers his designs for a gilded ballroom two times larger of the White House and then commenced unilaterally ripping down the eastern section to build it.
He has committed acts 10,000 times as bad – the present calculation of casualties from his cuts to USAID amounts to 600,000 and growing, and recently research forecast his fossil fuel policies would kill another 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No other president would have risked – really, no other president would have contemplated – unilaterally destroying significant portions of the executive mansion to construct a royal-themed celebration hall, with the enthusiastic participation of multiple the nation's most affluent, the majority of whom conduct transactions with the government.
We moved from 'the humble will receive the world' into 'the humble will perish from cholera'
As disorienting as it is to watch the president seek to颠覆 the old idea regarding democracy and exchange it with its polar opposite, there exists a significant segment of Americans who wouldn't consider it entirely new. This includes individuals like us – in older age cohorts a near majority – who were educated within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have observed over the years as politically conservative religious groups converted the Savior we learned about into exactly the opposite of our perception of his character. Essentially, they turned a figure of compassion into a symbol of hate who approves exactly the harshness that he denounced in scripture; this transformation occurred at a slower pace, over decades as opposed to months, however it is still unsettling through similar means, a disorienting gut punch for numerous individuals.
A Harmful Christianity Takes Hold
So let me first describe the Jesus from my upbringing, since in theory Christ is the focus of any Christian faith, and since the rapidly expanding group among Americans may possess limited understanding about him since they are atheists or uncertain individuals or spiritual independents. I have no problem with these different approaches, nor with different religions; however I believe that there are pearls of significant worth in the Christian story.
It is emphatically definitely not the account of a powerful ruler arising; instead, a child comes into the world to displaced parents in a storage space, who must quickly flee to a foreign land to avoid undercover officers. The infant develops in humble circumstances, an employed craftsman; his teaching focuses on affection for fellow humans, especially for the disadvantaged – and not a sentimental love, but practical compassion, demonstrated through nourishing and protecting. The Savior's reaction to aggression is to present the other cheek – not as a gesture of compliant endurance, but as a way to educate the aggressor; his approach to wrongdoing is that if an individual takes your coat you ought to provide the person your additional clothing as well.
The obvious and clear reality that the Savior in biblical accounts advocates for a form of radical love centered on the impoverished is what has always made Christian religion something of a scandalous religion: appealing to the populace, but due to its inherent radicalness requiring to be contained. In the 1950s it was contained through watering down – Protestant Christianity was so prevalent that it essentially sanctified existing conditions.
A Battle for the Highest Among Us
So I have been encouraged to witness the determined opposition against Trump arise in this past year. It has been great solace to assist in constructing the movement that has taken to the streets in rally after rally, and appears to have motivated citizens to participate in numbers during minor elections. We will need to maintain it, and with identical determination, displaying national flags during all protests and appeals to the best parts of American history.
We're going to be asked ... about how you treated the immigrant? Did you welcome them and welcome him or reject?
America is best defended, to put it differently, through connection to the highest about American history, just as Christianity is most protected by relationship to what makes it special and magnificent, which is the example of Christ. In neither case does it suggest feigning the most damaging regarding America and Christianity did not happen; it means both humility and conviction, a blend that serious US believers should be comfortable with.
