The Trump movement's most illuminating and distinctive moments – not its most important, nor most brutal, nor most dangerous, nor stupidest, but potentially its most enlightening – occurred earlier this fall. In the course of a few weeks, the American president began displaying the public his plans for a gilded ballroom two times larger than the White House and then commenced unilaterally ripping down the East Wing to build it.
He has performed deeds countless times more severe – the present calculation of fatalities from his cuts to foreign assistance amounts to 600,000 and increasing, and presently an analysis forecast his fossil fuel policies would result in fatalities an additional 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No former leader would have attempted – truly, no previous leader would have contemplated – independently wrecking large sections of the executive mansion to build a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the active collaboration of some of the nation's most affluent, nearly all of which have business with public institutions.
We moved from 'the gentle will obtain the world' to 'the humble will perish from cholera'
As confusing as it is to watch the leader try to upend the traditional concept of democracy and replace it with its complete opposite, there is one large group of Americans who might not perceive it entirely new. That is those of us – within elder demographics almost a majority – who were raised within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have witnessed over the years as politically conservative religious groups transformed the Christ we were raised with into the total contrary of our perception of his character. At its most basic, they turned a figure of love into an icon of animosity who endorses exactly the harshness that he condemned in the Gospel; this has happened more slowly, through multiple decades rather than months, however it is still disturbing in the same ways, a confusing personal impact for many of us.
A Toxic Christianity Gains Ground
Hence I shall explain the Jesus that I grew up with, as conceptually Jesus is the center of any Christian faith, and because the fastest-growing cadre of Americans may possess limited understanding about him as they consider themselves skeptics or agnostics or nones. I have no problem with these different approaches, nor with any other faith; but I do think that there are pearls of great price in the Christian story.
It is unquestionably definitely not the narrative of a powerful ruler appearing; conversely, an infant arrives to displaced parents in a storage space, who need to rapidly escape to a different country to avoid undercover officers. The infant develops in modest conditions, a laboring woodworker; his message concerns compassion for other people, particularly for the disadvantaged – not simply tender feelings, but tangible care, shown by providing food and housing. The Savior's reaction to hostility is to offer the other cheek – not as a demonstration of submissive tolerance, but as a method to teach the assailant; his crime policy indicates that whenever an individual takes your outer garment you ought to provide the person your additional clothing also.
The obvious and straightforward reality that Christ in biblical accounts advocates for a type of extreme compassion concentrated on the poor has perpetually caused Christianity rather a provocative belief system: attractive to the general public, but because of its natural unconventionality needing to be contained. In the fifties it was controlled through watering down – Protestant Christianity was so prevalent that it practically blessed current circumstances.
A Struggle for the Finest Among Us
Therefore I have felt heartened to witness the steadfast resistance to Trump develop during the previous year. It has served as great solace to help build the initiative that has demonstrated publicly via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated electorate to show up in large quantities in the off-year elections. We will need to continue it, and through comparable resolve, with American flags during all protests and calls to the highest qualities of American history.
We will be questioned ... regarding how you welcomed the foreigner? Did you receive him and receive them or reject?
The country is optimally secured, in other words, by relationship to the highest in US heritage, exactly as the Christian faith is best defended through connection to that which renders it unique and wonderful, specifically the model of Jesus. In both situations does it suggest acting as if the most negative of both America and religious tradition did not happen; it means both humility and conviction, a blend that serious national faithful should embrace.
