The Trump phenomenon's most illuminating and characteristic moments – not its most significant, nor cruelest, nor most hazardous, nor most foolish, but perhaps its most illuminating – emerged earlier this harvest season. Over the span of a few weeks, the US president started showing all observers his designs for an ornate dance hall twice the size of the White House and then began solo dismantling the eastern section to erect it.
He has done things ten thousand times worse – the current estimate of fatalities from his cuts to USAID stands at 600,000 and growing, and this week an analysis predicted his energy policies would cause deaths another 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No other president would have attempted – genuinely, no previous leader would have conceived – solo demolishing major areas of the White House in order to erect a royal-themed celebration hall, with the enthusiastic participation of multiple America's wealthiest, the majority of whom have business with federal agencies.
We went from 'the meek shall inherit the planet' toward 'the humble will perish to cholera'
As disorienting as it is to witness the leader try to upend the traditional concept regarding democracy and replace it with its polar opposite, there remains a substantial portion among Americans who might not perceive it completely novel. That is those of us – in older age cohorts almost a majority – who were educated as conventional Protestant believers.
We have watched over the years as rightwing evangelical churches turned the Jesus we were raised with into exactly the opposite of our understanding of him. At its most basic, they converted a persona of love into a figure of animosity who approves precisely the cruelties that he denounced in the Gospel; this transformation occurred more gradually, across decades rather than months, however it is still disturbing via comparable methods, a disorienting gut punch for numerous individuals.
A Harmful Christianity Takes Hold
Therefore allow me to outline the Savior from my upbringing, as conceptually Christ is the focus within Christian belief, and given that the fastest-growing cadre of Americans could have minimal awareness about him as they consider themselves non-believers or uncertain individuals or religiously unaffiliated. I raise no objection with any of these traditions, nor with any other faith; but I do think that exist valuable insights of significant worth within Christian narrative.
It is decidedly absolutely not the story of an authoritative monarch emerging; rather, a child comes into the world to displaced parents in an automotive shelter, who need to rapidly escape to another nation to evade secret police. The child matures in simple surroundings, an employed craftsman; his doctrine focuses on affection for others, specifically for the impoverished – not merely emotional affection, but a concrete one, shown by providing food and sheltering. Christ's response to hostility is to turn the other cheek – not as a gesture of submissive tolerance, but as a means to teach the aggressor; his crime policy is that if a person pilfers your outer garment you must offer him your sweater as well.
The obvious and clear reality that the Savior from scripture calls for a kind of profound affection centered on the needy has perpetually caused Christian religion something of a controversial faith: appealing to the masses, but because of its natural unconventionality needing to be controlled. During the 1950s it was contained through watering down – Protestantism was so widespread that it essentially baptized the status quo.
A Battle for the Finest Among Us
Hence I have become encouraged to see the steadfast resistance regarding Trump develop over the last twelve months. It has served as great solace to help build the campaign that has taken to the streets in rally after rally, and likely has encouraged voters to participate in large quantities during minor elections. We will need to continue it, and in the same spirit, displaying national flags during all protests and calls to the highest qualities of American history.
We will be questioned ... about how you treated the stranger? Did you welcome them and receive them or reject?
The nation is most protected, to put it differently, through connection to the best in US heritage, just as Christianity is optimally secured by relationship to elements that cause it to be unique and beautiful, particularly the pattern of the Savior. In both situations does it suggest acting as if the most damaging of both America and religious tradition did not happen; it means both modesty and belief, a combination that serious American Christians ought to accept.
