The Trump phenomenon's most illuminating and distinctive moments – not its most crucial, nor most harsh, nor most threatening, nor most foolish, but possibly its most revealing – occurred earlier this fall. In the course of several weeks, the American president started showing all observers his plans for a gilded ballroom double the dimensions compared to the White House and then commenced independently demolishing the East Wing to erect it.
He has performed deeds ten thousand times worse – the present calculation of fatalities from his cuts to international aid stands at 600,000 and rising, and recently a study projected his petroleum strategies would cause deaths an additional 1.3 million. Yet nothing as characteristic. No other president would have attempted – truly, no other president would have contemplated – solo demolishing major areas of the executive mansion to build a Versailles-style party room, with the active collaboration of some of the richest Americans, the majority of whom maintain dealings with the government.
We transitioned from 'the meek shall inherit the Earth' into 'the gentle will succumb from cholera'
As confusing as it is to watch the chief executive try to upend the traditional concept regarding democracy and substitute it with its direct contrary, there is one large group within America who should not find it totally unfamiliar. That encompasses people such as ourselves – in older age cohorts close to half – who were raised as mainline Protestant Christians.
We have observed across decades while conservative evangelical congregations turned the Jesus we learned about into exactly the opposite of our perception of his character. Fundamentally, they transformed an image of love into an icon of animosity who blesses precisely the cruelties that he criticized in scripture; this change developed more gradually, through multiple decades rather than months, yet it remains disconcerting via comparable methods, a bewildering emotional blow for numerous individuals.
A Harmful Christianity Takes Hold
Hence I shall explain the Jesus that I grew up with, as conceptually Christ is the focus within Christian belief, and because the quickly increasing segment of Americans may possess limited understanding about him because they identify as atheists or uncertain individuals or religiously unaffiliated. I take no issue with any of these traditions, nor with alternative spiritual paths; but I do think that contain precious wisdom of significant worth in the Christian story.
It is emphatically definitely not the narrative of a powerful ruler appearing; conversely, a baby is born to parents without shelter in a garage, who must quickly flee to a different country to evade covert authorities. The baby grows up in simple surroundings, an employed craftsman; his teaching is about love for others, especially for the disadvantaged – and not a sentimental love, but a concrete one, demonstrated through nourishing and protecting. Christ's response to hostility is to present the opposite cheek – not as a gesture of passive acceptance, but as a way to instruct the assailant; his method regarding offenses states that when an individual takes your coat you must offer them your pullover also.
The obvious and straightforward reality that the Savior from scripture calls for a form of profound affection centered on the poor has consistently rendered Christianity rather a controversial faith: attractive to the populace, but due to its inherent radicalness requiring to be contained. In the 1950s it was controlled by dilution – Protestant Christianity was so prevalent that it practically sanctified existing conditions.
A Conflict for the Best Within Us
So I have been encouraged to witness the persistent defiance against Trump emerge over the last twelve months. It has provided significant comfort to help build the initiative that has demonstrated publicly via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated citizens to turn out in large quantities in interim political contests. We shall require to persist with it, and in the same spirit, displaying national flags during all protests and calls to the highest qualities in US history.
We shall be interrogated ... how did you receive the immigrant? Did you accept these individuals and receive them or refuse?
America is best defended, essentially, through connection to the finest in US heritage, similar to Christianity is best defended by relationship to what makes it special and magnificent, which is the example of the Savior. In both situations does it mean pretending the most negative of both America and Christian faith did not happen; it signifies both modesty and faith, a blend that serious American Christians should be comfortable with.
