Trumpism's most revealing and characteristic moments β not its most important, nor most brutal, nor most hazardous, nor most senseless, but potentially its most enlightening β occurred earlier this fall. Over the span of a few weeks, the nation's leader commenced revealing all observers his plans for an ornate dance hall double the dimensions than the White House and then began solo dismantling the eastern section to construct it.
He has performed deeds countless times more severe β the present calculation of casualties from his cuts to USAID stands at 600,000 and growing, and recently research predicted his fossil fuel policies would kill 1.3 million more. However nothing as distinctive. No former leader would have attempted β truly, no former commander would have contemplated β unilaterally destroying major areas of the executive mansion to construct a Versailles-style party room, with the active collaboration of some of America's wealthiest, nearly all of which conduct transactions with public institutions.
We went from 'the meek shall inherit the planet' toward 'the gentle will succumb from cholera'
As confusing as it is to witness the leader attempt to overturn the established notion of democracy and replace it with its polar opposite, there exists a significant segment within America who might not perceive it totally unfamiliar. That is those of us β within elder demographics a near majority β who were educated as conventional Protestant believers.
We have watched over the years while conservative evangelical congregations turned the Jesus we were raised with into exactly the opposite of who we understood him to be. Fundamentally, they turned a figure of love into a symbol of hate who blesses specifically the brutality that he denounced in scripture; this has happened at a slower pace, over decades instead of months, however it is still unsettling through similar means, a disorienting gut punch for countless people.
A Toxic Christianity Takes Hold
So let me first describe the Jesus from my upbringing, as conceptually the Savior is the core within Christian belief, and given that the fastest-growing cadre within America could have minimal awareness about him as they consider themselves skeptics or agnostics or religiously unaffiliated. I have no problem with these various perspectives, nor with alternative spiritual paths; however I believe that exist valuable insights of significant worth in biblical accounts.
It is decidedly not the narrative of a mighty king emerging; rather, a baby is born to displaced parents in a storage space, who are forced to hastily depart to a foreign land to evade covert authorities. The infant develops in modest conditions, a working carpenter; his doctrine is about love for others, especially for the poor β not simply tender feelings, but a concrete one, shown by providing food and protecting. Christ's response to hostility is to turn the other cheek β not as an act of passive acceptance, but as a way to teach the assailant; his crime policy indicates that whenever someone steals your outer garment you must offer the person your additional clothing too.
The apparent and straightforward fact that the Jesus from scripture requests a type of extreme compassion focused on the impoverished has perpetually caused Christian religion something of a scandalous religion: attractive to the populace, but because of its natural unconventionality requiring to be restrained. In the 1950s it was contained via weakening β Protestantism was so dominant that it basically sanctified existing conditions.
A Conflict for the Finest of Us
Therefore I have felt encouraged to see the persistent defiance to Trump emerge over the last twelve months. It has provided substantial consolation to assist in constructing the movement that has protested openly via continuous gatherings, and likely has encouraged electorate to show up in numbers during minor elections. We must have to persist with it, and in the same spirit, featuring US banners at every demonstration and appeals to the highest qualities in US history.
We will be questioned ... about how you treated the stranger? Did you accept these individuals and welcome him or reject?
The country is optimally secured, in other words, by reference to the best in US heritage, similar to Christianity is optimally secured through connection to what makes it special and wonderful, specifically the model of the Savior. In neither case does it imply pretending the worst about the nation and Christian faith did not happen; it represents both modesty and faith, a combination that committed American Christians ought to accept.
