The Trump movement's most telling and defining moments – not its most important, nor cruelest, nor most threatening, nor most foolish, but perhaps its most illuminating – occurred earlier this fall. In the course of several weeks, the American president commenced revealing all observers his designs for a gilded ballroom double the dimensions of the White House and subsequently started solo dismantling the East Wing portion to build it.
He has committed acts countless times more severe – the existing assessment of fatalities due to his slashing to international aid stands at 600,000 and growing, and recently research predicted his energy policies would kill 1.3 million more. Yet nothing as characteristic. No previous president would have risked – truly, no other president would have conceived – unilaterally destroying major areas of the presidential residence in order to erect a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the direct cooperation of some of the nation's most affluent, the majority of whom maintain dealings with federal agencies.
We moved from 'the meek shall inherit the world' to 'the gentle will succumb to cholera'
As disorienting as it is to watch the leader seek to颠覆 the traditional concept of democracy and exchange it with its direct contrary, there is one large group among Americans who might not perceive it completely novel. That encompasses people such as ourselves – within elder demographics close to half – who were brought up within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have watched over the years as rightwing evangelical churches converted the Savior we grew up with into the complete reverse of who we understood him to be. Essentially, they transformed an image of compassion into a symbol of animosity who endorses precisely the cruelties that he condemned in scripture; this transformation occurred more slowly, across decades as opposed to months, however it is still disturbing through similar means, a confusing personal impact for many of us.
A Damaging Christianity Gains Ground
So let me first describe the Christ that I grew up with, as conceptually Christ is the focus of any Christian faith, and given that the rapidly expanding group among Americans might have little sense of him since they are non-believers or doubters or religiously unaffiliated. I have no problem with these different approaches, nor with different religions; however I believe that there are pearls of significant worth within Christian narrative.
It is decidedly definitely not the story of a powerful ruler emerging; rather, an infant arrives to homeless parents in a garage, who are forced to hastily depart to another nation to evade secret police. The baby grows up in humble circumstances, a working carpenter; his teaching concerns compassion for others, particularly for the impoverished – and not a sentimental love, but tangible care, shown by providing food and sheltering. Christ's response to hostility is to present the additional cheek – not as a gesture of compliant endurance, but as a way to educate the aggressor; his method regarding offenses states that when an individual takes your coat you should give them your pullover as well.
The obvious and straightforward fact that the Jesus in biblical accounts requests a type of profound affection centered on the needy has consistently rendered Christianity something of a provocative belief system: engaging for the populace, but owing to its natural unconventionality demanding to be controlled. In the fifties it was controlled through watering down – Protestant Christianity was so prevalent that it essentially baptized the status quo.
A Conflict for the Highest Within Us
So I have been heartened to observe the determined opposition to Trump develop during the previous year. It has served as substantial consolation to participate in developing the initiative that has taken to the streets through repeated demonstrations, and appears to have motivated electorate to participate in numbers during minor elections. We must have to continue it, and in the same spirit, displaying national flags at every demonstration and appeals to the finest aspects within national heritage.
We shall be interrogated ... about how you treated the stranger? Did you accept these individuals and embrace them or reject?
The nation is most protected, essentially, through connection to the best in US heritage, similar to Christianity is best defended through connection to what makes it distinctive and beautiful, specifically the model of Jesus. In neither case does it mean acting as if the worst regarding America and Christian faith did not happen; it signifies both modesty and conviction, a mixture that committed American Christians ought to accept.
