The Trump movement's most illuminating and distinctive moments – not its most important, nor most harsh, nor most dangerous, nor most foolish, but possibly its most revealing – occurred earlier this fall. Over the span of several weeks, the American president began displaying the public his intentions for an ornate dance hall twice the size of the White House and then commenced independently demolishing the East Wing to erect it.
He has committed acts countless times more severe – the existing assessment of deaths resulting from his reductions to foreign assistance is 600,000 and rising, and this week an analysis projected his energy policies would kill an additional 1.3 million. However nothing as distinctive. No previous president would have attempted – genuinely, no previous leader would have contemplated – unilaterally destroying large sections of the White House to construct a royal-themed celebration hall, with the enthusiastic participation of multiple the nation's most affluent, the majority of whom have business with public institutions.
We transitioned from 'the humble will receive the world' toward 'the humble will perish of cholera'
As confusing as it is to watch the president try to upend the old idea about democracy and exchange it with its complete opposite, there exists a significant segment of Americans who should not find it entirely new. This includes individuals like us – in older age cohorts close to half – who were raised as mainline Protestant Christians.
We have observed across decades as rightwing evangelical churches turned the Jesus we were raised with into exactly the opposite of our perception of his character. At its most basic, they transformed an image of compassion into an icon of hostility who endorses exactly the harshness that he denounced in scripture; this has happened at a slower pace, through multiple decades as opposed to months, yet it remains disconcerting in the same ways, a confusing personal impact for many of us.
A Damaging Christianity Gains Ground
Therefore allow me to outline the Christ from my upbringing, because theoretically the Savior is the core of any Christian faith, and because the quickly increasing segment within America may possess limited understanding of him because they identify as skeptics or agnostics or nones. I have no problem with any of these traditions, nor with alternative spiritual paths; yet I maintain that exist valuable insights of great price within Christian narrative.
It is unquestionably not the narrative of a powerful ruler emerging; instead, a baby is born to displaced parents in an automotive shelter, who must quickly flee to a different country to avoid secret police. The infant develops in humble circumstances, a laboring woodworker; his doctrine focuses on affection for fellow humans, especially for the impoverished – not simply tender feelings, but practical compassion, demonstrated through nourishing and protecting. Christ's response to violence is to present the opposite cheek – not as an act of passive acceptance, but as a way to educate the assailant; his method regarding offenses is that if a person pilfers your jacket you must offer them your pullover too.
The obvious and straightforward truth that the Savior from scripture calls for a type of radical love concentrated on the poor is what has always made the Christian faith something of a controversial faith: attractive to the general public, but because of its intrinsic extremism requiring to be controlled. During the 1950s it was restrained by dilution – Protestant Christianity was so dominant that it essentially blessed current circumstances.
A Battle for the Best of Us
Therefore I have felt inspired to witness the determined opposition against Trump arise during the previous year. It has served as great solace to assist in constructing the campaign that has demonstrated publicly via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated citizens to turn out in significant amounts in interim political contests. We will need to maintain it, and through comparable resolve, featuring US banners during all protests and appeals to the highest qualities within national heritage.
We're going to be asked ... how did you receive the immigrant? Did you receive him and embrace them or refuse?
The country is optimally secured, in other words, by reference to the highest within national tradition, similar to Christianity is best defended by relationship to what makes it distinctive and wonderful, which is the example of the Savior. In neither case does it suggest pretending the most negative about the nation and religious tradition never occurred; it represents both modesty and belief, a combination that serious national faithful should be comfortable with.
