The Trump movement's most illuminating and defining occasions – not its most significant, nor cruelest, nor most dangerous, nor most foolish, but possibly its most revealing – occurred earlier this fall. Over the span of several weeks, the US president commenced revealing everyone his designs for an ornate dance hall double the dimensions of the White House and then began unilaterally ripping down the East Wing portion to construct it.
He has done things 10,000 times as bad – the existing assessment of casualties from his cuts to USAID is 600,000 and rising, and recently a study projected his fossil fuel policies would result in fatalities 1.3 million more. But nothing as definitional. No other president would have dared – genuinely, no former commander would have imagined – unilaterally destroying significant portions of the White House to construct a royal-themed celebration hall, with the enthusiastic participation of multiple the nation's most affluent, almost all of whom have business with federal agencies.
We went from 'the gentle will obtain the Earth' into 'the gentle will succumb to cholera'
As confusing as it is to observe the leader attempt to overturn the traditional concept of democracy and exchange it with its complete opposite, there is one large group within America who should not find it entirely new. That is those of us – in older age cohorts a near majority – who were educated as mainline Protestant Christians.
We have observed throughout the years while conservative evangelical congregations converted the Savior we were raised with into the complete reverse of our understanding of him. Essentially, they transformed an image of affection into an icon of hostility who approves specifically the brutality that he condemned in biblical teachings; this change developed at a slower pace, across decades rather than months, yet it remains disconcerting through similar means, a bewildering emotional blow for countless people.
A Harmful Christianity Takes Hold
Hence I shall explain the Jesus that I grew up with, because theoretically the Savior is the core within Christian belief, and since the fastest-growing cadre within America might have little sense of him because they identify as non-believers or doubters or spiritual independents. I raise no objection with these various perspectives, nor with alternative spiritual paths; however I believe that there are pearls of significant worth in biblical accounts.
It is emphatically not the story of an authoritative monarch arising; rather, a baby is born to parents without shelter in a storage space, who need to rapidly escape to a different country to avoid undercover officers. The child matures in modest conditions, a laboring woodworker; his message is about love for fellow humans, specifically for the poor – and not a sentimental love, but tangible care, demonstrated through nourishing and sheltering. Jesus' answer to hostility is to offer the additional cheek – not as an act of passive acceptance, but as a method to teach the attacker; his method regarding offenses states that when a person pilfers your outer garment you should give the person your additional clothing also.
The apparent and straightforward truth that Christ of the gospels advocates for a type of extreme compassion concentrated on the needy has perpetually caused Christian religion something of a controversial faith: engaging for the masses, but due to its natural unconventionality needing to be controlled. During the 1950s it was contained by dilution – Protestantism was so dominant that it practically sanctified existing conditions.
A Battle for the Best Within Us
Hence I have become inspired to see the persistent defiance regarding Trump develop during the previous year. It has provided significant comfort to participate in developing the initiative that has taken to the streets in rally after rally, and appears to have motivated electorate to participate in large quantities during minor elections. We must have to continue it, and through comparable resolve, displaying national flags at every demonstration and appeals to the best parts of American history.
We're going to be asked ... regarding how you welcomed the foreigner? Did you accept these individuals and embrace them or not?
The country is optimally secured, in other words, by relationship to the highest in US heritage, similar to Christianity is optimally secured by reference to what makes it distinctive and magnificent, particularly the pattern of the Savior. In neither case does it suggest pretending the most damaging about the nation and religious tradition never occurred; it signifies both modesty and conviction, a mixture that genuine national faithful should be comfortable with.
