Trumpism's most revealing and defining moments – not its most significant, nor most brutal, nor most dangerous, nor stupidest, but potentially its most enlightening – came earlier this autumn. In the course of a few weeks, the American president began displaying the public his plans for an ornate dance hall twice the size than the White House and then commenced independently demolishing the eastern section to build it.
He has committed acts ten thousand times worse – the existing assessment of casualties due to his slashing to foreign assistance is 600,000 and increasing, and recently a study predicted his petroleum strategies would result in fatalities 1.3 million more. Yet nothing as characteristic. No former leader would have attempted – truly, no previous leader would have contemplated – solo demolishing large sections of the executive mansion to construct a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the enthusiastic participation of some of the richest Americans, the majority of whom have business with public institutions.
We moved from 'the meek shall inherit the world' into 'the meek shall die from cholera'
As confusing as it is to watch the president seek to颠覆 the established notion of democracy and substitute it with its complete opposite, there is one large group among Americans who should not find it entirely new. That encompasses people such as ourselves – among senior generations almost a majority – who were raised within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have observed throughout the years as politically conservative religious groups converted the Savior we grew up with into exactly the opposite of our perception of his character. Fundamentally, they converted a persona of love into an icon of hostility who approves specifically the brutality that he denounced in scripture; this change developed at a slower pace, across decades rather than months, however it is still unsettling through similar means, a confusing personal impact for numerous individuals.
A Toxic Christianity Establishes Itself
Hence I shall explain the Savior from my childhood, because theoretically the Savior is the core within Christian belief, and since the fastest-growing cadre of Americans could have minimal awareness of him because they identify as skeptics or agnostics or religiously unaffiliated. I take no issue with these various perspectives, nor with different religions; but I do think that there are pearls of great price in the Christian story.
It is decidedly definitely not the story of a powerful ruler appearing; instead, a baby is born to parents without shelter in an automotive shelter, who must quickly flee to another nation to evade secret police. The baby grows up in modest conditions, a laboring woodworker; his message is about love for others, especially for the impoverished – not merely emotional affection, but a concrete one, expressed by feeding and protecting. Christ's response to violence is to present the other cheek – not as an act of passive acceptance, but as a means to educate the attacker; his method regarding offenses indicates that whenever someone steals your outer garment you must offer them your pullover also.
The obvious and clear reality that the Savior of the gospels requests a type of profound affection centered on the impoverished is what has always made Christian religion something of a provocative belief system: attractive to the masses, but owing to its inherent radicalness requiring to be restrained. In the 1950s it was contained by dilution – Protestant Christianity was so dominant that it basically blessed current circumstances.
A Battle for the Finest of Us
So I have been heartened to observe the steadfast resistance against Trump develop during the previous year. It has served as great solace to participate in developing the campaign that has taken to the streets through repeated demonstrations, and likely has encouraged electorate to participate in large quantities in interim political contests. We will need to maintain it, and through comparable resolve, featuring US banners at every demonstration and calls to the highest qualities of American history.
We will be questioned ... regarding how you welcomed the foreigner? Did you accept these individuals and welcome him or reject?
America is best defended, to put it differently, through connection to the best in US heritage, exactly as the Christian faith is optimally secured by reference to what makes it special and beautiful, specifically the model of Jesus. In all circumstances does it imply pretending the worst about the nation and religious tradition was nonexistent; it means both humility and faith, a blend that serious US believers should be comfortable with.
