The Trump movement's most telling and defining occasions – not its most significant, nor most brutal, nor most hazardous, nor most foolish, but potentially its most enlightening – occurred earlier this fall. Over the span of a few weeks, the American president commenced revealing the public his designs for a gilded ballroom two times larger than the White House and subsequently started unilaterally ripping down the eastern section to construct it.
He has done things ten thousand times worse – the present calculation of deaths resulting from his reductions to foreign assistance stands at 600,000 and increasing, and presently research projected his fossil fuel policies would cause deaths another 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No former leader would have attempted – really, no other president would have contemplated – unilaterally destroying large sections of the presidential residence to build a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the active collaboration of some of the nation's most affluent, the majority of whom conduct transactions with federal agencies.
We moved from 'the meek shall inherit the planet' toward 'the gentle will succumb of cholera'
As disorienting as it is to observe the president try to upend the traditional concept about democracy and exchange it with its complete opposite, there is one large group among Americans who wouldn't consider it totally unfamiliar. That is those of us – among senior generations a near majority – who were brought up within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have watched over the years while conservative evangelical congregations converted the Savior we grew up with into the complete reverse of our understanding of him. At its most basic, they turned a figure of affection into an icon of hate who endorses specifically the brutality that he denounced in scripture; this transformation occurred more gradually, across decades as opposed to months, yet it remains disconcerting in the same ways, a disorienting gut punch for numerous individuals.
A Toxic Christianity Gains Ground
So let me first describe the Savior from my upbringing, because theoretically the Savior is the core of any Christian faith, and given that the rapidly expanding group of Americans could have minimal awareness about him because they identify as skeptics or uncertain individuals or religiously unaffiliated. I raise no objection with these different approaches, nor with alternative spiritual paths; however I believe that contain precious wisdom of substantial value in the Christian story.
It is decidedly absolutely not the story of a mighty king appearing; conversely, a baby is born to parents without shelter in a garage, who need to rapidly escape to a foreign land to evade covert authorities. The infant develops in simple surroundings, a laboring woodworker; his teaching concerns compassion for others, especially for the poor – not merely emotional affection, but practical compassion, expressed by feeding and housing. Jesus' answer to hostility is to present the other cheek – not as a demonstration of passive acceptance, but as a means to educate the assailant; his crime policy is that if an individual takes your coat you should give the person your additional clothing also.
The obvious and clear truth that the Savior in biblical accounts requests a form of profound affection concentrated on the impoverished is what has always made Christianity something of a provocative belief system: appealing to the masses, but due to its inherent radicalness requiring to be contained. In the 1950s it was contained via weakening – Protestantism was so prevalent that it basically baptized the status quo.
A Conflict for the Best of Us
So I have been inspired to witness the persistent defiance against Trump emerge during the previous year. It has been great solace to assist in constructing the movement that has taken to the streets through repeated demonstrations, and seems to have inspired electorate to turn out in large quantities during minor elections. We shall require to persist with it, and in the same spirit, with American flags throughout each rally and calls to the best parts within national heritage.
We will be questioned ... regarding how you welcomed the stranger? Did you welcome them and embrace them or reject?
America is best defended, essentially, through connection to the best within national tradition, similar to Christianity is optimally secured by reference to that which renders it unique and magnificent, specifically the model of the Savior. In both situations does it suggest pretending the most negative of both America and Christianity did not happen; it represents both meekness and conviction, a blend that genuine American Christians should embrace.