Trumpism's most illuminating and characteristic occasions – not its most important, nor most brutal, nor most threatening, nor most foolish, but possibly its most revealing – occurred earlier this fall. Over the span of several weeks, the US president started showing all observers his designs for a lavish reception room twice the size compared to the White House and then began unilaterally ripping down the East Wing portion to erect it.
He has done things countless times more severe – the present calculation of casualties from his cuts to USAID amounts to 600,000 and rising, and this week research forecast his energy policies would kill 1.3 million more. But nothing as definitional. No former leader would have dared – really, no other president would have conceived – independently wrecking large sections of the White House in order to erect a royal-themed celebration hall, with the active collaboration of numerous America's wealthiest, nearly all of which maintain dealings with public institutions.
We moved from 'the gentle will obtain the world' into 'the meek shall die of cholera'
As confusing as it is to observe the president attempt to overturn the old idea regarding democracy and substitute it with its complete opposite, there exists a significant segment of Americans who might not perceive it totally unfamiliar. This includes individuals like us – in older age cohorts close to half – who were raised within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have observed throughout the years as rightwing evangelical churches turned the Jesus we grew up with into the complete reverse of our perception of his character. Essentially, they turned a figure of love into a figure of hostility who endorses precisely the cruelties that he criticized in biblical teachings; this transformation occurred at a slower pace, through multiple decades instead of months, however it is still disconcerting via comparable methods, a disorienting gut punch for many of us.
A Toxic Christianity Establishes Itself
So let me first describe the Savior from my upbringing, since in theory Jesus is the center of any Christian faith, and because the rapidly expanding group within America may possess limited understanding about him because they identify as atheists or uncertain individuals or spiritual independents. I have no problem with any of these traditions, nor with different religions; yet I maintain that contain precious wisdom of significant worth within Christian narrative.
It is decidedly not the account of a powerful ruler emerging; conversely, a baby is born to parents without shelter in an automotive shelter, who are forced to hastily depart to another nation to avoid undercover officers. The baby grows up in modest conditions, a working carpenter; his doctrine concerns compassion for fellow humans, particularly for the impoverished – and not a sentimental love, but tangible care, expressed by feeding and sheltering. Christ's response to hostility is to present the other cheek – not as a demonstration of passive acceptance, but as a method to teach the aggressor; his approach to wrongdoing is that if a person pilfers your jacket you should give him your sweater too.
The evident and direct truth that the Savior from scripture calls for a kind of extreme compassion concentrated on the poor has perpetually caused Christianity something of a controversial faith: attractive to the populace, but due to its natural unconventionality needing to be controlled. In the fifties it was contained via weakening – The Protestant faith was so dominant that it essentially blessed current circumstances.
A Struggle for the Highest Among Us
So I have been heartened to witness the persistent defiance against Trump emerge over the last twelve months. It has provided great solace to assist in constructing the movement that has taken to the streets via continuous gatherings, and likely has encouraged citizens to participate in large quantities in interim political contests. We will need to persist with it, and through comparable resolve, with American flags throughout each rally and calls to the highest qualities within national heritage.
We will be questioned ... how did you receive the foreigner? Did you receive him and receive them or refuse?
The country is optimally secured, essentially, by relationship to the best within national tradition, exactly as the Christian faith is best defended by relationship to what makes it unique and beautiful, specifically the model of Jesus. In neither case does it suggest acting as if the worst of both America and religious tradition was nonexistent; it signifies both modesty and conviction, a mixture that genuine US believers ought to accept.
