The Trump movement's most revealing and distinctive occasions – not its most significant, nor most harsh, nor most hazardous, nor most senseless, but potentially its most enlightening – occurred earlier this fall. Over the span of several weeks, the nation's leader began displaying all observers his intentions for a gilded ballroom two times larger compared to the White House and then began unilaterally ripping down the East Wing portion to erect it.
He has performed deeds countless times more severe – the present calculation of deaths due to his slashing to USAID stands at 600,000 and increasing, and recently a study forecast his energy policies would kill 1.3 million more. However nothing as distinctive. No other president would have attempted – really, no other president would have conceived – unilaterally destroying large sections of the presidential residence in order to erect a royal-themed celebration hall, with the direct cooperation of some of America's wealthiest, almost all of whom maintain dealings with public institutions.
We went from 'the humble will receive the planet' into 'the meek shall die to cholera'
As disorienting as it is to observe the leader attempt to overturn the traditional concept of democracy and replace it with its complete opposite, there remains a substantial portion of Americans who might not perceive it completely novel. This includes individuals like us – among senior generations almost a majority – who were educated within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have witnessed over the years while conservative evangelical congregations converted the Savior we were raised with into exactly the opposite of who we understood him to be. At its most basic, they transformed an image of compassion into a figure of hate who approves precisely the cruelties that he criticized in scripture; this has happened more slowly, over decades rather than months, however it is still disconcerting in the same ways, a disorienting gut punch for many of us.
A Toxic Christianity Takes Hold
Hence I shall explain the Savior that I grew up with, because theoretically the Savior is the core within Christian belief, and because the rapidly expanding group within America may possess limited understanding about him because they identify as non-believers or uncertain individuals or spiritual independents. I have no problem with any of these traditions, nor with different religions; however I believe that there are pearls of substantial value in the Christian story.
It is unquestionably not the story of a powerful ruler arising; rather, a child comes into the world to homeless parents in a garage, who need to rapidly escape to a foreign land to evade undercover officers. The infant develops in humble circumstances, an employed craftsman; his message concerns compassion for others, specifically for the poor – and not a sentimental love, but tangible care, expressed by feeding and protecting. Christ's response to aggression is to present the opposite cheek – not as an act of passive acceptance, but as a method to teach the aggressor; his approach to wrongdoing indicates that whenever an individual takes your coat you should give him your sweater also.
The obvious and clear truth that the Savior in biblical accounts requests a form of profound affection centered on the needy has consistently rendered the Christian faith something of a controversial faith: appealing to the populace, but because of its inherent radicalness needing to be controlled. In the 1950s it was restrained by dilution – Protestantism was so dominant that it essentially blessed current circumstances.
A Conflict for the Highest Within Us
Therefore I have felt encouraged to see the determined opposition regarding Trump emerge in this past year. It has provided great solace to participate in developing the initiative that has demonstrated publicly through repeated demonstrations, and seems to have inspired voters to participate in large quantities in the off-year elections. We must have to persist with it, and with identical determination, with American flags during all protests and appeals to the highest qualities of American history.
We will be questioned ... regarding how you welcomed the immigrant? Did you accept these individuals and welcome him or reject?
America is best defended, to put it differently, through connection to the finest about American history, exactly as the Christian faith is most protected by relationship to elements that cause it to be distinctive and beautiful, specifically the model of Christ. In all circumstances does it imply acting as if the most damaging of both America and Christianity never occurred; it signifies both humility and conviction, a combination that committed American Christians should be comfortable with.
