The Trump movement's most telling and characteristic moments – not its most crucial, nor most harsh, nor most threatening, nor most foolish, but perhaps its most illuminating – came earlier this autumn. Over the span of a few weeks, the nation's leader started showing everyone his plans for an ornate dance hall two times larger compared to the White House and then commenced unilaterally ripping down the East Wing portion to construct it.
He has done things ten thousand times worse – the present calculation of deaths from his cuts to foreign assistance stands at 600,000 and growing, and recently a study projected his fossil fuel policies would result in fatalities an additional 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No former leader would have dared – really, no other president would have contemplated – solo demolishing major areas of the presidential residence to construct a royal-themed celebration hall, with the enthusiastic participation of some of the richest Americans, almost all of whom conduct transactions with the government.
We went from 'the humble will receive the world' into 'the meek shall die from cholera'
As disorienting as it is to observe the leader seek to颠覆 the traditional concept about democracy and exchange it with its complete opposite, there is one large group within America who might not perceive it entirely new. This includes individuals like us – among senior generations close to half – who were raised as conventional Protestant believers.
We have observed across decades as politically conservative religious groups turned the Jesus we were raised with into exactly the opposite of who we understood him to be. Essentially, they converted a persona of compassion into a symbol of hate who endorses exactly the harshness that he denounced in scripture; this has happened more slowly, over decades rather than months, yet it remains disturbing via comparable methods, a confusing personal impact for many of us.
A Damaging Christianity Takes Hold
Hence I shall explain the Christ from my childhood, since in theory the Savior is the core of any Christian faith, and since the fastest-growing cadre among Americans might have little sense about him because they identify as non-believers or agnostics or religiously unaffiliated. I have no problem with these different approaches, nor with any other faith; yet I maintain that there are pearls of great price in biblical accounts.
It is decidedly not the narrative of a powerful ruler appearing; rather, a child comes into the world to displaced parents in a garage, who need to rapidly escape to a foreign land to avoid covert authorities. The infant develops in humble circumstances, an employed craftsman; his message focuses on affection for other people, particularly for the poor – not merely emotional affection, but a concrete one, expressed by feeding and sheltering. Jesus' answer to hostility is to turn the additional cheek – not as a gesture of submissive tolerance, but as a way to educate the aggressor; his method regarding offenses is that if someone steals your outer garment you should give him your sweater also.
The evident and straightforward fact that Christ from scripture requests a form of profound affection focused on the poor has perpetually caused the Christian faith somewhat of a scandalous religion: attractive to the masses, but due to its intrinsic extremism demanding to be restrained. During the 1950s it was contained by dilution – Protestantism was so widespread that it practically baptized the status quo.
A Struggle for the Highest Among Us
So I have been encouraged to see the determined opposition against Trump emerge over the last twelve months. It has served as substantial consolation to participate in developing the campaign that has protested openly through repeated demonstrations, and likely has encouraged voters to show up in significant amounts in the off-year elections. We will need to persist with it, and through comparable resolve, featuring US banners throughout each rally and calls to the finest aspects within national heritage.
We will be questioned ... how did you receive the foreigner? Did you receive him and welcome him or not?
America is best defended, essentially, by relationship to the highest within national tradition, just as Christianity is best defended through connection to elements that cause it to be distinctive and beautiful, specifically the model of the Savior. In both situations does it mean feigning the most negative of both America and religious tradition did not happen; it signifies both meekness and faith, a mixture that genuine US believers ought to accept.
