The Trump phenomenon's most illuminating and characteristic moments – not its most crucial, nor most harsh, nor most threatening, nor most senseless, but potentially its most enlightening – emerged earlier this harvest season. In the course of multiple weeks, the US president commenced revealing the public his plans for an ornate dance hall twice the size of the White House and then began unilaterally ripping down the eastern section to construct it.
He has done things 10,000 times as bad – the present calculation of deaths due to his slashing to foreign assistance is 600,000 and rising, and recently an analysis predicted his fossil fuel policies would kill an additional 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No former leader would have dared – really, no previous leader would have imagined – unilaterally destroying significant portions of the presidential residence in order to erect a royal-themed celebration hall, with the enthusiastic participation of numerous the nation's most affluent, almost all of whom maintain dealings with the government.
We moved from 'the meek shall inherit the Earth' toward 'the meek shall die from cholera'
As disorienting as it is to observe the chief executive attempt to overturn the old idea about democracy and substitute it with its direct contrary, there remains a substantial portion among Americans who might not perceive it totally unfamiliar. This includes individuals like us – within elder demographics close to half – who were raised as mainline Protestant Christians.
We have observed over the years as rightwing evangelical churches converted the Savior we grew up with into the complete reverse of our understanding of him. At its most basic, they converted a persona of love into a figure of hostility who blesses specifically the brutality that he criticized in scripture; this transformation occurred more slowly, over decades instead of months, but it is nonetheless disturbing via comparable methods, a confusing personal impact for many of us.
A Harmful Christianity Gains Ground
Hence I shall explain the Jesus from my upbringing, as conceptually Jesus is the center of any Christian faith, and given that the fastest-growing cadre within America could have minimal awareness about him since they are atheists or doubters or religiously unaffiliated. I raise no objection with these various perspectives, nor with alternative spiritual paths; but I do think that there are pearls of significant worth in the Christian story.
It is emphatically absolutely not the story of a mighty king emerging; conversely, a child comes into the world to displaced parents in a storage space, who need to rapidly escape to a foreign land to avoid undercover officers. The child matures in humble circumstances, a working carpenter; his doctrine is about love for fellow humans, particularly for the disadvantaged – not merely emotional affection, but tangible care, shown by providing food and housing. The Savior's reaction to violence is to offer the additional cheek – not as an act of compliant endurance, but as a way to instruct the assailant; his crime policy is that if someone steals your jacket you should give him your sweater too.
The evident and straightforward fact that Christ of the gospels calls for a form of profound affection focused on the needy is what has always made Christian religion rather a controversial faith: attractive to the populace, but due to its natural unconventionality requiring to be contained. During the 1950s it was controlled via weakening – Protestantism was so prevalent that it basically blessed current circumstances.
A Struggle for the Best of Us
Therefore I have felt encouraged to observe the steadfast resistance regarding Trump develop during the previous year. It has been great solace to help build the movement that has demonstrated publicly in rally after rally, and appears to have motivated voters to participate in large quantities in interim political contests. We will need to continue it, and with identical determination, displaying national flags during all protests and requests to the best parts in US history.
We shall be interrogated ... how did you receive the immigrant? Did you receive him and receive them or refuse?
The nation is most protected, to put it differently, by relationship to the best in US heritage, similar to Christianity is best defended by reference to elements that cause it to be unique and wonderful, which is the example of Christ. In neither case does it suggest pretending the worst regarding America and Christianity was nonexistent; it signifies both humility and faith, a combination that genuine American Christians should embrace.
