Trumpism's most illuminating and characteristic moments – not its most important, nor cruelest, nor most threatening, nor most senseless, but perhaps its most illuminating – occurred earlier this fall. Over the span of several weeks, the US president commenced revealing all observers his intentions for a gilded ballroom double the dimensions compared to the White House and then began unilaterally ripping down the East Wing portion to erect it.
He has committed acts ten thousand times worse – the present calculation of casualties due to his slashing to foreign assistance is 600,000 and growing, and recently a study forecast his fossil fuel policies would result in fatalities another 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No previous president would have risked – really, no other president would have imagined – solo demolishing large sections of the White House in order to erect a royal-themed celebration hall, with the active collaboration of multiple the richest Americans, nearly all of which maintain dealings with public institutions.
We moved from 'the humble will receive the world' to 'the humble will perish of cholera'
As disorienting as it is to observe the president attempt to overturn the established notion about democracy and exchange it with its direct contrary, there exists a significant segment of Americans who wouldn't consider it totally unfamiliar. That is those of us – among senior generations almost a majority – who were educated as conventional Protestant believers.
We have observed throughout the years as politically conservative religious groups converted the Savior we learned about into exactly the opposite of our perception of his character. At its most basic, they turned a figure of love into a symbol of hostility who endorses precisely the cruelties that he condemned in the Gospel; this has happened at a slower pace, over decades instead of months, however it is still unsettling in the same ways, a bewildering emotional blow for many of us.
A Damaging Christianity Takes Hold
So let me first describe the Jesus from my childhood, as conceptually Jesus is the center within Christian belief, and because the rapidly expanding group among Americans may possess limited understanding regarding him because they identify as non-believers or uncertain individuals or nones. I raise no objection with these various perspectives, nor with different religions; but I do think that contain precious wisdom of significant worth in biblical accounts.
It is decidedly definitely not the narrative of a mighty king arising; instead, a baby is born to parents without shelter in an automotive shelter, who need to rapidly escape to a foreign land to avoid undercover officers. The infant develops in modest conditions, an employed craftsman; his message is about love for fellow humans, especially for the disadvantaged – and not a sentimental love, but a concrete one, shown by providing food 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 instruct the aggressor; his method regarding offenses is that if an individual takes your coat you must offer them your pullover too.
The evident and straightforward truth that the Savior from scripture calls for a type of radical love focused on the needy has perpetually caused the Christian faith rather a scandalous religion: attractive to the general public, but due to its intrinsic extremism needing to be controlled. During the 1950s it was restrained through watering down – Protestant Christianity was so prevalent that it essentially blessed current circumstances.
A Struggle for the Highest of Us
Hence I have become inspired to observe the steadfast resistance to Trump emerge in this past year. It has served as substantial consolation to help build the campaign that has demonstrated publicly via continuous gatherings, and seems to have inspired electorate to participate in significant amounts in the off-year elections. We shall require 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 ... regarding how you welcomed the foreigner? Did you welcome them and welcome him or refuse?
The country is optimally secured, in other words, by relationship to the finest about American history, exactly as the Christian faith is most protected through connection to elements that cause it to be unique and wonderful, specifically the model of the Savior. In both situations does it suggest pretending the most negative regarding America and Christian faith did not happen; it means both humility and conviction, a mixture that serious national faithful should be comfortable with.
