Trumpism's most telling and distinctive instances – not its most important, nor most harsh, nor most hazardous, nor stupidest, but perhaps its most illuminating – came earlier this autumn. Over the span of a few weeks, the US president started showing the public his designs for a lavish reception room twice the size compared to the White House and subsequently started unilaterally ripping down the East Wing to build it.
He has done things countless times more severe – the current estimate of fatalities due to his slashing to foreign assistance stands at 600,000 and rising, and recently an analysis forecast his fossil fuel policies would result in fatalities an additional 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No other president would have risked – genuinely, no former commander would have imagined – independently wrecking major areas of the executive mansion to build a royal-themed celebration hall, with the active collaboration of some of the nation's most affluent, almost all of whom have business with public institutions.
We transitioned from 'the meek shall inherit the Earth' into 'the meek shall die from cholera'
As confusing as it is to watch the president attempt to overturn the established notion about democracy and replace it with its polar opposite, there exists a significant segment among Americans who might not perceive it totally unfamiliar. That encompasses people such as ourselves – within elder demographics close to half – who were brought up within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have watched across decades while conservative evangelical congregations turned the Jesus we learned about into the complete reverse of our perception of his character. Fundamentally, they transformed an image of affection into a symbol of hostility who endorses exactly the harshness that he denounced in scripture; this transformation occurred more gradually, through multiple decades instead of months, yet it remains unsettling through similar means, a confusing personal impact for countless people.
A Harmful Christianity Establishes Itself
Therefore allow me to outline the Christ that I grew up with, because theoretically Jesus is the center within Christian belief, and because the rapidly expanding group within America could have minimal awareness of him as they consider themselves atheists or doubters or religiously unaffiliated. I have no problem with any of these traditions, nor with any other faith; yet I maintain that exist valuable insights of significant worth in biblical accounts.
It is unquestionably absolutely not the narrative of a mighty king appearing; instead, an infant arrives to homeless parents in an automotive shelter, who must quickly flee to another nation to escape undercover officers. The child matures in humble circumstances, a laboring woodworker; his doctrine concerns compassion for others, specifically for the disadvantaged – not simply tender feelings, but tangible care, shown by providing food and protecting. Jesus' answer to aggression is to turn the opposite cheek – not as an act of passive acceptance, but as a way to educate the attacker; his crime policy states that when someone steals your jacket you must offer him your sweater as well.
The apparent and straightforward truth that the Savior of the gospels calls for a type of radical love concentrated on the poor is what has always made Christian religion somewhat of a controversial faith: engaging for the general public, but because of its inherent radicalness requiring to be restrained. During the 1950s it was restrained through watering down – Protestant Christianity was so dominant that it practically blessed current circumstances.
A Conflict for the Best Among Us
Therefore I have felt heartened to witness the steadfast resistance to Trump arise over the last twelve months. It has served as significant comfort to assist in constructing the movement that has demonstrated publicly via continuous gatherings, and seems to have inspired citizens to turn out in numbers in the off-year elections. We must have to maintain it, and through comparable resolve, featuring US banners during all protests and calls to the highest qualities in US history.
We shall be interrogated ... how did you receive the stranger? Did you accept these individuals and receive them or reject?
The country is optimally secured, in other words, through connection to the highest in US heritage, exactly as the Christian faith is optimally secured by reference to that which renders it special and magnificent, specifically the model of Christ. In both situations does it suggest pretending the most negative regarding America and religious tradition never occurred; it means both humility and faith, a combination that genuine American Christians ought to accept.
