The Trump phenomenon's most revealing and characteristic moments – not its most important, nor most brutal, nor most threatening, nor stupidest, but potentially its most enlightening – came earlier this autumn. Over the span of several weeks, the American president commenced revealing the public his intentions for an ornate dance hall double the dimensions than the White House and then commenced solo dismantling the East Wing portion to construct it.
He has done things countless times more severe – the existing assessment of casualties due to his slashing to international aid amounts to 600,000 and rising, and recently an analysis forecast his petroleum strategies would cause deaths an additional 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No former leader would have risked – genuinely, no previous leader would have conceived – unilaterally destroying significant portions of the executive mansion in order to erect a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the enthusiastic participation of numerous the nation's most affluent, the majority of whom have business with public institutions.
We went from 'the humble will receive the world' into 'the humble will perish of cholera'
As disorienting as it is to watch the leader attempt to overturn the old idea regarding democracy and replace it with its polar opposite, there remains a substantial portion of Americans who should not find it completely novel. That is those of us – in older age cohorts a near majority – who were raised as mainline Protestant Christians.
We have observed over the years while conservative evangelical congregations converted the Savior we were raised with into the total contrary of our perception of his character. Essentially, they turned a figure of affection into a symbol of hostility who endorses precisely the cruelties that he condemned in the Gospel; this change developed at a slower pace, across decades as opposed to months, but it is nonetheless unsettling through similar means, a confusing personal impact for countless people.
A Toxic Christianity Gains Ground
Therefore allow me to outline the Savior from my upbringing, since in theory Christ is the focus of Christian religion, and because the quickly increasing segment within America might have little sense about him as they consider themselves non-believers or uncertain individuals or religiously unaffiliated. I raise no objection with these different approaches, nor with alternative spiritual paths; yet I maintain that there are pearls of significant worth in the Christian story.
It is unquestionably absolutely not the account of a powerful ruler appearing; conversely, a baby is born to displaced parents in a storage space, who must quickly flee to a foreign land to escape covert authorities. The child matures in simple surroundings, a laboring woodworker; his teaching concerns compassion for fellow humans, especially for the poor – and not a sentimental love, but tangible care, expressed by feeding and housing. Jesus' answer to hostility is to offer the opposite cheek – not as a gesture of passive acceptance, but as a means to teach the aggressor; his approach to wrongdoing indicates that whenever a person pilfers your coat you ought to provide the person your additional clothing as well.
The obvious and clear reality that the Savior in biblical accounts calls for a kind of radical love centered on the needy is what has always made Christianity somewhat of a provocative belief system: appealing to the general public, but due to its intrinsic extremism needing to be restrained. During the 1950s it was contained via weakening – Protestantism was so prevalent that it practically sanctified existing conditions.
A Conflict for the Best of Us
Therefore I have felt encouraged to observe the steadfast resistance against Trump arise in this past year. It has served as substantial consolation to assist in constructing the initiative that has taken to the streets in rally after rally, and likely has encouraged electorate to turn out in large quantities in the off-year elections. We must have to continue it, and through comparable resolve, with American flags during all protests and requests to the highest qualities of American history.
We're going to be asked ... how did you receive the stranger? Did you welcome them and welcome him or reject?
America is best defended, in other words, by relationship to the highest within national tradition, just as Christianity is optimally secured by relationship to that which renders it unique and wonderful, particularly the pattern of Jesus. In both situations does it imply feigning the most negative about the nation and Christian faith did not happen; it means both humility and conviction, a combination that genuine American Christians should be comfortable with.
