The Trump phenomenon's most revealing and defining instances – not its most crucial, nor cruelest, nor most hazardous, nor most foolish, but potentially its most enlightening – occurred earlier this fall. In the course of multiple weeks, the nation's leader began displaying the public his plans for a lavish reception room two times larger than the White House and then commenced independently demolishing the East Wing portion to erect it.
He has performed deeds 10,000 times as bad – the current estimate of fatalities resulting from his reductions to USAID amounts to 600,000 and increasing, and recently research forecast his energy policies would result in fatalities 1.3 million more. But nothing as definitional. No previous president would have risked – really, no other president would have conceived – independently wrecking major areas of the presidential residence in order to erect a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the enthusiastic participation of numerous the richest Americans, the majority of whom have business with public institutions.
We went from 'the gentle will obtain the Earth' toward 'the humble will perish to cholera'
As bewildering as it is to witness the president attempt to overturn the traditional concept of democracy and replace it with its complete opposite, there is one large group within America who might not perceive it completely novel. That is those of us – among senior generations a near majority – who were brought up within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have watched throughout the years as rightwing evangelical churches converted the Savior we learned about into exactly the opposite of our understanding of him. At its most basic, they transformed an image of love into an icon of hate who endorses precisely the cruelties that he criticized in scripture; this has happened at a slower pace, across decades instead of months, yet it remains unsettling in the same ways, a confusing personal impact for many of us.
A Toxic Christianity Gains Ground
So let me first describe the Jesus that I grew up with, as conceptually Christ is the focus of any Christian faith, and because the rapidly expanding group of Americans might have little sense regarding him as they consider themselves non-believers or uncertain individuals or spiritual independents. I have no problem with any of these traditions, nor with any other faith; but I do think that contain precious wisdom of substantial value in biblical accounts.
It is decidedly not the narrative of a mighty king appearing; instead, a child comes into the world to parents without shelter in a garage, who are forced to hastily depart to another nation to escape undercover officers. The infant develops in modest conditions, a laboring woodworker; his teaching focuses on affection for fellow humans, specifically for the poor – not merely emotional affection, but tangible care, expressed by feeding and protecting. Christ's response to aggression is to offer the opposite cheek – not as a gesture of compliant endurance, but as a way to teach the assailant; his approach to wrongdoing is that if someone steals your outer garment you should give the person your additional clothing too.
The apparent and direct fact that Christ in biblical accounts requests a kind of profound affection concentrated on the impoverished has consistently rendered Christian religion something of a scandalous religion: engaging for the general public, but owing to its inherent radicalness demanding to be controlled. In the fifties it was restrained by dilution – Protestantism was so widespread that it basically blessed current circumstances.
A Conflict for the Best Within Us
Hence I have become encouraged to observe the persistent defiance regarding Trump emerge over the last twelve months. It has provided substantial consolation to participate in developing the campaign that has taken to the streets via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated citizens to participate in significant amounts in interim political contests. We must have to continue it, and with identical determination, with American flags throughout each rally and appeals to the best parts of American history.
We will be questioned ... how did you receive the immigrant? Did you receive him and welcome him or refuse?
The country is optimally secured, in other words, by relationship to the highest about American history, exactly as the Christian faith is best defended by relationship to that which renders it unique and beautiful, particularly the pattern of Jesus. In neither case does it imply pretending the most damaging about the nation and religious tradition never occurred; it means both meekness and conviction, a combination that committed US believers should embrace.
