The Trump movement's most telling and characteristic moments – not its most crucial, nor cruelest, nor most dangerous, nor stupidest, but perhaps its most illuminating – came earlier this autumn. In the course of multiple weeks, the American president commenced revealing all observers his intentions for an ornate dance hall double the dimensions compared to the White House and then commenced unilaterally ripping down the East Wing to construct it.
He has done things countless times more severe – the present calculation of casualties from his cuts to international aid amounts to 600,000 and growing, and this week an analysis projected his petroleum strategies would result in fatalities 1.3 million more. However nothing as distinctive. No previous president would have risked – truly, no other president would have imagined – unilaterally destroying major areas of the executive mansion to construct a royal-themed celebration hall, with the active collaboration of some of the richest Americans, the majority of whom have business with federal agencies.
We transitioned from 'the meek shall inherit the Earth' toward 'the meek shall die to cholera'
As disorienting as it is to witness the leader try to upend the established notion regarding democracy and exchange it with its polar opposite, there is one large group among Americans who might not perceive it totally unfamiliar. This includes individuals like us – among senior generations close to half – who were educated as conventional Protestant believers.
We have observed throughout the years while conservative evangelical congregations converted the Savior we were raised with into the complete reverse of our perception of his character. At its most basic, they turned a figure of love into a figure of hate who endorses specifically the brutality that he criticized in biblical teachings; this has happened more gradually, over decades rather than months, but it is nonetheless disconcerting via comparable methods, a bewildering emotional blow for countless people.
A Toxic Christianity Takes Hold
Hence I shall explain the Jesus that I grew up with, because theoretically the Savior is the core of any Christian faith, and because the fastest-growing cadre within America might have little sense about him because they identify as skeptics or doubters or religiously unaffiliated. I raise no objection with these different approaches, nor with alternative spiritual paths; yet I maintain that exist valuable insights of substantial value in the Christian story.
It is decidedly not the story of a mighty king emerging; rather, a child comes into the world to parents without shelter in a storage space, who need to rapidly escape to a foreign land to evade covert authorities. The baby grows up in humble circumstances, an employed craftsman; his teaching focuses on affection for others, especially for the poor – not merely emotional affection, but practical compassion, shown by providing food and sheltering. Christ's response to violence is to offer the additional cheek – not as a gesture of passive acceptance, but as a means to teach the attacker; his crime policy states that when someone steals your coat you must offer the person your additional clothing also.
The apparent and clear reality that the Jesus in biblical accounts calls for a form of radical love centered on the needy has perpetually caused the Christian faith rather a provocative belief system: appealing to the populace, but owing to its inherent radicalness needing to be controlled. In the fifties it was contained by dilution – The Protestant faith was so widespread that it practically sanctified existing conditions.
A Struggle for the Highest of Us
Therefore I have felt inspired to witness the steadfast resistance to Trump arise over the last twelve months. It has served as great solace to help build the campaign that has taken to the streets in rally after rally, and seems to have inspired voters to participate in significant amounts during minor elections. We shall require to persist with it, and in the same spirit, featuring US banners during all protests and calls to the finest aspects within national heritage.
We will be questioned ... how did you receive the immigrant? Did you welcome them and receive them or refuse?
The nation is most protected, essentially, by reference to the best within national tradition, just as Christianity is best defended by reference to that which renders it distinctive and beautiful, which is the example of Christ. In all circumstances does it mean acting as if the most negative regarding America and religious tradition never occurred; it signifies both humility and conviction, a mixture that serious American Christians should embrace.
