Trumpism's most illuminating and defining instances – not its most significant, nor most harsh, nor most hazardous, nor most senseless, but perhaps its most illuminating – came earlier this autumn. Over the span of several weeks, the nation's leader started showing all observers his intentions for a lavish reception room double the dimensions of the White House and then began independently demolishing the East Wing portion to erect it.
He has done things countless times more severe – the current estimate of casualties from his cuts to USAID stands at 600,000 and increasing, and recently research projected his petroleum strategies would cause deaths 1.3 million more. However nothing as distinctive. No former leader would have risked – truly, no former commander would have conceived – unilaterally destroying large sections of the presidential residence to construct a Versailles-style party room, with the active collaboration of some of America's wealthiest, nearly all of which maintain dealings with public institutions.
We transitioned from 'the humble will receive the Earth' toward 'the humble will perish to cholera'
As bewildering as it is to witness the president try to upend the traditional concept of democracy and replace it with its direct contrary, there exists a significant segment within America who should not find it entirely new. This includes individuals like us – in older age cohorts almost a majority – who were raised as conventional Protestant believers.
We have observed across decades while conservative evangelical congregations turned the Jesus we grew up with into the complete reverse of our understanding of him. Essentially, they transformed an image of love into a symbol of hostility who blesses precisely the cruelties that he denounced in scripture; this change developed more slowly, through multiple decades instead of months, yet it remains disconcerting through similar means, a confusing personal impact for countless people.
A Harmful Christianity Gains Ground
So let me first describe the Christ that I grew up with, as conceptually Jesus is the center of Christian religion, and because the quickly increasing segment among Americans could have minimal awareness about him as they consider themselves atheists or doubters or nones. I raise no objection with these various perspectives, nor with alternative spiritual paths; however I believe that contain precious wisdom of substantial value in biblical accounts.
It is emphatically not the account of a mighty king arising; rather, a child comes into the world to homeless parents in a storage space, who must quickly flee to a different country to avoid undercover officers. The child matures in simple surroundings, a laboring woodworker; his message concerns compassion for others, especially for the poor – and not a sentimental love, but tangible care, expressed by feeding and sheltering. Christ's response to violence is to offer the opposite cheek – not as an act of passive acceptance, but as a way to teach the assailant; his crime policy is that if an individual takes your jacket you must offer him your sweater too.
The obvious and direct truth that the Jesus of the gospels calls for a type of radical love focused on the poor has consistently rendered Christian religion somewhat of a scandalous religion: engaging for the general public, but because of its intrinsic extremism needing to be controlled. In the 1950s it was restrained through watering down – Protestantism was so widespread that it practically baptized the status quo.
A Struggle for the Highest Among Us
Therefore I have felt encouraged to witness the determined opposition to Trump emerge during the previous year. It has been substantial consolation to participate in developing the initiative that has demonstrated publicly via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated citizens to show up in large quantities in the off-year elections. We will need to persist with it, and with identical determination, featuring US banners at every demonstration and calls to the highest qualities within national heritage.
We're going to be asked ... regarding how you welcomed the foreigner? Did you receive him and welcome him or not?
America is best defended, essentially, by reference to the finest in US heritage, just as Christianity is best defended through connection to that which renders it special and beautiful, which is the example of Jesus. In neither case does it imply acting as if the worst about the nation and Christianity did not happen; it represents both humility and faith, a blend that committed US believers ought to accept.
