The Trump movement's most telling and characteristic moments β not its most important, nor cruelest, nor most dangerous, nor most foolish, but possibly its most revealing β occurred earlier this fall. In the course of multiple weeks, the US president started showing all observers his intentions for a gilded ballroom two times larger of the White House and then commenced unilaterally ripping down the East Wing to construct it.
He has performed deeds countless times more severe β the existing assessment of fatalities from his cuts to USAID stands at 600,000 and increasing, and presently research projected his fossil fuel policies would cause deaths 1.3 million more. But nothing as definitional. No previous president would have attempted β really, no previous leader would have contemplated β solo demolishing major areas of the White House to construct a Versailles-style party room, with the enthusiastic participation of some of the nation's most affluent, nearly all of which have business with public institutions.
We went from 'the humble will receive the Earth' to 'the meek shall die to cholera'
As disorienting as it is to witness the leader try to upend the old idea of democracy and replace it with its direct contrary, there exists a significant segment of Americans who should not find it entirely new. That encompasses people such as ourselves β within elder demographics a near majority β who were educated within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have witnessed over the years while conservative evangelical congregations converted the Savior we grew up with into the total contrary of our perception of his character. Fundamentally, they turned a figure of love into a figure of hate who blesses precisely the cruelties that he condemned in scripture; this has happened at a slower pace, across decades instead of months, however it is still unsettling via comparable methods, a confusing personal impact for countless people.
A Toxic Christianity Establishes Itself
So let me first describe the Christ from my upbringing, because theoretically Christ is the focus within Christian belief, and since the fastest-growing cadre of Americans could have minimal awareness regarding him since they are non-believers or doubters or nones. I raise no objection with any of these traditions, nor with any other faith; yet I maintain that contain precious wisdom of significant worth within Christian narrative.
It is decidedly not the narrative of an authoritative monarch appearing; instead, a child comes into the world to displaced parents in an automotive shelter, who need to rapidly escape to a foreign land to evade secret police. The child matures in humble circumstances, a laboring woodworker; his message focuses on affection for others, especially for the poor β not simply tender feelings, but tangible care, expressed by feeding and protecting. The Savior's reaction to aggression is to turn the opposite cheek β not as an act of passive acceptance, but as a method to educate the assailant; his crime policy states that when a person pilfers your jacket you should give them your pullover too.
The apparent and direct reality that the Savior of the gospels calls for a form of extreme compassion centered on the poor has consistently rendered the Christian faith somewhat of a provocative belief system: appealing to the populace, but owing to its natural unconventionality requiring to be contained. In the 1950s it was restrained via weakening β Protestantism was so widespread that it basically sanctified existing conditions.
A Conflict for the Best Among Us
Therefore I have felt heartened to see the steadfast resistance to Trump develop during the previous year. It has served as significant comfort to assist in constructing the movement that has demonstrated publicly via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated citizens to show up in numbers in interim political contests. We shall require to persist with it, and in the same spirit, featuring US banners throughout each rally and appeals to the finest aspects of American history.
We're going to be asked ... regarding how you welcomed the foreigner? Did you accept these individuals and welcome him or reject?
America is best defended, in other words, through connection to the best about American history, just as Christianity is best defended through connection to elements that cause it to be unique and magnificent, particularly the pattern of Jesus. In all circumstances does it imply feigning the worst of both America and Christianity did not happen; it signifies both humility and conviction, a mixture that committed US believers should be comfortable with.
