The Trump phenomenon's most telling and distinctive moments – not its most significant, nor most harsh, nor most threatening, nor most foolish, but potentially its most enlightening – emerged earlier this harvest season. Over the span of a few weeks, the nation's leader started showing the public his plans for a lavish reception room twice the size compared to the White House and then commenced unilaterally ripping down the East Wing to construct it.
He has done things 10,000 times as bad – the current estimate of casualties resulting from his reductions to foreign assistance amounts to 600,000 and rising, and this week a study predicted his petroleum strategies would cause deaths an additional 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No other president would have attempted – genuinely, no other president would have imagined – unilaterally destroying significant portions of the White House in order to erect a royal-themed celebration hall, with the direct cooperation of multiple America's wealthiest, nearly all of which maintain dealings with the government.
We went from 'the meek shall inherit the planet' toward 'the meek shall die to cholera'
As confusing as it is to watch the chief executive seek to颠覆 the established notion regarding democracy and replace it with its complete opposite, there exists a significant segment within America who might not perceive it totally unfamiliar. This includes individuals like us – within elder demographics almost a majority – who were raised within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have watched over the years as politically conservative religious groups converted the Savior we were raised with into the complete reverse of our perception of his character. Fundamentally, they converted a persona of affection into a figure of hate who approves specifically the brutality that he condemned in scripture; this has happened more gradually, through multiple decades instead of months, yet it remains unsettling in the same ways, a bewildering emotional blow for numerous individuals.
A Harmful Christianity Gains Ground
So let me first describe the Jesus from my upbringing, because theoretically the Savior is the core of any Christian faith, and because the rapidly expanding group of Americans may possess limited understanding about him since they are skeptics or agnostics or nones. I have no problem with any of these traditions, nor with alternative spiritual paths; but I do think that exist valuable insights of substantial value in the Christian story.
It is decidedly absolutely not the account of an authoritative monarch emerging; rather, a child comes into the world to homeless parents in a storage space, who need to rapidly escape to a foreign land to escape covert authorities. The child matures in modest conditions, an employed craftsman; his message is about love for other people, especially for the poor – not simply tender feelings, but tangible care, demonstrated through nourishing and sheltering. Christ's response to aggression is to offer the other cheek – not as a demonstration of passive acceptance, but as a means to teach the attacker; his crime policy states that when someone steals your jacket you ought to provide them your pullover as well.
The obvious and clear fact that the Savior from scripture requests a kind of profound affection focused on the needy has perpetually caused Christianity somewhat of a controversial faith: appealing to the general public, but due to its intrinsic extremism demanding to be controlled. In the 1950s it was controlled through watering down – Protestantism was so dominant that it practically blessed current circumstances.
A Struggle for the Finest Within Us
Therefore I have felt heartened to see the determined opposition against Trump develop over the last twelve months. It has served as substantial consolation to help build the campaign that has taken to the streets via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated voters to show up in significant amounts in interim political contests. We shall require to continue it, and in the same spirit, featuring US banners during all protests and appeals to the highest qualities of American history.
We shall be interrogated ... regarding how you welcomed the stranger? Did you accept these individuals and welcome him or refuse?
The nation is most protected, in other words, through connection to the best about American history, exactly as the Christian faith is optimally secured through connection to what makes it unique and wonderful, which is the example of the Savior. In all circumstances does it mean acting as if the most damaging of both America and Christianity was nonexistent; it represents both meekness and belief, a blend that serious national faithful should be comfortable with.
