Trumpism's most telling and distinctive moments – not its most crucial, nor most brutal, nor most hazardous, nor most foolish, but perhaps its most illuminating – came earlier this autumn. In the course of a few weeks, the nation's leader began displaying the public his intentions for a gilded ballroom twice the size compared to the White House and then commenced unilaterally ripping down the eastern section to construct it.
He has performed deeds ten thousand times worse – the present calculation of fatalities from his cuts to international aid stands at 600,000 and increasing, and presently research predicted his fossil fuel policies would kill 1.3 million more. Yet nothing as characteristic. No previous president would have dared – truly, no former commander would have conceived – solo demolishing major areas of the White House in order to erect a Versailles-style party room, with the active collaboration of multiple the nation's most affluent, the majority of whom conduct transactions with public institutions.
We went from 'the gentle will obtain the Earth' to 'the gentle will succumb from cholera'
As confusing as it is to witness the president try to upend the established notion of democracy and substitute it with its direct contrary, there remains a substantial portion among Americans who should not find it totally unfamiliar. That is those of us – within elder demographics almost a majority – who were brought up within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have watched across decades as politically conservative religious groups converted the Savior we learned about into the total contrary of our understanding of him. Essentially, they transformed an image of love into a figure of hostility who endorses exactly the harshness that he criticized in the Gospel; this transformation occurred at a slower pace, through multiple decades instead of months, yet it remains disturbing in the same ways, a confusing personal impact for many of us.
A Toxic Christianity Gains Ground
Therefore allow me to outline the Savior that I grew up with, since in theory Jesus is the center of Christian religion, and given that the rapidly expanding group of Americans might have little sense regarding him because they identify as non-believers or uncertain individuals or religiously unaffiliated. I have no problem with these different approaches, nor with alternative spiritual paths; yet I maintain that there are pearls of significant worth within Christian narrative.
It is unquestionably not the narrative of an authoritative monarch appearing; instead, an infant arrives to homeless parents in an automotive shelter, who need to rapidly escape to a different country to evade covert authorities. The child matures in modest conditions, an employed craftsman; his teaching focuses on affection for others, especially for the impoverished – not merely emotional affection, but a concrete one, shown by providing food and sheltering. Christ's response to hostility is to offer the additional cheek – not as a gesture of submissive tolerance, but as a method to teach the aggressor; his crime policy indicates that whenever someone steals your outer garment you should give the person your additional clothing as well.
The evident and direct reality that the Jesus of the gospels advocates for a kind of extreme compassion concentrated on the poor has consistently rendered Christian religion somewhat of a provocative belief system: appealing to the masses, but due to its inherent radicalness needing to be contained. In the 1950s it was controlled by dilution – Protestant Christianity was so prevalent that it basically blessed current circumstances.
A Struggle for the Best Within Us
Therefore I have felt heartened to see the steadfast resistance to Trump arise during the previous year. It has served as substantial consolation to participate in developing the initiative that has demonstrated publicly through repeated demonstrations, and likely has encouraged citizens to show up in numbers during minor elections. We shall require to maintain it, and with identical determination, displaying national flags during all protests and calls to the finest aspects in US history.
We will be questioned ... about how you treated the foreigner? Did you accept these individuals and embrace them or reject?
The country is optimally secured, essentially, by reference to the finest in US heritage, similar to Christianity is most protected through connection to what makes it unique and magnificent, particularly the pattern of Jesus. In neither case does it mean feigning the most negative of both America and religious tradition never occurred; it signifies both meekness and conviction, a blend that serious US believers ought to accept.
