Trumpism's most telling and characteristic instances – not its most important, nor cruelest, nor most hazardous, nor most senseless, but perhaps its most illuminating – emerged earlier this harvest season. During the period of multiple weeks, the nation's leader started showing the public his intentions for a lavish reception room double the dimensions compared to the White House and then began solo dismantling the East Wing to construct it.
He has done things 10,000 times as bad – the existing assessment of fatalities resulting from his reductions to international aid is 600,000 and growing, and presently research projected his energy policies would kill an additional 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No other president would have dared – truly, no other president would have imagined – unilaterally destroying large sections of the White House to construct a Versailles-style party room, with the direct cooperation of numerous America's wealthiest, almost all of whom maintain dealings with the government.
We moved from 'the meek shall inherit the Earth' into 'the humble will perish of cholera'
As confusing as it is to witness the president try to upend the established notion regarding democracy and exchange it with its direct contrary, there remains a substantial portion of Americans who wouldn't consider it completely novel. That is those of us – within elder demographics a near majority – who were brought up as conventional Protestant believers.
We have witnessed throughout the years while conservative evangelical congregations converted the Savior we grew up with into exactly the opposite of our understanding of him. Essentially, they converted a persona of compassion into a figure of hostility who blesses exactly the harshness that he condemned in biblical teachings; this change developed more gradually, across decades rather than months, but it is nonetheless disturbing through similar means, a bewildering emotional blow for numerous individuals.
A Toxic Christianity Gains Ground
So let me first describe the Savior from my upbringing, since in theory Christ is the focus of any Christian faith, and given that the rapidly expanding group among Americans may possess limited understanding about him since they are atheists or agnostics or nones. I raise no objection with these various perspectives, nor with alternative spiritual paths; but I do think that contain precious wisdom of significant worth within Christian narrative.
It is emphatically definitely not the story of an authoritative monarch appearing; conversely, a child comes into the world to displaced parents in a storage space, who must quickly flee to another nation to evade covert authorities. The baby grows up in modest conditions, a laboring woodworker; his message concerns compassion for fellow humans, especially for the disadvantaged – not merely emotional affection, but tangible care, demonstrated through nourishing and sheltering. The Savior's reaction to violence is to turn the additional cheek – not as a gesture of submissive tolerance, but as a method to teach the attacker; his crime policy indicates that whenever a person pilfers your coat you should give them your pullover too.
The evident and direct truth that Christ from scripture requests a type of extreme compassion focused on the needy has perpetually caused Christianity somewhat of a scandalous religion: engaging for the masses, but due to its intrinsic extremism requiring to be contained. During the 1950s it was controlled via weakening – Protestantism was so prevalent that it basically baptized the status quo.
A Conflict for the Finest Within Us
So I have been inspired to see the determined opposition against Trump emerge during the previous year. It has served as significant comfort to participate in developing the initiative that has demonstrated publicly in rally after rally, and seems to have inspired voters to participate in large quantities in interim political contests. We will need to continue it, and with identical determination, featuring US banners during all protests and appeals to the best parts of American history.
We will be questioned ... about how you treated the stranger? Did you welcome them and embrace them or not?
The country is optimally secured, essentially, by reference to the best in US heritage, similar to Christianity is optimally secured by relationship to that which renders it distinctive and magnificent, specifically the model of Christ. In both situations does it mean pretending the most damaging of both America and Christian faith did not happen; it represents both humility and faith, a mixture that serious American Christians should be comfortable with.
