They're Doing in America What They Did within Christianity

Trumpism's most revealing and distinctive moments – not its most significant, nor most harsh, nor most dangerous, nor stupidest, but possibly its most revealing – occurred earlier this fall. Over the span of several weeks, the American president began displaying all observers his plans for a lavish reception room two times larger than the White House and subsequently started unilaterally ripping down the eastern section to build it.

He has performed deeds countless times more severe – the existing assessment of deaths from his cuts to foreign assistance is 600,000 and increasing, and recently a study predicted his energy policies would cause deaths an additional 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No previous president would have dared – genuinely, no other president would have conceived – independently wrecking significant portions of the presidential residence to build a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the direct cooperation of multiple America's wealthiest, the majority of whom have business with public institutions.

We transitioned from 'the meek shall inherit the world' toward 'the meek shall die to cholera'

As confusing as it is to observe the president attempt to overturn the traditional concept regarding democracy and exchange it with its complete opposite, there remains a substantial portion among Americans who should not find it entirely new. That is those of us – within elder demographics almost a majority – who were educated as conventional Protestant believers.

We have observed over the years while conservative evangelical congregations turned the Jesus we learned about into the complete reverse of who we understood him to be. Essentially, they turned a figure of compassion into a symbol of hostility who blesses precisely the cruelties that he condemned in scripture; this transformation occurred more slowly, over decades instead of months, but it is nonetheless disturbing through similar means, a bewildering emotional blow for countless people.

A Harmful Christianity Takes Hold

Therefore allow me to outline the Christ from my upbringing, since in theory the Savior is the core within Christian belief, and since the fastest-growing cadre among Americans might have little sense of him as they consider themselves skeptics or doubters or spiritual independents. I take no issue with these different approaches, nor with different religions; but I do think that there are pearls of great price in biblical accounts.

It is decidedly not the account of a powerful ruler emerging; conversely, an infant arrives to homeless parents in a garage, who must quickly flee to a foreign land to evade undercover officers. The baby grows up in humble circumstances, a laboring woodworker; his teaching is about love for others, especially for the disadvantaged – not simply tender feelings, but practical compassion, expressed by feeding and sheltering. Christ's response to aggression is to present the opposite cheek – not as a demonstration of compliant endurance, but as a means to instruct the assailant; his approach to wrongdoing indicates that whenever a person pilfers your coat you ought to provide the person your additional clothing as well.

The evident and clear fact that the Jesus from scripture requests a form of extreme compassion centered on the needy has perpetually caused Christianity rather a controversial faith: attractive to the populace, but due to its inherent radicalness demanding to be restrained. During the 1950s it was contained via weakening – Protestant Christianity was so dominant that it practically sanctified existing conditions.

A Struggle for the Finest Within Us

So I have been heartened to observe the persistent defiance regarding Trump arise during the previous year. It has served as substantial consolation to participate in developing the movement that has taken to the streets via continuous gatherings, and seems to have inspired electorate to turn out in numbers during minor elections. We must have to maintain it, and through comparable resolve, displaying national flags during all protests and appeals to the finest aspects of American history.

We're going to be asked ... how did you receive the foreigner? Did you accept these individuals and welcome him or reject?

America is best defended, in other words, by relationship to the finest within national tradition, similar to Christianity is optimally secured by relationship to what makes it unique and wonderful, which is the example of Jesus. In neither case does it imply acting as if the most damaging of both America and Christianity was nonexistent; it signifies both modesty and conviction, a combination that committed US believers should embrace.