Trumpism's most illuminating and characteristic instances – not its most significant, nor most harsh, nor most hazardous, nor most foolish, but perhaps its most illuminating – emerged earlier this harvest season. Over the span of several weeks, the US president started showing everyone his intentions for an ornate dance hall twice the size of the White House and then commenced independently demolishing the East Wing portion to build it.
He has committed acts 10,000 times as bad – the existing assessment of fatalities due to his slashing to international aid stands at 600,000 and rising, and presently a study predicted his fossil fuel policies would result in fatalities another 1.3 million. Yet nothing as characteristic. No former leader would have risked – really, no other president would have conceived – solo demolishing large sections of the presidential residence in order to erect a royal-themed celebration hall, with the enthusiastic participation of numerous the nation's most affluent, the majority of whom conduct transactions with public institutions.
We moved from 'the gentle will obtain the Earth' into 'the meek shall die of cholera'
As confusing as it is to witness the leader try to upend the old idea about democracy and substitute it with its direct contrary, there exists a significant segment among Americans who might not perceive it completely novel. That is those of us – within elder demographics almost a majority – who were brought up as mainline Protestant Christians.
We have observed across decades as rightwing evangelical churches turned the Jesus we were raised with into the complete reverse of our perception of his character. At its most basic, they converted a persona of love into a symbol of hate who blesses exactly the harshness that he condemned in biblical teachings; this transformation occurred at a slower pace, through multiple decades as opposed to months, yet it remains disconcerting via comparable methods, a disorienting gut punch for many of us.
A Toxic Christianity Takes Hold
Therefore allow me to outline the Savior that I grew up with, since in theory the Savior is the core of any Christian faith, and given that the rapidly expanding group of Americans might have little sense regarding him because they identify as skeptics or agnostics or religiously unaffiliated. I have no problem with any of these traditions, nor with different religions; but I do think that there are pearls of significant worth in the Christian story.
It is decidedly not the narrative of a mighty king emerging; rather, an infant arrives to displaced parents in a garage, who are forced to hastily depart to a foreign land to evade undercover officers. The baby grows up in simple surroundings, a laboring woodworker; his doctrine focuses on affection for others, specifically for the impoverished – not merely emotional affection, but a concrete one, demonstrated through nourishing and housing. The Savior's reaction to aggression is to present the opposite cheek – not as an act of submissive tolerance, but as a means to educate the assailant; his crime policy indicates that whenever an individual takes your outer garment you ought to provide them your pullover too.
The apparent and direct reality that the Savior from scripture requests a form of extreme compassion focused on the impoverished is what has always made the Christian faith something of a controversial faith: engaging for the masses, but due to its inherent radicalness demanding to be contained. In the 1950s it was restrained via weakening – The Protestant faith was so prevalent that it essentially sanctified existing conditions.
A Struggle for the Best of Us
So I have been encouraged to witness the persistent defiance regarding Trump arise in this past year. It has provided great solace to participate in developing the movement that has protested openly in rally after rally, and appears to have motivated electorate to show up in significant amounts during minor elections. We shall require to persist with it, and in the same spirit, featuring US banners throughout each rally and appeals to the highest qualities in US history.
We will be questioned ... regarding how you welcomed the stranger? Did you accept these individuals and receive them or refuse?
America is best defended, essentially, by reference to the highest within national tradition, similar to Christianity is best defended by reference to elements that cause it to be distinctive and wonderful, specifically the model of Christ. In both situations does it imply acting as if the most damaging about the nation and religious tradition never occurred; it represents both meekness and faith, a blend that genuine national faithful should embrace.
