Trumpism's most revealing and defining occasions – not its most significant, nor most brutal, nor most threatening, nor most senseless, but potentially its most enlightening – emerged earlier this harvest season. Over the span of several weeks, the American president began displaying all observers his intentions for a lavish reception room two times larger of the White House and then commenced unilaterally ripping down the East Wing to erect it.
He has committed acts 10,000 times as bad – the present calculation of deaths resulting from his reductions to USAID is 600,000 and increasing, and this week a study projected his fossil fuel policies would result in fatalities an additional 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No other president would have dared – really, no previous leader would have contemplated – unilaterally destroying large sections of the presidential residence to build a palace-inspired entertainment space, with the enthusiastic participation of numerous the richest Americans, almost all of whom conduct transactions with public institutions.
We transitioned from 'the meek shall inherit the planet' to 'the meek shall die of cholera'
As confusing as it is to watch the leader attempt to overturn the old idea about democracy and exchange it with its complete opposite, there is one large group within America who might not perceive it completely novel. This includes individuals like us – in older age cohorts a near majority – who were educated as conventional Protestant believers.
We have observed across decades as rightwing evangelical churches turned the Jesus we were raised with into exactly the opposite of our perception of his character. Fundamentally, they transformed an image of compassion into an icon of hostility who blesses exactly the harshness that he denounced in the Gospel; this has happened more slowly, through multiple decades rather than months, however it is still disconcerting through similar means, a confusing personal impact for numerous individuals.
A Damaging Christianity Establishes Itself
Hence I shall explain the Savior from my upbringing, because theoretically Christ is the focus of any Christian faith, and since the rapidly expanding group of Americans could have minimal awareness regarding him since they are skeptics or doubters or nones. I take no issue with any of these traditions, nor with different religions; but I do think that there are pearls of great price in biblical accounts.
It is unquestionably definitely not the narrative of a mighty king appearing; instead, a baby is born to parents without shelter in a garage, who are forced to hastily depart to a foreign land to avoid covert authorities. The baby grows up in humble circumstances, a working carpenter; his teaching focuses on affection for other people, particularly for the disadvantaged – and not a sentimental love, but a concrete one, demonstrated through nourishing and sheltering. The Savior's reaction to violence is to present the additional cheek – not as a demonstration of submissive tolerance, but as a means to instruct the assailant; his crime policy is that if someone steals your jacket you must offer him your sweater also.
The apparent and direct truth that the Jesus in biblical accounts advocates for a form of radical love focused on the needy has consistently rendered the Christian faith somewhat of a controversial faith: attractive to the populace, but because of its inherent radicalness requiring to be restrained. In the 1950s it was controlled through watering down – Protestant Christianity was so prevalent that it basically blessed current circumstances.
A Conflict for the Highest of Us
So I have been inspired to observe the persistent defiance against Trump emerge in this past year. It has served as significant comfort to participate in developing the campaign that has taken to the streets via continuous gatherings, and appears to have motivated electorate to participate in numbers in the off-year elections. We must have to continue it, and in the same spirit, displaying national flags during all protests and appeals to the finest aspects in US history.
We shall be interrogated ... regarding how you welcomed the foreigner? Did you accept these individuals and embrace them or reject?
The country is optimally secured, essentially, by reference to the finest within national tradition, similar to Christianity is best defended through connection to that which renders it unique and magnificent, particularly the pattern of Jesus. In both situations does it mean pretending the worst about the nation and religious tradition never occurred; it represents both modesty and belief, a mixture that genuine US believers ought to accept.
