…the racism and anxiety that Mr Trump has exploited are, I believe, manifestations of an even deeper pathology \u201d\u201d namely, the profound sense of unease that many Americans have about their lives. That unease often takes the form of resentment against elites, but, even more troublingly, it also funds the prejudice against minority groups and immigrants.<\/p>\n
Resentment is another word for the unease that seems to grip good middle-class \u201d\u201d mostly white \u201d\u201d people who have worked hard all their lives and yet find that they are no better off than when they started. They deeply resent what they interpret as the special treatment that some receive in an effort to right the wrongs of the past.<\/p>\n
All this is happening at the same time as the Church \u201d\u201d at least, the mainstream Church \u201d\u201d is struggling against a culture of consumption. Americans find that they have no good reason for going to church. The statistical decline of Christians has led some church leaders to think that our primary job is to find ways to increase church membership. At a time when Christians are seeking to say something confident and useful about \u201cchurch growth\u201d\u009d, what we communicate is superficial and simplistic. You do not need to come to church to be told that you need to be nice.<\/p>\n
The Church has failed to help people to live in such a manner that they would want no other life than the life they have lived….<\/p>\n