This is not a story about politics. It is not about tax cuts or immigration or whether the current administration’s policies may be helping or hurting you in some way. It’s about character and simple human decency.
If you’re like me, you were brought up believing in the Golden Rule. I know it comes from the Bible (Matthew 7:12), but its meaning and value to our society go far beyond any religious connotations. It goes like this:
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
What does that passage mean to you? To me, it means a few things: Treat others with courtesy and respect. Be generous and kind. Reach out and help others that need your help, in whatever way possible.
Instead, at least if you track the news out of Washington, we now live in a bizarro world where the Golden Rule has been turned on its head. Name-calling, angry outbursts and insensitive, demeaning language have become the norm, and the man in charge seems more vested in his own narrow self-interests, than in helping others.
We can do better. It starts at the top with a President who leads by example. Someone who shows our neighbors, our friends, our family, and most importantly our children, what it means to be a fair, compassionate, caring human being. Someone whose actions are guided not by their ego, but by a greater force (some call God) that helps them do what is just and right.
Could John Kasich be the President we need in 2020?
This past Sunday, (August 12, 2018), I saw Kasich on “Meet the Press” with Chuck Todd. There was one particular soliloquy by Kasich that struck me as especially compelling, as he rightfully pleaded for a return to caring about your fellow man. It appears below:
You know, Chuck, I think one of the things that’s happening is that people have been increasingly unwilling to put themselves in the shoes of somebody else. Even when you think about family separation at the border, some people say, well, you know, they had a choice. They didn’t need to go there. Well, many of them had to go there to save their kids’ lives, literally, okay. I think what’s fundamentally changed our country is that many people have not come to understand what faith is, which is loving your neighbor, elevating others, sometimes in front of yourself, putting yourself in other people’s shoes. And when we don’t do that, we lose the essence of our country. When my father and my uncle talked about the Great Depression, everybody pulled together. And what we’re seeing now is people pulling apart rather than coming together. And I think that’s an element of religiosity. If you’re a humanist, I love you anyway because, you know, you believe in making a better tomorrow. But we need the compass back. And I, frankly, believe it comes from on high. Faith, togetherness, we can do it.
I will tell you now that I am a Democrat, but Kasich is a Republican I could get behind. For more wise words from John Kasich, click here.
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