‘A lot of people are saying…’

This morning’s Gospel reading was the following, from the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

After reading that, I watched the video reflection on the U.S. Catholic Bishops site. I almost skipped it when I saw that today’s commenter was Deacon Arthur L. Miller from Hartford. I love the guy and also gain value from his insights, but they tend to be about twice as long as those from others. I listened anyway, and once again gained value.

That happened when he shared a thought that was the same thing I had wondered about when I had read the passage. As you may have noticed, Jesus frequently used this rhetorical device in which he would cite Scripture (Old Testament Scripture, from our perspective) and then add a new insight into its meaning. (He had done it earlier in this same sermon, with such concepts as “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”)

Deacon Miller was thinking the same thing when he read, “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” As he said:

You know what dawned on me? … I looked up where was it that Scripture said — you know, in the Hebrew text, in the Old Testament — where did it say that we are to hate our enemies? Well, it doesn’t say that.

Then he realized that what Jesus was saying there was, “you have heard it said.” In other words, “something that was often used by the people of that time…”

Well, that certainly sounded familiar. But it didn’t make me think of “the people of that time.” It made me think about a certain person in our own time who uses a similar phrase to justify the things that he chooses to believe. This was first widely noted early in the 2016 campaign:

‘A lot of people are saying . . . ’: How Trump spreads conspiracies and innuendoes

In case, like that certain person, you prefer video to the written word, you can look at this NBC clip from 2018.

I suppose the folks I’m obviously addressing here are those who say they are Christians, and yet have voted for that certain person on multiple times. Basically, a guy who justifies himself by saying that a lot is a guy who follows the precise opposite of Christian teaching, which is that we are to “love one another as I have loved you.” And not just your friends, but also “those who persecute you.”

That is the Christian message boiled down to as few words as possible. The rest is elaboration on the idea that we are to love God, and love each other as ourselves.

So I’m harrumphing at the MAGA people, there’s no denying it. But I’d be pretty thick if I didn’t see that the rest of us are enjoined to love the MAGA people, too.

That’s the tricky part, you see. Simple concept, difficult to carry out. I expect to be working on that for the rest of my life. I am obliged to do so, to put it mildly…

5 thoughts on “‘A lot of people are saying…’”

Bob Amundson June 17, 2025 at 3:10 pm

Faith, Reason, and Why I Still Care

As I prepare to leave the U.S. tomorrow for the Philippines—yes, with plans to return—I’ve been reflecting on what kind of country we’ve become, and what kind of country we still can be. Like many, I feel torn. I love my country, but I’m troubled by the anger, fear, and loss of moral clarity that dominate our political culture. I think that’s what Brad was getting at in his post—and I feel it deeply too.

I’ve always lived by a simple rule: “If it can’t be measured, it can’t be managed.” I’m a practical, scientific person. But even science asks us to take certain things on faith. I’ve never seen the moon landing with my own eyes, but I believe it happened. That humbled me. It taught me that not all truth is visible, and not everything that matters can be proven.

My mother helped me understand that science and faith aren’t enemies. There’s a tradition—especially within Unitarian thought—of seeking the synthesis of reason and spirit. That’s how I read scripture: with honesty and with love. Yes, the Bible says to love your neighbor and even love your enemy—but it also contains contradictions, complexities, and human struggle. That doesn’t invalidate it—it makes it real, and worth grappling with.

Many young people today are walking away from religion—not because they don’t believe in anything, but because they see faith abused, politicized, and stripped of humility. They misunderstand—or have never been properly taught—the Establishment Clause. Our Founders didn’t seek to ban belief from the public square; they sought to protect it from government control. They understood what too many forget today: that faith and freedom must walk together.

And yet, here I am—legally married to the woman I love, Ana Liza—and unable to bring her easily into the country that claims to cherish family and freedom. Why? Because of the same lack of nuance and compassion that poisons so much of our political discourse. Border security is one piece of a much larger, human issue—but we’ve turned it into the whole conversation. And in doing so, we are betraying the spirit of the very ideals we claim to uphold.

I think often of the words at the base of the Statue of Liberty:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”

That was the promise. That’s what America used to stand for—not just walls, but welcome. Not just control, but compassion.

And still, I have hope. Not just in the abstract sense, but in the form of my 7-year-old daughter, Hope Abby Grace—a living embodiment of everything I believe in. And then there is Angel Grace, my 18-year-old—my graceful angel, my anchor and inspiration. Alongside Ana Liza, they are my family. My reason. My faith in motion.

So as I board that plane, I carry more than baggage. I carry conviction, frustration, love, and a deep belief in what America can still be. I still believe in the better version of this nation—the one that makes room for contradiction, that walks with both reason and humility, and that remembers what it means to lift a lamp beside the golden door.

That’s the America I want to come home to.

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Barry June 17, 2025 at 4:20 pm

Michael Smerconish, this morning on his Sirius radio show, mentioned how when Trump came down the escalator at Trump tower he mentioned at the begging of his speech thanking the “thousands” that were there to see him.

Of course, this was a bald face lie and Trump knew it as soon as he said it. As we soon learned, Trump always lies about the crowd- and nearly everything else.

Smerconish mentioned he had been there in that lobby area- as I have also been there a few times. You can’t have thousands there. It’s not really that big an area. It’s a fairly small area. You can have maybe a few hundred if they pack in real tight.

But Smerconish did mention Trump knew that the cameras would be on him- not the crowd and he could get away with the lie and no one would know the difference- no one that counted anyway. Trump would repeat the lie knowing no one could correct him.

What we didn’t know at the time is that some Trump employees had went out on 5th avenue and invited people to come in to be in the lobby area- not having any idea why they were there. Without them, there would have been a few dozen Trump employees and no more.

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