Did You Hear This? “We Must Love Each Other”

Who said this? Was it Gandhi? Martin Luther King? Mother Theresa? I could have sworn it was my pastor.

You probably will get the answer to this question wrong unless you watched the president’s speech in Phoenix last week. Since my husband went to bed early that night and I was doing some hand work, I asked him to leave the news on and so, just chanced my way into hearing the Tuesday night speech.

Donald Trump said, “We must love each other, show affection for each other, and unite together in condemnation of hatred, bigotry and violence. We must rediscover the bonds of love and loyalty that bring us together as Americans.”

Wow! Bigot-in-Chief? Really?

He also said:

Our movement is a movement built on love. It’s love for fellow citizens. It’s love for struggling Americans who’ve been left behind, and love for every American child who deserves a chance to have all of their dreams come true. From the inner cities to the rural outposts, from the Sun Belt to the Rust Belt, from east to west and north to south, our movement is built on the conviction that every American from every background is entitled to a government that puts their needs first.

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We believe that every American has the right to live with dignity. Respect for America demands respect for all of its people. Loyalty to our nation requires loyalty to each other, We all share the same home, the same dreams, and the same hopes for a better future. A wound inflicted upon one member of our community is a wound inflicted upon us all…. When one part of America hurts, we all hurt. And when one American suffers an injustice, all of America suffers together.

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We want every child to succeed, every community to prosper, and every struggling American to have a chance for a better life.

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No citizen should ever fear for their safety, security in our society, and no child should ever be afraid to go outside and play or be with their parents and have a good time.

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We have to heal our wounds and the wounds of our country. I love the people of our country, the people, all of the people….I didn’t say I love you because you’re black, or I love you because you’re white, or I love you because you’re from Japan, or you’re from China, or you’re from Kenya, or you’re from Scotland or Sweden. I love all the people of our country.

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We must love each other, show affection for each other, and unite together in condemnation of hatred, bigotry and violence. We must rediscover the bonds of love and loyalty that bring us together as Americans

*Thank you Time Inc. for posting a transcript of this speech

Based on all the news coverage this week, I would never have dreamed he said these things. Yet he did. I heard each and every word.

Today’s post was inspired by a post on Writers Unboxed, “Friends, Countrymen, Take Up Your Words,” which says, “We must unite as writers to take back our noble, our good, our mighty ordinance. Love, truth, respect, understanding: these are the words that need declaration.”

I too have a call. Please, we need more journalists and less commentators. Our world is so crazy-busy, the average person does not have the time to dig up the facts on every local, national, and world event.

Please, journalists, remove any filters that keep you from hearing and seeing what you are reporting, whether you are a liberal, conservative, or somewhere in between. Give us the words and events, unvarnished and uninterpreted. Reject high drama and extremes, and provide us with the answers to those “news article questions” every kid learns in grammar school–Who? What? When? Where? Why?and  How? I can even grant that the “why” does call for some interpretation, but if your interpretation is to be useful, the who, what, when, where, and how must be covered accurately.

Let’s love one another. What a great idea! Whether we are brown, pink, beige, or black (I personally would describe myself as “chocolate chip cookie dough”) let’s choose to assume the best, rather than the worst about each other. Love speaks truth and listens. Love is what enables forgiveness and reconciliation to occur. Let us renew our love for one another as a nation.