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In “Go and Do Likewise: How We Heal a Broken Country” (to be published Tuesday by St. Martin’s Press), Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, writes about how the language of faith, which he believes has been co-opted by some politicians, can be used to bridge the nation’s partisan divide – and how the parable of the Good Samaritan can be viewed as an instruction to show kindness, not cruelty, to one another.
Read an excerpt below, and don’t miss Robert Costa’s interview with Andy Beshear on “CBS Sunday Morning” September 20!
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Like almost any guy who came of age in the ’80s and ’90s, I watched the Indiana Jones movies. The movies are mostly fun adventure stories, but every once in a while, you can find a life lesson. Looking back at it now, I think of a classic scene in the third movie, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” that to me offers a true understanding of the meaning of faith. At a crucial moment in the film, Dr. Jones is given one chance to select from a large assortment of goblets to find the Holy Grail, the sacred cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper. Before Jones are a multitude of chalices of incredible splendor—bejeweled, golden cups that seemingly would befit the King of Kings. Another character makes her selection on that basis—she chooses the richest and most splendid and her companion pays the price. But Jones homes in on a very different cup to be the Grail, one that he feels would be used by a carpenter—plain, humble, and simple. The knight who serves as the guardian of the Grail famously tells him, “You have chosen wisely.”
We all know what goblet Donald Trump would have chosen in that circumstance—the gaudier and more self-aggrandizing, the better. Today, he’s turned the Oval Office into a gilded and grotesque cage of excess and bulldozed the historic East Wing of the White House for his ballroom. The president’s adult children hawk gold cell phones, and he is willing to take a corrupt gift so he can sit in a luxury 747 that is a “palace in the sky.” All while he hurts the struggling middle class, as well as the poor and vulnerable, with his tariffs and big, ugly healthcare cuts. He even goes to court to stop SNAP benefits because he believes that starving Americans is “good leverage” for his political fights.
It is unthinkable that we as a country and the Democratic Party in particular have all but ceded faith and basic morality to a modern-day Pharisee, who condemns those who are different and who says his favorite verse of Scripture (when he can remember any at all) is “an eye for an eye.” That’s how he sees the world. Vengeful and angry. But that’s not how I see it.
As the grandson and great-grandson of Baptist lay ministers, I was taught the parable of the Good Samaritan. It’s a wonderful story, and you don’t need to be a religious person to appreciate its wisdom. In the story, a man walking from Jerusalem to Jericho is ambushed, stripped, beaten, robbed, and left half-dead on the side of the road. A number of people pass by and see this poor man lying in the dirt, naked and bleeding, but they do nothing to help him. Instead, they cross over to the other side of the road and keep walking. But one person, a Samaritan, stops and renders lifesaving aid. He even goes the extra mile and carries the man on his back to a nearby town and pays for his care. Who, Jesus asked, is the true neighbor to this man? The one who helped him, of course.
Many sermons mistakenly stop here. They shouldn’t. Because after telling this story, Jesus doesn’t pause or move on to another topic. He looks directly at the crowd and says, “Now go and do likewise.” The parable of the Good Samaritan isn’t just a story—it’s an instruction. It is Jesus’s command to go out and show kindness, not cruelty, to one another and to the world. It means that if you claim to be a Christian, it’s your job to be good to your fellow human being, especially when it’s hard.
I wonder if Donald Trump has ever heard the story of the Good Samaritan. If he has, he failed to learn its central lesson. “Now go and do likewise” means seeing the humanity in one another. It means giving people a hand up when they need it, even if they are different from you. It does not mean punishing people who depend on SNAP benefits to feed their babies or Medicaid to cover the cost of healthcare. “Now go and do likewise” means treating all people as people of God—not dividing the country by party, race, ethnicity, or even sexual orientation. “Now go and do likewise” means welcoming people to a country that once welcomed our own ancestors, not defying court orders and expelling people who do not look the same as you. At its simplest level, “now go and do likewise” means treating one another with kindness, not wielding the power of the United States government to do cruel things.
For more than a decade, Trump has told us he is going to make America great again. I don’t think he understands what greatness looks like. To him, it is about power, about appearing strong or tough. He misses the truth that Jesus was tougher than the nails that pinned Him to the cross; that He was tempted to become the Prince of Power but chose to be the Prince of Peace; that even after being crucified and speared, Jesus did not smite his enemies. He forgave them.
America shows her greatness not through political bluster or military parades but when her people live out the words of Jesus when He said, “Now go and do likewise.” This is real patriotism: caring for my neighbor even when they are very different from me, even when they are a member of the “wrong” group, even when people like Donald Trump tell me I should hate them. America is at her best when we commit ourselves to love that is inclusive, to being patient, not judgmental, to embracing our diversity as a source of strength, to seeing every human being as a child of God who deserves dignity and respect. These principles are neither liberal nor conservative, and they certainly aren’t woke—a word that has become a pejorative to some people. These are the principles and values that flow out of our best selves and the good that dwells in all of us.
During my time serving the Commonwealth of Kentucky as Governor, I have tapped into those values to instill a sense of community spirit and a love for one another. Love, patience, diversity, and respect have helped me unite a population that for many years was torn apart by those who sowed division to gain money or votes. These values and my faith have also inspired me to find new approaches to problems that aren’t based on pitting one group against another but on drawing out the best within us. I believe we can translate this approach from my home in Kentucky to other communities—and to our nation as a whole. I believe that all of us, from federal, state, and local governments to each one of us individually, can heed the example of the Good Samaritan, to go and do likewise.
In this book, I will share how my faith shapes how I see the world and why I still have hope in these divisive times. I will talk about how my faith has helped me console the hurting after natural disasters. How it has given me strength to stand up to and defeat a divisive Governor who was Trump before Trump. How it has brought me a level of peace after tragic losses. And even how it was tested but not broken after a mass shooting took the life of a close friend.
This book should also be an invitation to people of all faiths or simply strong values who believe we should spend less time judging and more time supporting each other. For anyone who wants to Make America Kind Again.
Oh, and the Good Samaritan is real. I met her in Whitesburg, Kentucky.
From “Go and Do Likewise” by Andy Beshear. Copyright © 2026 by the author, and reprinted with permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
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