--- title: Gerald Levin to Donald Trump: Have You No Sense of Decency? description: The civil rights leader deserved a response explaining why you are worthy of his support—not an attack on Twitter canonical: https://time.com/4636784/gerald-levin-donald-trump/ author: Jerry Levin article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-18T06:23:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:46:00.043Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Gerald Levin to Donald Trump: 'Have You No Sense of Decency?' og:description: An open letter to President-elect Donald Trump og:url: https://time.com/4636784/gerald-levin-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e24321ea3c09596/6988b5c2656a3f58aebce67c/donald-trump-john-lewis-decency-mccarthyism-sermon-mount.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TOPSHOT-US-TRUMP-POLITICS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gerald Levin to Donald Trump: 'Have You No Sense of Decency?' twitter:description: An open letter to President-elect Donald Trump twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e24321ea3c09596/6988b5c2656a3f58aebce67c/donald-trump-john-lewis-decency-mccarthyism-sermon-mount.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gerald Levin to Donald Trump, on Rep. John Lewis: Have You No Sense of Decency? by [Jerry Levin](https://time.com/author/gerald-levin/) ## Jerry Levin Jan 18, 2017 6:23 AM UTC  U.S. President-elect Donald Trump boards the elevator after escorting Martin Luther King III to the lobby after meetings at Trump Tower in New York City, on January 16, 2017. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump boards the elevator after escorting Martin Luther King III to the lobby after meetings at Trump Tower in New York City, on January 16, 2017.Dominick Reuter—AFP/Getty Images by [Jerry Levin](https://time.com/author/gerald-levin/) ## Jerry Levin Jan 18, 2017 6:23 AM UTC I write not to contest your imminent [inauguration](http://time.com/4633094/donald-trump-inauguration-what-to-know/), rather to offer a plea for decency and respect, for your assumption of leadership based on moral values and spiritual principles. Nor am I joining the chorus of incessant video pundits clamoring for you to pivot from voter-resonating slogans to Presidential policy stratagems. Yes, I am a lifelong progressive Democrat, no I am not mourning Secretary Clinton’s misguided campaign. What moves me to address you is the turning point, [the line you crossed](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/821368088935432196) by demeaning [John Lewis](http://time.com/4635375/donald-trump-john-lewis/) instead of honorably responding to him by saying you intend to be worthy of his support and that you appreciate the historical role he played in Selma with Dr. King, as we, as a unified nation, pause, to honor the slain Civil Rights leader. When I was 15 watching the Army-McCarthy hearings on primitive TV in June of 1954 (you can catch me for skipping school), I was moved, then and now, in every fiber of my being by the reverberating words of chief counsel for the Army, Joseph Welch, calling out the callous Senator Joseph McCarthy: “[Have you no sense of decency, sir?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1eA5bUzVjA) At long last, have you left no sense of decency?” McCarthyism soon thereafter was historically dead. Vilification plants the seeds of its own demise. In college, I majored in Biblical Literature, specializing in the interface between the Old and New Testaments. What meant most to my emerging sensibility was the profound beauty of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 7:1-2, Jesus instructs us “[Judge not, that ye be not judged…](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+7%3A1-3&version=KJV)” While I have failed many times to live up to this standard, I now see the true value of not judging anyone until you put yourself in their place. Since you are ascending to the highest office in the land and as the proprietor of American Exceptionalism, please ignite us with what you truly believe, what are your guiding values. I have lived in many respects an inauthentic life, but I can see with the closing curtain of advancing age that what I must leave for my family, my children and my grandchildren is the spiritual sense that God is in everyone and that it is our moral obligation to make the world a better place than when we found it. It is time to lead with uplift not disparagement. _This_ [_article_](http://deadline.com/2017/01/gerald-levin-donald-trump-john-lewis-open-letter-1201887669/) _originally appeared on_ [_Deadline_](http://deadline.com/)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4636784/gerald-levin-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4636784/gerald-levin-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Gerald Levin to Donald Trump, on Rep. John Lewis: Have You No Sense of Decency?","datePublished":"2017-01-18T06:23:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:46:00.043Z","description":"An open letter to President-elect Donald Trump","url":"https://time.com/4636784/gerald-levin-donald-trump/","keywords":["Donald Trump","politics","Civil Rights"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e24321ea3c09596/6988b5c2656a3f58aebce67c/donald-trump-john-lewis-decency-mccarthyism-sermon-mount.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jerry Levin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/gerald-levin/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e24321ea3c09596/6988b5c2656a3f58aebce67c/donald-trump-john-lewis-decency-mccarthyism-sermon-mount.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TOPSHOT-US-TRUMP-POLITICS","caption":"TOPSHOT-US-TRUMP-POLITICS","creditText":"Dominick Reuter—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4636784/gerald-levin-donald-trump/","name":"Gerald Levin to Donald Trump, on Rep. John Lewis: Have You No Sense of Decency?"}}]}] ```