No, Good People Don't Still Support Him

The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz Podcast · Aug 5, 2026 · 5m

Everyone believes they're essentially a good human being.

We all tell ourselves a story, and in that story our cause is always just, our motives are always pure, our side is eternally the right one. We've all spent a lifetime learning how to defend ourselves against criticism, even when that criticism is justified. In the name of self-preservation, we can gaslight the world and even ourselves when necessary. The assumption of our goodness protects us from accountability for thoughts and words and actions that are neither noble nor decent nor redemptive.

I often hear people say, "He or she…