Charlie Kirk, a right-wing leader and Turning Point USA founder, was shot and killed at an event at Utah Valley University Wednesday, adding another victim to the rising tide of political violence in America.
Kirk was one of the larger figures in political life. In his rise to prominence, he rode a wave of young debate culture that, in essence, recalls a primary tenet of American politics, however acerbic it may have been presented.
But you did not need to agree with Kirk to have empathy, and, if you wish to uphold your humanity, you should not celebrate his death. Maybe you differed ideologically? Maybe you felt he endangered you? But do you think someone deserves to bleed out in front of their wife and kids as Kirk did? What does that say about you?
The ideological cold war in America has rapidly gone from thawing to boiling as bullets are fired through university quads and the hearts and minds of the nation’s youth are being recruited for the front lines.
Hatred begets more hatred and cheering for the death of those you disagree with will only plant the seeds for further violence. The results of which are horrific, as videos of Kirk’s assassination posted to social media show. No one should be fine with a human bleeding to death from their neck on a college campus.
There are some who have bucked this trend. Dean Withers, who was opposed to Kirk’s ideology, condemned the killing online.
“If you want to end gun violence, it is something that you can never celebrate,” Withers said. “It is always disgusting, always vile and always abhorrent.”
He is right, but it may be a viewpoint that is held by too few people. On the same day as Kirk’s assassination, two students were injured in a shooting at a high school 30 miles outside Denver that also left the shooter dead. When will it end?
America is sick. For it to recover, we must respect the sanctity of human life. Those who disagree with you are not enemy soldiers in some suburban battlefield. Most are impressionable people being influenced by powerful forces and unimaginable societal fears.
Even though we may be opposed, we are better off together. We can make a better society for all of us if we can endeavor to collectively keep our humanity.
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