“When people stop talking, really bad stuff starts.”
Just days after Charlie Kirk was assassinated, a clip of him saying these exact words went viral. In it, Charlie explained to the students around him the reason why he felt called to speak at college campuses across America — something he did for years with great success. “When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to want to commit violence against that group,” Charlie explained.
Though many who had the privilege of debating Charlie would walk away with a newfound understanding and respect for the other side, just as many would leave in a frenzy, unable to reconcile their own convictions with the truth in his words. For them, it was easier to call him “hateful.”
His life’s work was dedicated to countering a fundamental breakdown in civil discourse taking place within our country. Conversation itself had become “hate speech”; its proponents were labeled “fascists” — the solution for which was violence. This moral perversion, echoed from classrooms to the highest offices of power, built a culture of permission that ultimately led to Charlie’s assassination.
