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America has entered a dangerous moment. We need a revival. Political violence is no longer an aberration; it is becoming a recurring feature of our public life. A culture of demonization is pushing the impressionable toward deadly extremes. When leaders, pundits, and even neighbors on social media insist that their opponents are "Nazis" or "existential threats," an impressionable person will eventually take that rhetoric literally. The result is as sad as it is predictable: more people--who are made in the Image of God--will die.
I was reminded of this recently when I saw a social media post by a person I know who condemned "political violence in all forms," but in the same breath equated the assassination of Charlie Kirk with what she called the "violence" of public policies that she disliked. To suggest that gunning a man down on a college campus in front of his wife and children is equivalent to a policy disagreement is to rationalize murder. And to the ears of the impressionable, rationalization can sound like encouragement.
Sadly, the last couple of years have given us too many examples: Two assassination attempts on President Donald Trump, the murder of the Minnesota House Speaker and her husband, the slaughter of the young couple coming out of the Jewish Museum, the arson at the Governor's Residence in Pennsylvania, and the Molotov cocktail attack in Colorado. And now, in Utah, the assassination of Charlie Kirk. These are not isolated incidents. This is part of a growing trend in which the radicalized are weaponized by a culture that treats politics as war.
The killing of Charlie Kirk is a tragedy--and a warning. It exposes a deeper rot in America's political culture, where disagreement too often turns into demonization. Opponents are labeled un-American or dangerous, and extreme language feeds resentment, alienation, and ultimately, violence.
Words matter. When leaders or media outlets describe entire groups as "Nazis," "fascists," or "existential threats," they normalize the idea that violence is justified. Our words, like our actions, carry consequences. Each time we trade persuasion for intimidation and fatalistic catastrophization, we hand victory to radicals who cannot win in the marketplace of ideas.
The way forward for America is clear, and it's the same way forward for every Christian: to return to the faith upon which our nation was founded, to walk in truth, and to live with love. We must pray fervently for a revival in our land.
America must reclaim a culture of accountability, civility, and responsibility. Leaders can and should debate fiercely but without dehumanizing. Media outlets must stop amplifying rage for clicks and start reporting the truth. Adults with a captive audience of young people must stop radicalizing through their own words and actions. We must all reject rhetoric that turns disagreement into hatred.
The greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is to love thy neighbor as thyself. That commandment does not disappear when neighbors disagree with us politically. It does not vanish when we feel wronged. It is in moments of anger, division, and fear that love matters most.
A couple of weeks ago, as I was walking out of an event, a person with a bullhorn and a sign was yelling at me. The right to yell at public officials in public is absolute. While I don't enjoy being yelled at, I am glad we live in a society where people are free to express their disagreements with me. As I have processed the assassination of Charlie and all of the other senseless violence we've seen in the past couple of years, the last thing this person yelled has struck me: "We're gonna vote you out."
That is how America works. We argue, we persuade, we campaign, and we vote. Americans must be free to express their ideas in the open--not be assassinated by those too weak to argue an opposing view. Charlie would have had a respectful conversation with the coward who killed him. He probably would have pointed his murderer to Christ as well. We owe it to Charlie to be willing to do the same.
The right to free speech is sacred. It was given to us by God Himself, and it requires responsibility. To protect both the safety of our citizens and the freedom of our republic, we must condemn political violence. We must also reject the reckless rhetoric that radicalizes the impressionable into committing it. We cannot let bullets replace ballots, or hate replace love. America will prevail because we are one Nation under God.
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