Rich M.

I am against violence. I am against celebrating violence. I’m praying for peace. I’m praying for healing. I’m praying for the family, especially the children. I know what they’re going through. I’ve been through it. I’m deeply scared for this country. The way some people are reacting on both sides is dangerous. If I had one wish right now it would be for everyone to please just step back and take a breath and remember we are all just sophisticated apes trying to coexist on a rock hurtling through space. If we cannot tolerate polite and reasoned disagreement then there is no hope for our society. There is a famous quote falsely attributed to Voltaire that however does sum up a principle of enlightenment philosophy, ‘I disagree with what you say, but I would die to defend your right to say it.’ The ideas of people like John Locke and Voltaire and Thomas Paine are what lead to the American Revolution which then inspired the French Revolution. They introduced the World to the idea that individual rights were important and should be protected from Monarchs (tyrants and dictators), and ultimately led to the idea that a country should be governed by its people NOT by the Church and NOT by a King. If citizens don’t protect and respect each other’s right to disagree, then we cannot have a democracy. If we do not protect our right to disagree then we’ll get violence. We do NOT want a society where violence is the way we win arguments, because then nobody wins. Everyone loses. We are ALL losing right now. The whole society is losing together. Losing to violence. It’s unbelievably sad. It took so much work to get us here. We can’t throw it all away like spoilt children. I did NOT agree with Charlie Kirk’s views on MANY important topics. I know he helped get Trump elected and people hate him for that. But he was a conservative Christian. What do you expect a conservative Christian to believe? How can those views surprise you? He argued those views calmly, reasonably, and considerately as far as I’ve seen. But no matter what he did not deserve this. His wife did not deserve this. His kids did NOT deserve to have their world torn apart! The way some people are being so cold and uncaring and even celebrating is disturbing and repugnant to me. It is making me physically ill. If you are celebrating the murder of a non-violent man for his opinions then you are NOT the better person. Look in the mirror. Imagine telling his kids how you feel. Step back. Take a breath. Remember we are all humans. We are all just flickers of consciousness in an endless eternity. Love IS the answer. I really mean it. We are quite literally ALL in this together. If this ship sinks we ALL drown. Look around you. Everyone you see is a shipmate. We have to figure this out. We have no other choice.