Love, Not Radicalism, Is the Only Way Forward

So what was the story that radicalized you this past month?

Was it the innocent Catholic children being slaughtered and maimed by a gender-confused man while they were praying? Was it the British teenager being arrested for defending her sister with a small hatchet against a migrant predator? Was it the Irish comedian being arrested for tweeting about transgenderism? Was it the young white woman repeatedly stabbed in the neck by a career criminal while indifferent bystanders quietly watched her cry and bleed to death on a train? Or was it seeing a young father and one of the foremost leaders of the conservative movement being shot in the neck while talking to students on a college campus?

Or was it none of these things because you’re not a radical? You simply want to live in a world where justice, honesty, and freedom are upheld and preserved. You want criminals punished, heroes rewarded, women and children protected, and for people to be able to express themselves without fear of being arrested or murdered.

Contrary to leftists’ claims, no one is herding them into camps, forcing them into hard labor, or periodically gassing them. No one is dismantling the Constitution and giving absolute authority to President Donald Trump to punish and execute minorities for having the wrong views or having the wrong skin color. No one is dissolving the Democrat Party and purging all its voters from public discourse now and forever while establishing a right-wing authoritarian police state. Nor is anyone going to release violent criminals into predominantly blue cities and states and let them rob and kill residents with impunity.

Once again, this is because we’re not radical. We’re simply angry and aggrieved Americans who happen to notice the violence and mass deception plaguing our country. And we want it to stop.

Justified Anger

At least, this is how I feel. Like most people, I was already deeply concerned and emotionally exhausted about the last month’s tragic news cycle that never relented. And when Charlie Kirk, one of the most polite, charitable, and intelligent spokesmen for today’s conservatism, was shot and killed at a college campus last week, it was too much. It was like losing a younger brother, a fellow happy warrior whose rise made me hopeful and proud. I never knew him personally, nor did I go to any of his events, but I listened to enough of his shows and interviews that I felt like I knew him.

When the news of his death came out, I was both enraged and saddened. And these feelings grew all the worse when I went on X to check for updates and reactions. He was gone, and nearly every leftist was either openly rejoicing, making ridiculous rationalizations for the murder, or pretending to be scared of violent retribution from the right.

Even the calls for peace bothered me. They still do. I can’t resent leftists for inspiring and supporting this bloodshed? I can’t lament the unfairness of a system that doesn’t protect the freedoms and wellbeing of innocent people? I can’t share my distress at seeing the world fall apart? Am I just supposed to ignore everything and move on?

One of the many challenges of learning about the suffering and death of innocent people in one’s own country is confronting the fact that this could have easily been you or your loved ones. Those children at Annunciation Catholic Church could have been my children. Iryna Zarutska could have been one of my students. Charlie Kirk could have been me.

This doesn’t scare me so much as it disappoints me that these acts of darkness are now commonplace in America. My disagreement with the left has now descended into distrust. At best, they have been brainwashed by a constant stream of toxic propaganda, and at worst, they have become miserable nihilists who applaud evil and depravity. Perhaps a decade ago, we could debate the merits of socialized healthcare and combatting Islamic terrorism in the Middle East. But now, I find myself attacked for maintaining basic claims like murder is wrong, babies are wonderful, and that violent criminals should go to jail.

The Road Ahead

So where do we go from here? This is the question Americans are forced to ask themselves more and more, and yet it becomes increasingly difficult to answer adequately. No longer can we settle our differences with friendly debate, nor can we simply vote for a better system. Even if people were to openly rebel against current order, it’s next to impossible to organize such a thing. No, the usual response is to keep one’s head down, use an anonymous profile if one feels the need to speak out online, and remain ever aloof and apolitical in the physical world.

However, as familiar as this cycle has become, particularly with a succession of gruesome events confronting us, this is not the way out of our predicament. It’s not even the way to forgiveness and healing. It only ensures a steady and uninterrupted decline of our culture and humanity. We cannot accept this.

Rather, we should follow the example of Jesus and call out evil, bear the cross that comes with rejecting the claims of an uninformed mob, and call on God to “forgive them for they know not what they do.” We should pray (not tweet) and live in the real world (not cyberspace) like Jesus did. And we should love our neighbors (not tolerate or celebrate them) like Jesus, wishing the good of our enemies and laying down our life for our friends. If we are radicals in anything, it should be as active disciples engaged in reality.

Keep in mind, this is not a generic call for peace and reconciliation, which for the secular left means submitting to the status quo and adopting their deranged ideology. This is a call for God’s peace, which is a collective rest from the sin, deception, and despair that rages through our fallen world. In our pursuit of this peace, we will strive to do what’s right despite the harassment and abuse from the other side. This is what we are called to do as Christians and what will ultimately bring us to a better place as a country.

It’s also what Charlie Kirk and every other martyr for God and country would want us to do.

Auguste Meyrat is an English teacher and freelance writer in the Dallas area. He is the founding editor of The Everyman, a senior contributor to The Federalist, and has written for essays for The Stream, The Blaze, Chronicles, and elsewhere. He is also the host of The Everyman Commentary Podcast. Follow him on X.