Truth and Reality Amid Political Violence and Attacks on Free Speech

On this episode, the Convocation Unscripted team talks about the importance of truth and reality amid the whirlwind of debates about political violence in the aftermath of the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk and the subsequent attacks on free speech, such as the suspension of Jimmie Kimmel by ABC. While acknowledging that all political violence is abhorrent, we also look at the facts about the actual shape of political violence in the US; the government’s own official reports—recently purged from the Department of Justice website—found that “since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists.” We also discuss the kind of response to Kirk’s assassination that we wish we would have heard from the president and other Republican leaders—one that focused on condemning all political violence and calling us to our better selves rather than fanning the flames and using it as an opportunity to infringe on the Constitutional right to free speech. As Christians, there has never been a time when we need a theology that refuses to separate people into good and evil categories, one that foregrounds grace and love for enemies. We close with an urgent message for all to stand up against political violence and in defense of free speech, while we still have the freedom to do so.