In light of the tragic events that have unfolded over the last two weeks, I thought this would be a good opportunity to put some of my own thoughts in writing. I have been following the news closely over this period, and I believe that I have been able to reach some personal conclusions. Politically motivated violence is never excusable. I believe that normalizing and even encouraging it is the wrong trajectory for us to be on as a nation.

The day before the first Weather Vane issue came out, right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk was shot at Utah Valley University (UVU), the first stop on his American Comeback Tour. Kirk was known for visiting college campuses around the world, like this stop at UVU, and engaging with students in political discourse and debates on different political views. Rooting his views in conservative Christianity, some of the key topics Kirk was passionate about include religion, freedom of speech, gun control, higher education, LGBTQ+ rights, and immigration.

While I believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I do not believe that considering oneself a Christian gives a person automatic moral high ground. As a Christian myself, more specifically a Mennonite, I believe that Jesus calls us to follow two commandments above all else: to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and to love your neighbor as yourself. If our political beliefs are harmful to our neighbors, then I believe there is no basis for the righteous indignation that is seeping into US politics. Absolutizing morality as conservative Christianity has done is not something that I think Jesus would have been in favor of, and I think it is certainly not something that validates political despotism.

Kirk was made in God’s image—just like the victims of the shooting at Evergreen Senior High School in Colorado on the same day, the average of 119 Palestinians that are continuously murdered by Israel every day, and Minnesota Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, who were killed three months ago in a politically charged attack. I ask you this: does the life of one person carry more value than the life of another?

I do not condone statements made in celebration of Kirk’s death, but if freedom of speech is something that this country values, then value it fully. Do not manipulate reactions to this tragedy into tools to silence ideologies. Free speech is free speech, regardless of whom it defends or offends. Double standards are a slippery slope in the realm of politics, and I caution against using religious pretext to rationalize them.

If Kirk’s death was, in his own words, part of the “cost of unfortunately some gun deaths every single year” in order to protect our second amendment rights, then I believe it is time to reevaluate our priorities. Are we willing to continue sacrificing roughly 45,000 lives every year in the name of these supposed rights, or are we willing to pivot in the name of policies aimed at legitimately reducing these tragedies? As is with every decision nowadays, the direction in which we move forward will have major implications for the foreseeable future. It is my recommendation that we try something new, because current policies promoting gun ownership are not furthering the pro-life agenda we supposedly value, nor have they put an end to the political violence that we supposedly want to cease. I leave you with the words of Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley from a sermon he delivered following Kirk’s assassination: “How you die does not redeem how you lived.”