Everyone is an idiot.
Or as Proverbs 28:26 says:
He who trusts in his own heart is a fool,
But whoever walks wisely will be delivered.
We can all be quite sure of ourselves, and this makes us fools. It’s a foolishness that the intelligent are particularly susceptible to. But it happens to everyone. Everyone has at least one thing they are extremely sure about, despite the fact that they are very wrong.
Now, a lot of people won’t accept this. “How can I be wrong when I am so very, very sure?” And what do sure people do? They don’t listen to counterarguments. In fact, they want to shut down people from even being able to question their very clearly true views.
Which would be a disaster because they’re wrong and would simply be encasing themselves in their wrongness.
In America, we have a special superpower to keep this from happening. It’s called free speech. With free speech, even if 99% of us say we’re super duper sure about something, we aren’t allowed to shut up anyone who questions us.
Though, as the death of Charlie Kirk shows, they want to. They very, very much want to.
A large number of fools out there are celebrating his death — people who so desperately want to armor themselves in their wrongness and never be challenged. But Charlie Kirk was a martyr for them as much as anyone else. Free speech means the right can’t shut up debate either. The people cheering on Charlie Kirk’s death despise their own protection.
And let’s be clear what free speech protects us from: ourselves. Because again, we are all at times fools who trust in our own hearts. We are wrong. But free speech means we can’t huddle forever in our wrongness. The wise know that the people challenging their views are necessary. If we are right, we’ll be better able to defend our views. If we are wrong, well, it’s good we’re challenged.
But the fools sure of themselves only lash out at that. And when they do so violently, a line is crossed. Because they are trying to take down free speech, and without free speech to protect us from entrenched terrible ideas, we are on a path to destruction.
No one should have asked Charlie Kirk, a husband and father of two young children, to be a martyr for free speech. That is too high a burden for anyone. But he was. He was simply someone who went and discussed his views in a civilized manner — often with people he disagreed with. That is the heart of our country. And that is something everyone — right or left — needs to honor as he was a hero to us all.
And everyone — right and left — needs to stand up against violence against speech. When one person is attacked for saying his or her beliefs, we should see that as an attack on us all and the whole country. Free speech is a pillar this country stands on, and it won’t last without it.
Rest in peace, Charlie Kirk. Let’s honor you by continuing to debate without fear.