There are moments in history when the world seems to hold its breath—moments when tragedy pierces through our noise and forces us to see how fragile and human we all are.
My heart is heavy as I write these words. The killing of Charlie Kirk has become one of those moments. It has left many grieving and shocked, while others—disturbingly—are celebrating, as if death could ever be a victory.
In this chasm between mourning and mockery, we are confronted with a painful truth: something in us is breaking. We have grown so divided, so hardened by outrage, that we are forgetting the sacredness of life itself.
This is not just about politics or one man. It is about who we are becoming, and who we still have the chance to be—if we choose love over hate, and light over darkness.
So many are devastated by the killing of Charlie Kirk — gripped by grief, shock, and disbelief that this kind of darkness could take someone who was simply practicing his right to free speech, having civil discussions, and engaging with those who disagreed with him.
And yet… others are celebrating his death.
That reality has left me heartbroken — and deeply concerned for where we are as a society.
This was a living, breathing human being — a father, a husband, a son, a friend. His sudden, violent death has shattered homes and broken hearts. People who loved him woke up to an empty space that will never be filled. No matter how we feel about his political views, a human life has been extinguished, and that is nothing to celebrate.
The Darkness We Must Not Let Win
Regardless of anyone’s politics, violence is never the answer, and it should never be celebrated.
Yet in the aftermath of this tragedy, social media has been flooded with reactions ranging from grief… to celebration.
People are laughing.
They are saying he “deserved it.”
They are saying he “had it coming.”
We must stop and ask ourselves, honestly and bravely:
What have we become if we can rejoice in someone’s murder simply because we disagreed with their words?
When we do that, we let darkness win.
We strip away someone’s humanity until all that’s left is a caricature — an “enemy” to be erased. But here is the truth that cuts through the noise: the people we disagree with are still people first.
They are living souls. They have families who love them. They have hopes and dreams, flaws and fears. And they deserve to live, even if we oppose their ideas.
Would You Celebrate If It Were Your Loved One?
To anyone who feels like celebrating this:
Would you still be celebrating if this had happened to your loved one — or to you?
It’s easy to dehumanize people from behind screens, to see only the labels — left, right, conservative, progressive — and forget the hearts beating underneath.
But if you strip away the politics, what’s left is someone who was loved. Someone who laughed at inside jokes, hugged their children, and held their partner close at night. Someone who was not perfect, but who was human.
We do not have to agree with everyone’s opinions. We don’t even have to like everyone. But taking someone’s life is never justified.
And celebrating death corrodes the soul. It erodes our empathy until there is nothing left but cruelty.
We can be better than this.
We must be better than this.
Two Wings of the Same Bird
The “other side” is not the enemy.
The right wing and the left wing are part of the same bird.
If the wings fight to destroy each other, the bird can’t fly. It only destroys itself.
That is what we are watching happen in our culture: people becoming so entrenched in political tribalism that they no longer see their opponents as human beings.
We’ve stopped listening and started dehumanizing.
But if we keep going down this road, there will be nothing left to win — only ashes.
We cannot survive as a society if we see every disagreement as a war.
We cannot build anything meaningful while trying to burn each other down.
What Happened to Us?
How did we get here — so broken, spiteful, and hateful that we see murder as acceptable?
This is not who we are meant to be.
Somewhere along the way, outrage became a drug. Contempt became currency.
We’ve been conditioned to believe that empathy makes us weak — that kindness is a concession — that we can only protect our values by destroying everyone who disagrees with them.
But this is a lie.
And it is killing us from the inside out.
The darkness doesn’t just appear in acts of violence.
It appears in the way we talk to each other, the way we mock and dehumanize strangers online, the way we reduce people to caricatures.
Every cruel word pushes us further into the abyss.
If we don’t stop and take a long, honest look at ourselves — if we don’t begin to heal — this darkness will only grow stronger until it consumes us all.
Remember the Golden Rule
In times like this, it’s worth going back to the simplest moral compass we have:
Treat others the way you want to be treated.
Not just the people you like.
Not just the people who agree with you.
Everyone.
We don’t get to choose who deserves dignity.
We don’t get to decide whose lives are worth living.
If we want to build a world where we feel safe and seen, then we must also create a world where others — even those we disagree with — feel safe and seen.
The Cost of Dehumanization
Dehumanization is a poison.
It allows us to stop seeing others as fully human — and once we stop seeing them as human, anything becomes justifiable.
We start saying things like “they had it coming.”
We start laughing at death.
We stop flinching at cruelty.
But that doesn’t make us strong — it makes us hollow.
Dehumanization doesn’t just destroy our opponents.
It destroys our own souls.
If we let hatred guide us, if we celebrate death, we are not winning.
We are becoming the very darkness we claim to fight.
Choosing Compassion in the Face of Darkness
So, what do we do?
We rise.
We choose compassion — especially when it’s hardest.
We choose decency, respect, and love, even when anger feels easier.
We speak with kindness, even when we want to shout.
We listen, even when it’s uncomfortable.
We remember that love is not weakness. It is courage.
It takes courage to be gentle in a cruel world.
It takes strength to forgive, to show kindness to those who don’t show it to us, to keep our hearts open when grief and fear tell us to close them.
But if we want the world to be better, we have to be better.
Hate cannot heal hate.
Only love can do that.
A Call to Every One of Us
This isn’t just about politics or one person.
This is about who we are becoming as human beings.
Right now, people are hurting.
Some are angry.
Some are afraid.
Some are numb.
Some are quietly weeping for a friend, a spouse, a father who will never come home.
To everyone grieving: you’re seen.
To those feeling angry or afraid: you’re not alone.
You don’t have to hide your pain. You don’t have to carry it by yourself.
But please — don’t let pain turn into hate.
Instead, let it become fuel for something better.
Let it be the fire that softens your heart, not hardens it.
Let it remind you what really matters: human life, human dignity, and the shared hope that this world can still be beautiful.
Becoming the Light
We are standing at a crossroads.
One path leads to more division, more hate, more blood.
The other path is harder — but it leads to healing.
We must choose which path we want to walk.
And it starts with how we treat each other right now.
We cannot wait for the world to change before we offer love.
We are the ones who must bring the light.
We can rise above this moment — above the shadows, above the hurt, above the fear — and become something better.
Please, choose compassion. Choose decency. Choose love.
Treat others the way you want to be treated.
May we meet this darkness with light.
May we recommit to empathy, courage, and peace.
May we refuse to feed the cycle of hatred, and instead choose to break it.
In Loving Memory
Deepest, sincerest condolences to Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones.
May they be surrounded by every ounce of love and support they need in the days and years ahead.
Rest in peace, Charlie. Nobody deserves this. 🕊️
We don’t heal the world by destroying each other.
We heal it by seeing each other.
In honor of every life lost to hatred, let us be the ones who choose love.
Even when it’s hard.
Especially when it’s hard.
May we be the light that helps the world find its way out of the dark.
Jessica Carey
