Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the great 20th-century Russian author, intellectual, and anti-communist, warned that “the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart” (The Gulag Archipelago). In every individual, there is capacity for good and capacity for evil. It all comes down to free will and the choices we all make. And each and every one of us must, for better or worse, be held accountable for our choices.
An unwillingness to accept personal responsibility reduces one to a spoiled, petulant, immature child who is unable or unwilling to accept reality. If you want civil collapse, just tell people they need not take responsibility for their actions. What a great way to descend into a nightmarish Hobbesian free-for-all.
Charlie Kirk’s tragic death on September 10 has led some to claim that his ideology incited the evil creature who pulled the trigger. Such people have lost their humanity and should be pitied. What a terrible thing to lose, and to have no empathy for a young man who leaves behind a wife and two young children.
A consequence of incitement claims — perhaps unintended, perhaps not — is to absolve the perpetrator of at least some personal responsibility for his actions. You know, the incitement made him do it, and he was helplessly swept along. But alas, we can drive a chuck wagon through the hole in that argument.
Tyler Robinson obviously had a major problem with Charlie Kirk and what he stood for. All of us have people and ideologies that we find contemptible. But we don’t go out and commit murder. What is it about Robinson that made him do something that most of us would never do? Methinks it is a weakness in his character that the rest of us thankfully lack. He must accept full responsibility for that.
A second concern is that incitement claims give the language police the excuse they have been looking for to censor. If the powers that be and their influencers don’t like what someone is saying, they can always claim that he is inciting hatred or violence and censor him.
A word of warning: A society that censors its population is no longer free, and we in the West are at a crossroads, with the once great United Kingdom quickly descending into a totalitarian hellhole, courtesy of Keir Starmer’s Labor government.
Do we really want to live in a society where we must walk on eggshells, ever fearful that something we say will ruin our lives one way or another? The choice is ours.
