We Must Courageously Love Justice Even If Some Celebrate Violence

It is time to count the cost of discipleship, the cost of loving God and neighbour

One thing to reckon with, when it comes to the murder of Charlie Kirk, is that Kirk held middle-of-the-road conservative positions. Yes, he was sometimes over the top in how he presented them. But he was not an extremist—and yet he was still murdered.

The bigger story is how some on the Canadian left have responded. In BC, for example, Devon Cassidy, formerly a client advocate at Legal Aid BC, posted a video celebrating his killing. Legal Aid BC has since condemned the video and stated that she is no longer with the organization.

At the University of Toronto, Dr. Ruth Marshall, a political science and religion professor, also made comments applauding Kirk’s murder. The fact that a tenured faculty member at one of Canada’s leading universities publicly celebrated an assassination shows how far the rhetoric has shifted.

In these narrow circles, we see an implied argument that it is “right” to kill those on the Right because of alleged hateful speech. I note that Matthew Dowd of MSNBC blamed Kirk for his own murder not just for “awful words” but also for “hateful thoughts.” Our thought crimes make us worthy of death. Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon was not even so harsh.

Such extreme calls for violence change our perception of the possibility of persuasion in such spheres. I am not sure those on what we might call the extreme Right or Left can truly be persuaded. But I will note that the Right, whether or not they practice it consistently, still advocates for the freedom to discuss ideas in public.

Bernie Sanders, more in line with classical liberalism, recently released a video condemning political violence and advocating for freedom to participate in public without fear. In his admirable speech, one wonders if he is the last of his kind. When his generation retires, will there still be classical liberal views of freedom?

Post-liberal (common good) proponents like Patrick Deneen, Chad Pecknold, and Adrian Vermeule are probably correct that we have entered a post-liberal society. Already in 1953, Robert Nisbet’s The Quest for Community described the erosion of community, which left a necessary gap that the state has since filled. As the state assumes what local community once achieved, it encroaches further on public life. And thus it grows. Whether those at the reins of institutional government will lead for the common good or for some other end—who knows?

The future direction of things feels murky. Many still default to the way things used to be. But the division between older millennials and Gen X, who know “the before times,” and later generations, who have never seen them, will make life interesting.

Many are still in the middle and can be reached. But the climate is shifting.

As Christians, we think of the good works that God has called us to walk in (Eph. 2:10). We know we must be a light on a hill and salt of the earth. All of us, in varying degrees, have a duty toward the common good—to owe no one anything except love.

Yet that has become increasingly dangerous, especially in the United States. And it is striking how many calls for violence now come from significant Canadian leaders, including those tied to institutions one might expect to be more measured.

The promise of Canada was peace, order, and good governance. I still believe cooler heads are at the reins of most institutions. But I cannot help but worry that we are entering a heightened Kulturkampf—one that could even erupt in sporadic violence.

The likely outcome, however, will be accelerated class flight. People will continue to self-select based on class alignment. That will only further stratify society, dampening the Mosaic idea of Canada, promoted by Pierre Trudeau. What the new idea of Canada will be, no one yet knows.

For myself, I believe it is important to live as wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove. The same principles still control my life: the Gospel is at the centre, and the twofold love of God and neighbour guides my ethics. What has become more complicated is how to love our neighbours concretely when society grows increasingly intolerant of Christian ideas.

Granted, no one ever said that doing good works was easy. Paul in Romans 2:6–7 tells us to do good with endurance, which implies difficulty. He himself was frequently attacked, shipwrecked, and so on in his ministry. Jesus was crucified.

The virtue of courage, more than ever, is needed. We must pursue justice with courage, even when people love darkness more than light.