I had been thinking about what I wanted to post about next when something happened yesterday that just horrified me. The assassination of Charlie Kirk. Yes, I say assassination because that is what it was.

Charlie Kirk was not everyones cup of tea. He was very out spoken and ruffled many feathers at his events. I do not agree with everything he said or did, but I do appreciate the fact that he challenged people to question their views on society. The problem is that mainstream society didn’t always approve of this. In most cases I find that people like to keep things as they are, or at least how they perceive that they are. Why stir the pot right? Why question everything we were taught growing up? Why expand our awareness of alternate thought processes going on in the world?

There are people ranting that he got what he deserved. A world that allowed guns and his death was a ironic. NO, no it wasn’t. Just because you believe you have the right to have firearms does not mean you condone senseless violence with them. Having the right to own firearms does not make a person dangerous. The person who uses one in violence was dangerous to start with. They just chose a gun as their weapon of choice.

“Freedom of Speech” is a term thrown around quite often in the US. The majority of citizens believe that it exists but does it really? Or does it only exist to a certain extent based on the majority of the peoples beliefs? Charlie would go out and speak his truth. Beliefs that he held down to his very core. Yet, someone who didn’t agree with him decided the only way to stop his expression of his freedoms was to kill him. Not debate with him, write a complaint or hell, the very best of all? NOT TO LISTEN! Do you know what this is teaching society as a whole? To use Freedom of Speech is to live in fear. Fear of reprisal. Fear of hate. Fear of being ostracized.

I could hope that a tragedy such as this could bring people together but I fear the division amongst our society has grown to such a chasm that this may not be possible. In closing I just want you all to remember that Charlie was someones son, a husband and a father. He was a person who used his right to free speech to openly express his views and did not deserve for his life to end the way it did.

Remember, you always have the choice to walk away. Until next time, in this messed up world, stay sane.