This article is part of a Free Press series on “Repairing America in the Age of Political Violence.” Read the other entries, including from Coleman Hughes, Sam Harris and others, here.
By all accounts, the parents of the man who allegedly murdered Charlie Kirk are good people, decent enough that the suspect’s father reportedly helped turn in his own son to the authorities. The father’s act was righteous and, very likely, excruciating.
Reading the coverage, I was reminded of a dinner I attended a few years ago, hosted by a conservative group that had invited me to speak on a university campus. I sat next to their primary donor, a lovely man, and asked about his kids. What were they studying? Were they dating? How were they doing?
“Well, I got one kid who’s a communist,” the man said, chuckling, with an air of: What do you expect? She attends a prestigious university.
I didn’t laugh. I thought: We’re all going to pay for your defeatism.
