This article is part of a Free Press series on “Repairing America After the Murder of Charlie Kirk.” Read the other entries, including from Abigail Shrier, Yuval Levin, Tyler Cowen, Sam Harris and others, here.
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, we are hearing, mostly on social media but elsewhere too, the argument between those who condemn political violence without caveat, and those who make excuses for it (or actively celebrate it). I am firmly in the former camp. However, I’d like to add something that often gets lost in this conversation: It is not enough to make the case against violence. We must also make the affirmative case for nonviolence.
