Love Your Neighbor

Your freedom is under attack. But maybe not in the way you think.

Like many of you I was horrified by the murder of Charlie Kirk. Whatever you thought of his politics, it was an awful moment for our nation. His family, including his two little kids, will carry this pain for the rest of their lives.

Some groups and individuals are using this atrocity to stoke division. Resist them. They are not on your side, even if you agree with their politics. Anyone who encourages you to hate others is not your friend.

Notice what your media sources do to you. Pay attention to how you feel after reading, watching, or listening to them:

• Do they bring out the best in you?

• Do they inspire you to make the world a better place?

• Or do they leave you feeling angry, hopeless, and afraid?

If they’re fanning the flames of fear and hatred, they are part of the problem. It’s evil to profit from amplifying division.

Recognize the ways that your media feeds might be distorting how you see the world, especially the people you disagree with. Do they encourage you to see them as full human beings? Do they present a fair and nuanced view of others’ beliefs? Or do they give you a picture of them that’s as biased as the one they’re getting of you in their own feeds?

Clearly there is much to care about and fight for in the current political debates. And there’s more at stake than politics, more than “left vs. right.” How we conduct ourselves as we disagree matters as much as what we’re disagreeing about. What good will it do a person to win a culture war if they lose their soul in the process?

So question the voices that say you have to choose sides in a growing battle of us-versus-them. Cut the cord on a media culture that converts your care and compassion into hostility and monetized attention. Freedom worth protecting starts with choosing who you’re going to be and how you’ll treat others—without the pernicious influence of informational echo chambers.

Look for ways to spend more time in your real life with the real people around you, including your neighbors. I don’t always agree with my neighbors’ politics but I know them as real people who basically care about the same things I do. They love their kids. They value kindness. They want to be good people.

Judge the state of society based on the people you actually know and not the worst examples of humanity that the Internet can find or invent.

Now is the time to love your neighbor, even as you’re advocating for the causes you believe in. Love never fails. When you’re tempted by the darkness around you, choose the side of justice, mercy, and humility. Overcome evil with good.

With love and hope,

Seth