A Shocking Realization)

One of the most horrifying things of the past few years has been to witness the open enthusiasm and support for symbolic murders. In December of 2024, when Brian Thompson was killed in the streets by Luigi Mangione, it was not in response to any particular action or policy that the CEO of United Healthcare had enacted. Certainly, people had their criticisms of the company and the broader industry as a whole, but there was nothing particularly anti-consumer about Brian Thompson. Indeed, he had only been CEO for four years, and critiques of his company long predated his tenure and will continue long afterward. He was killed simply because of what he represented: the entire healthcare system.

It is safe to say that virtually no one in America had even heard of his name before his death. None of us knew his politics. None of us knew his morals. None of us knew what sort of husband or father he was. None of knew whom he had helped or hurt in his personal life. None of us knew if he was ultimately a good man or a bad. And yet, thousands of voices came out on social media to praise and celebrate his killing. Nothing about the actual man mattered, all that mattered was his job title.

This was when the mask came off and I was horrified to see the monsters that lurk in our daily society. The murder itself was terrible, made even worse by masses who approved of it, made worse by the fact that those masses felt absolutely no inhibition in crowing about it in public. There was absolutely no fear of social ostracization, of real-world consequences, of meaningful rejection. People saw absolutely no downside to cheering on a murderer like they were cheering on a football team.

Then came the assassination attempts against Donald Trump. Mainstream celebrities made light of them and even called for further attempts. Then there was the successful assassination of Charlie Kirk. People publicly called for the rest of his family to be slaughtered next.

It hasn’t just been violence against political or public figures, either. On a more personal note, members of my own church were slaughtered during their services last year in Michigan by a man who openly professed his hatred of the LDS faith. While there has not been large social support for what he did, many so-called Christians used the opportunity to ensure others knew we didn’t believe in the “correct Jesus.” Once again, there was no hesitation for public derision of murdered innocents. It is this open and blatant disregard for propriety that has so shocked me.

Scary New World)

Of course, we have always known that there were monsters hiding in the closets. But they were supposed to be exceedingly rare. Only the clearly and seriously broken in the world would be so depraved, and I guess I never realized how many people there are today that fit that category. And also, the monsters were supposed to be in hiding, constrained by social pressure from stepping into the light in their hideous forms. Now they march out boldly and without apology. When what is said in the public square is already inexcusable, what does it say for society’s darker secrets?

One clear takeaway is that “us vs them” thinking is alive and well in our culture, and that it is deadly serious, too. There are people who are willing to kill others just because of select characteristics, and others that are willing to publicly support it.

It is nothing new to think that you know what the problem in today’s world is. To think you know what ideas are causing harm. To think you know which people are driving the detriment of society. But it is an extra leap to then decide, “and everyone of that group is culpable and worthy of death.” To not deal with people as individuals, to not see them as potentially redeemable. To see the world as only able to improve with the violent removal of that category.

Of course, these developments put immense fear into the hearts of those who most often hear themselves vilified in the public square. We become weighed down with the knowledge that anyone around us might be a potential killer. We start to view everyone, especially those different from us, as a potential threat. And this, of course, leads to “us vs them” thinking in the opposite direction.

I want to delve into that shift tomorrow. How a population that is willing to talk out their problems becomes radicalized towards violence instead, and the dangers that loom ahead of us if we do not have a powerful course correction now.