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Dear Editor:
It’s been a rough week in our country. Events that seemed unimaginable, have rocked the entire nation and shown that the divide that we knew was in place is wider and more hate-filled than we perceived.
Recently, I wrote about truth – and the lack of it at present. I fear that these factors, in our media and in our social connections may be a major contributor to what we are facing presently. But I would be naive to believe that it is the entire problem.
Charlie Kirk attempted, from an early age, to change attitudes, especially in young people – to point out and filter through the lessons that young people are being taught in our schools. He was blessed as a communicator, but he also found a good deal of resistance from some of the most – I’ll call it ‘brainwashed’ – individuals. I know, brainwashing is an irregular accusation to throw at teachers, so let’s just call it influencing.
Much like racism or xenophobia, extremism must be taught. It is not an inbred trait, after all. It is a reaction to being told repeatedly that someone is a fascist, or a Hitler, or that someone is a racist or is homophobic. The accusation is repeated, hypnotically – as a mindful effort to instill a set of values that begins to root in a mind. Especially in a young mind.
The internet is full of items stressing that Charlie Kirk was plagued with racism and homophobia. Looking at his work from a more liberal viewpoint – one can see that there were times and words that show he could very well be seen that way. It’s true – if you are gay, you might have felt that Kirk’s ideas, which were based a great deal on his religion, could be oppressing to your lifestyle. And most people would decide not to adhere to his ideas. To ignore them.
But what of the extremist – in this case a young person so full of hatred for another man and his ideas that he laid out a plan and fulfilled it, killing Charlie Kirk? What of that issue in America? Was Kirk the problem, or was it that the unenlightened ideas that the young man had fostered – brought to his consideration by what he was taught at school or what he read in the media – that those influences were the problem?
Morris Bedlam
Noblesville