I don't want to linger too much on horrible events, but the Charlie Kirk assassination has rattled me in a very unexpected way. So much, that I'm still working through it.
It's no secret that humans are capable of evil. We constantly see it online. We've become desensitized to it.
This feels very different, and it's not even the horrible murder itself. Throughout history, non-violent people have been executed for less. Awful, but not unexpected.
What's new is seeing friends, or maybe even family, embrace the evil. Be it with gloating, laughing, indifference, etc. We probably all know someone who has reacted in a very startling way to this murder.
That's hitting hard these past few days.
Politics are irrelevant here. You should be comfortable existing alongside peaceful people who think differently.
What I don't want is to be around people who find pleasure or satisfaction in acts of pure evil.
I'm questioning why I allowed these people to be a part of my life, or how I didn't notice signs earlier. What could I have done better to possibly prevent this?
We're not used to this.
I think we're still processing what this means going forward. Who we allow into our lives, and around our children.
If the overwhelming majority of humans reacted to this tragedy with disgust and empathy, we wouldn't be here.
Unfortunately the evil within some people is worse than realized.
And that's terrifying.