Editorial of April 17, 2025
There’s No Excuse for Violence
According to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment “guarantees freedoms concerning religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition. It forbids Congress from both promoting one religion over others and also restricting an individual’s religious practices. It guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely. It also guarantees the right of citizens to assemble peaceably and to petition their government.”
It should be noted though, as pointed out by the National Constitution Center, that the First Amendment restrains only the government. It does not protect speakers against private individuals or organizations.
This being said, there is no amendment to the Constitution which gives us the right to commit violence upon one another or to destroy property that does not belong to us. The Second Amendment does allow us to keep and bear arms, but we won’t tackle that subject here.
Political violence is growing in the U.S., a disturbing trend, to say the least. And whether you are left, right or center in your political leanings, please don’t assume it is “the other side” committing all the violence and destruction. Because it’s not.
If you are following news reports from a variety of media sources—not just those which echo your own perspectives and beliefs—then you have been witness to violence and destruction of property not limited to any one side of the political aisle. PBS News put together a list of such offenses, published in an article titled “The growing list of political violence in the U.S.” on Monday, April 14:
- Elon Musk’s Tesla properties set ablaze
- Trump assassination attempts
- New Mexico Republican headquarters torched
- Democratic National Committee office shot up
- Nancy Pelosi’s husband attacked at home
- Candidate for Louisville mayor targeted
- Capitol stormed on January 6, 2021
- Plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor
- Shooting at Republican baseball practice
Add to this already distressing list more of the same:
- Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home set on fire
- United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson assassinated
- Live Action reporter Savannah Craven Antao punched in the face
- An 81-year-old man run over by an all-terrain vehicle while putting a political sign on his lawn
- Riots, looting and clashes with law enforcement during the Black Lives Matter protests in May 2020
- A 74-year-old man assaulted at a Pennsylvania political rally
Are Americans beginning to see violence as part and parcel of our political system? Nealin Parker, executive director of Common Ground USA and a leader in identifying solutions to polarization and political violence in America, believes that is the case, according to an article published by Reuters in October 2024.
In our editorial of August 3, 2023—bemoaning the decline of courtesy and civility—we wrote:
“Showing courtesy—or simply being kind, even when our viewpoint conflicts wildly with that of someone else—doesn’t cost us anything. Being mindful of the feelings of others doesn’t lessen or discount our own beliefs. We can make our opinions known in ways that are not harmful to, or disparaging of, our neighbors. Courtesy and civility are part and parcel of being good citizens.”
Since then, things have gotten a whole lot worse. So ask yourself—do you really want violence and destruction to become accepted social norms? And do you really believe it’s just the “other” side committing these heinous acts?
The Network Contagion Research Institute and Rutgers University’s Social Perception Lab released a report earlier this month—“Assassination Culture: How Burning Teslas and Killing Billionaires Became a Meme Aesthetic for Political Violence”—which suggests that an “assassination culture” appears to be emerging here in the U.S., and that a percentage of survey respondents believe murdering the president is “at least partially justified.”
It seems we have much bigger concerns than courtesy and civility in these divisive times…
