A LETTER FROM JESSICA DIECKMAN REGARDING THE CHARLIE KIRK VIGIL AT CROTON LANDING

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A LETTER FROM JESSICA DIECKMAN REGARDING THE CHARLIE KIRK VIGIL AT CROTON LANDING (CLICK ON THE PHOTOS. MORE PHOTOS AND VIDEO HERE.)

To the Editor,

Pres. Obama stated, ‘the strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech.’ Many who are eager to speak, particularly from what would be called conservative perspectives, self-censor themselves out of fear that the retaliatory repression may take violent form, a feeling made all the more acute by the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk. Kirk’s death was disturbingly predicted by his now famous statement that, “When people stop talking, that's when you get violence.”

A character both reviled and revered in his short lifetime, Kirk’s provocation intended to bring forth the thinkers, not simply the blind conformists who chant party-lines and slogans, but the true tactical and critical thinkers who could potentially change his mind. Stubborn as he may have seemed to those fresh to his brand, Kirk encouraged dialogue with people from a wide range of beliefs and political affiliations on issues both extreme and light-hearted (one public debate included the comparison waffles versus pancakes for the better breakfast, bringing the crowd to laughter). His currency was earnest debate, not dissimilar from the Socratic traditions of the Greeks, who valued the arena of debate as the testing of philosophies, and the Tibetan Buddhists who recognize the strengths of teaching debate to sharpen focus and peacefully meet and accommodate differences.

What is most saddening is how the incident has brought forth cheers and approvals of the assassination. As with the murder of UnitedHealthcare’s Brian Thompson, the immediate aftermath of Kirk’s murder did not see general acknowledgement that the fully-intentioned slaying of a human being was wrong, regardless of motive and victim. In fact many people continue to openly and gleefully pronounce support for the killing. These are not just shallow stabs at attention from ignorant and immature minds, these are stamps of approval from supposed adults, professionals; parents; even teachers; those tentatively educated. A free speech environment certainly allows a person to condemn the speaker, it allows a person to condemn the words, but the approval of the act of murder and openly sharing that approval sharply places that person in a dark and inhuman state, slipping away from the civil and inching closer towards having the capacity to commit the same act themselves.

In a broader discussion where the ‘last word’ is not actually a word but an act of severe violence towards a particular individual, attention moves (in a civil world) to the individual thus effected. Indeed the gunshot that was intended as a final silencing strike at Kirk has instead thrust him into a new era of post-humous exposure. Curious people who had never heard of the man are now listening back to recordings and wondering, despite his acerbity, what it was precisely that merited murder. Doubting the validity of critics who lean only a scant collection of statements and clips removed from their context, they are looking, listening, and, even if in complete disagreement, are hopefully heeding the call to drop their malice and anger and instead strengthen their knowledge and sharpen their articulations in order to fulfill a hallmark of civilized society: the exchange of words in place of the exchange of blows.

Thank you to the Village of Croton on Hudson for granting permission for the Sept. 21 vigil honoring Charlie Kirk, as well as the Croton PD for providing a presence at the event. Some pictures here show the strong attendance at the vigil.

Sincerely,
Jessica Dieckman