America’s Culture of Contempt Is Claiming Too Many Lives

Yet another American public figure has been killed, one more victim of the culture of  contempt that, at its extreme, portrays those with whom we disagree as enemies to be destroyed.   

Today we mourn for Charlie Kirk. He was a son, a father, a husband and now his loved ones join the grieving community of Americans that spans across geography, political party, racial, gender and economic divides. Their lives have been forever changed by the violence we inflict upon one another. 

The culture of contempt takes many forms, but at its core, it encourages us to view one another, across our differences, with suspicion and fear. It normalizes ridicule, dishonesty, and hateful rhetoric that leads some to take violent action. We saw it 24 years ago today, when terrorists flew airplanes into buildings and shattered the lives of thousands of families. And in a country that allows easy access to military-grade weapons, far too many lives are senselessly lost — in our schools, our homes, our houses of worship and in our streets. 

We needn’t continue to live this way. Yet addressing the culture of contempt will require us all to commit to its only antidote: acknowledging the inherent dignity of every human being, and a renewed dedication to civility, respect and decency in our personal lives and public discourse. 

In 1964, Dr. King warned that “we must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” More than six decades later, his words remain a summons to our conscience. The way forward cannot be paved with contempt or violence, but with the recognition that every life bears the image of God. Today, as we commend Charlie Kirk to God’s mercy, let us also commend ourselves to the work of reconciliation. May God grant comfort to his family and all who mourn, and give us the courage to see one another not as enemies, but as fellow children of God.

The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde
Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Washington 

The Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith
Dean, Washington National Cathedral