September 11, 2001, is an infamously known date to all American people. The deadliest attack on American soil is a moment that U.S. citizens will “Never Forget,” a phrase commonly attached to the historic date. Citizens across the nation felt a sense of urgency to stand up to this act of evil that shocked the world. We as a nation stood arm in arm to fight against a force we deemed objectively wrong. This country was unified as a single body: but it now seems impossible for the American people to stand in common ground.

September 11 was a tragic event in this nation’s history, but unfortunately, it is not the only heartbreaking surprise that we as Americans have been forced to experience. Littleton, Colorado, was hit with a national disaster April 20, 1999, when two students entered Columbine High School and killed 14 people while injuring 21 others before taking their own lives. Jeffrey Dahmer shocked the community of Milwaukee after confessing to brutalizing 17 men over a 13-year period. Tragedies are not unfamiliar to the American people. In fact, quite the opposite is becoming true.

Acts of evil such as these seemed few and far between, and they sent a shockwave of fear and grief throughout the entire nation. But today’s generation has not felt the same heaviness of evil because they have become so desensitized to it. Tragedies are happening all around us. It seems impossible to exist on social media in any capacity without reading about war crimes taking place overseas, school shootings across our own soil and prominent public figures stripped of their life at the hands of another. There is an abundance of evil in our world, and it has led to a famine of sympathy.

As of September 10, 2025, 47 school shootings have taken place in the calendar year. How many of them did you hear about? How many do you remember? Some follow these events closely and with a heavy heart. For others, these events happen so frequently it seems a waste to cry over one when another is soon to follow in the coming weeks. Where has our sympathy gone? We have become accustomed to answering evil with silence because it seems impossible to keep a tab on every atrocity happening around us. And recently, that silence towards evil has progressed to a support of it.

While speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University in Ulem, Utah, 31-year-old Charlie Kirk was shot in the neck and killed. The news shot across mainstream media, and social media was met with a wide array of responses. Some users posted reports of the assassination on their stories with messages asking for prayers for Kirk, his wife and two children. Others used the event as a means to address the issue of gun violence in the United States, portraying Kirk’s death as a reason to enforce stricter regulations on gun control. But there was a select group of users who responded to the event with a different demeanor. 

A wave of TikTok posts, Instagram Reels and social media stories washed over platforms blaming Kirk for his death and even celebrating his assassination. One post by Facebook user Leslie Smithson stated “Whoever shot Charlie Kirk, thank you!,” followed by “Bleeding from the neck LMFAO.” The post was removed within the hour after receiving large amounts of backlash from users defending Kirk and condemning Smithson’s actions.

Evil is more prevalent now in our world than ever before, and violence is quickly becoming the most common “solution” to civil disagreements. Kirk was exercising his constitutional right of freedom of speech and the right to peacefully assemble. He broke no law. He followed the rules of the nation, state, city and university he chose to speak at. Yet, because his beliefs, values and unapologetic faith upset others in the nation, his legal actions were met with illegal consequences. 

Now, shining a light on the death of Kirk is not to say that we shouldn’t turn our backs on other tragedies occurring in the world. I agree that all tragedies across the globe deserve thoughts and prayers. I agree that action, whether it be active change or media awareness, should be taken towards worldly monstrosities happening right now. However, to condemn those grieving with the loss of Kirk for not having a heavy heart for other events around the world is a sign that our generation is lacking sympathy. 

Our political attention is divided because there are too many tragedies to keep our focus on every one. This is why the U.S. as a nation has such trouble finding common ground. There is too much ground for one person to cover. We can’t possibly keep up and stand alongside every issue we see with the world because there are too many conflicts to face. We cannot control evil, but we can choose how to respond to it.

Evil has no race. Evil has no gender. Evil has no political affiliation, no sexual orientation, no religion. Evil has a single mission to steal, kill and destroy. To respond to evil with any action other than condemning that act in its entirety is to feed into the fire that consumes the good. To promote any action other than sympathy for the victims and condemnation for the malefactors is to allow evil to do its work in our world.

So take your stance. Fight your battles. Share the stories for those who are in need of a war against evil. But to undermine evil in any capacity is to promote the very force you are working to destroy. Stand against evil.