When One Death Echoes Beyond Politics

This week, the nation was shaken by an assassination of a youth activist on a college campus. While many knew his name, his politics, or his public persona, what has surprised people most is the weight of the grief and the intensity of the reactions—on both sides of the aisle.

While I didn’t always share his viewpoints, I found myself asking: Why does this one life, this one death, feel so profoundly heavy?

Perhaps it’s because, beneath the labels of conservative or liberal, he represented three pillars many of us—quietly or loudly—still hold close: faith, family, and country. And perhaps it’s because his death did not happen on a battlefield overseas, but here at home, in a space meant for debate and dialogue.

For years now, our country has lived in extremes. The pandemic of 2020 pulled us online, into echo chambers where voices grew louder, harsher, and more divided. Civility broke down, and so did our ability to listen. While the far left and far right continue shouting past each other, the majority of Americans live in a grey-zone—tired, overwhelmed, and wondering: When the chaos will end?

But chaos always trickles down. We see it in our children: in rising school fights, in escalating violence, in the loneliness and despair that settle over younger generations. We see it in our own hesitations—afraid to smile at strangers, unsure how to start conversations, retreating into suspicion instead of connection.

The truth is, we cannot survive much longer in this place of perpetual division. We have to stop attacking and start understanding. We have to rediscover common ground, however small, and begin rebuilding trust in one another. If we don’t, we risk destroying not only ourselves but the very humanity we claim to protect.

So maybe that is why this one death feels different. It reminds us, in the starkest way possible, that every word, every action, and every choice matters. The question is: Will we keep spiraling further apart—or will we take this moment to pause, to grieve, and to finally find a way forward together?

These words might strike a chord with you. This is not here to point fingers, but to start a real conversation on how we can truly move forward—no matter what side you are on. Let’s discuss, plan, and put that plan into action, not just yell at each other through social media. Let’s heal.

~Dr. Abi