America, we need to remember how to disagree without hating one another. When I was growing up, many of my neighbors and friends were Democrats. My family was conservative and Republican. We disagreed. Sometimes we argued politics at the dinner table. But when the weekend came, we still went swimming together, canoeing together, watching movies together, eating together, and living as neighbors. Political disagreement did not require hatred. It did not require destroying friendships. It did not require treating half the country as enemies.
Somewhere along the way, too many Americans forgot the difference between disagreement and hatred. We used to watch comedians like Johnny Carson and Jay Leno poke fun at everybody. They made people laugh without turning entertainment into a daily sermon of political contempt. Today, too much of what passes for entertainment is not really entertainment at all. Shows like The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The View too often feed the audience a steady diet of outrage, mockery, and contempt. That kind of programming does not heal a nation. It trains people to despise their fellow citizens.
And no, this cannot all be blamed on Donald Trump’s personality. Some will immediately say, “Well, Trump caused this.” But let me ask a serious question: who gave anyone the moral right to hate so deeply that they celebrate the destruction, suffering, or even death of political opponents? Who gave anyone the right to hear about violence against a conservative voice like Charlie Kirk and respond with mockery, celebration, or cold indifference? What kind of spirit has taken hold of a person when politics becomes more important than basic human decency?
Political rhetoric has consequences. We have always had political conflict in this country. We have even had assassinations and assassination attempts. But what we are seeing now is a dangerous normalization of dehumanizing language, targeted hatred, and what many now call stochastic terrorism — the repeated public demonization of people or groups until some unstable person decides to “do something” about it. That should terrify every decent American, left or right. If you constantly tell people that their political opponents are Nazis, fascists, racists, threats to democracy, or enemies of humanity, do not act shocked when the weakest and most unstable minds absorb that message and turn it into violence.
This is not acceptable, no matter which side of the aisle you stand on. Conservatives must not celebrate violence against liberals. Liberals must not celebrate violence against conservatives. Christians, veterans, patriots, parents, neighbors, and citizens should all understand this simple truth: hatred is not a political strategy. It is a cancer. It spreads. It consumes. And eventually it destroys the very people who think they are using it for righteous purposes.
America still has elections for a reason. The tide ebbs and flows. Sometimes Democrats win. Sometimes Republicans win. No politician is perfect. No party is perfect. No government is perfect. But responsible citizens accept election results, organize, debate, persuade, and vote again. They do not burn down civil society because they lost an election. They do not justify hatred because their preferred candidate is not in power. They do not pretend that rage is virtue.
And to those who think communism or radical socialism can be reinvented in America, history has already answered that question. Communism has failed everywhere it has been honestly tried because it misunderstands human nature, destroys incentive, concentrates power, and eventually requires force to maintain itself. A free society will never produce perfectly equal outcomes, because people have different abilities, choices, work ethics, family situations, opportunities, and responsibilities. That does not mean we should ignore the poor or abandon compassion. It means we must help people wisely without burning down liberty in the process.
We also need to have honest conversations about borders, citizenship, and national cohesion. A country that cannot control who enters, who stays, and who participates in its civic life will eventually lose the trust of its own people. That is not hatred. That is basic national stewardship. Compassion for the stranger does not require national suicide. Order and mercy are not enemies. A nation can be generous and still insist on lawful borders, lawful elections, and lawful citizenship.
Social justice without wisdom becomes emotional chaos. Too many people today react before they think. They feel before they reason. They repeat slogans before they study consequences. Emotions matter, but emotions are terrible masters. When emotion replaces critical thinking, people become easy to manipulate. When hatred replaces reason, people stop seeing human beings and start seeing targets.
So here is my plea to America: come back to reality. Turn off the outrage machine once in a while. Sit down with a neighbor who disagrees with you. Talk like adults. Break bread together. Watch something beautiful. Listen to music. Watch the amazing talent God has placed in ordinary people. There are creative, decent, hardworking people on both sides of the aisle. God gave us minds, hearts, talents, and free will. Surely we can find something better to do with those gifts than live in hatred all day long.
Scripture warns us plainly about this. “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness” — 1 John 2:9. Jesus also told us, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” — Matthew 5:9. And Paul wrote, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice” — Ephesians 4:31.
America does not need more hatred. America needs more courage, more truth, more humility, and more self-control. Disagree fiercely if you must. Debate boldly. Vote your conscience. Defend your values. But do not surrender your soul to hatred. Once hatred takes root, it does not stay neatly confined to politics. It enters families, churches, friendships, workplaces, and eventually the streets.
May God help us return to civility before we lose something far more precious than an election.
Faith, Family, Freedom, and Common Sense
Walt Tollefson is a West Point graduate, former Army aviator, airline pilot, author of Project Providence, and Christian commentator shaped by a lifetime of service, close calls, and faith. Now living with primary progressive multiple sclerosis, he writes with hard-earned perspective on faith, family, freedom, civic responsibility, and the moral dangers of hatred, propaganda, and cultural division.
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