Four Murderers and a Scapegoat

Leftism is a deadly disease.

J.B. Shurk | August 27, 2026

Our society is unwell.  We see this in a thousand different ways.  Regular church attendance has declined significantly over three generations.  Marriage rates are down; divorce rates are up.  An increasing percentage of women choose not to have children; an increasing percentage of men choose not to settle down.  For its part, the entertainment industry glorifies selfishness, violence, vanity, promiscuity, abortion-on-demand, immediate gratification, and overindulgence, while mocking religion, hard work, compassion, fidelity, strong marriages, committed parents, and healthy families.  

Post-WWII Americans participated in clubs, amateur sports, town halls, civic organizations, and religious gatherings; today, Americans collect online “friends,” scream obscenities on social media platforms, and exercise next to strangers in the gym.  As every part of our personal lives has become politicized, it has become increasingly difficult for Americans with varying political beliefs to interact.  Political grievance has grown into a monster whose shadow follows us everywhere.  This shadow now eclipses the invaluable relationships that we once collectively understood as “our society,” the special camaraderie among countrymen that has little to do with government or politics and everything to do with a people’s concern for, allegiance to, and cooperation with each other.

Although the ugly symptoms of society’s illness are visible everywhere, they are particularly revolting when it comes to public celebrations of and excuses for murder.  Over the last year, four high-profile murders have continued to dominate the news: (1) the political assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, (2) the political assassination of Charlie Kirk, (3) the stabbing murder of high school student Austin Metcalf in Texas, and (4) a Massachusetts mother’s strangling-murder of her three young children.  Three of the four defendants accused of having committed these murders have either admitted to killing their victims or been convicted of murder.  The defendant standing trial for Charlie Kirk’s murder sent a number of communications after the assassination that strongly........

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