Violence Has No Place In Political Discourse

Two high-profile shootings on opposite sides of the planet have captured the news cycles of the world over the last week. On January 4, Salmaan Taseer, a Pakistani politician who served as the Governor of Punjab (the largest province in Pakistan) was ruthlessly gunned down by one of his own security guards. And on January 8, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was shot in the head at point blank range at a constituency outreach event. Taseer was killed, while Giffords is still fighting for her life.

These two shootings may have taken place in very different countries, but both Governor Taseer and Congresswoman Giffords had one thing in common: they were voices for common sense and moderation in political landscapes that had become increasingly vitrolic and extreme. The death of Governor Taseer and the serious wounding of Congresswoman Giffords are both outrageous atrocities and strike at the heart of all peace-loving, rational human beings.

Governor Taseer was an outspoken opponent of the religious fundamentalists who have become increasingly powerful in Pakistan over the last several years. In particular, he publicly opposed the nation's cruel and absurd blasphemy law, by which Pakistani citizens might be fined, imprisoned, or even executed if they spoke out against Islam. By all accounts, it was Taseer's opposition to the blasphemy law that motivated his assassin to kill him.

The motives of the man who attempted to assassinate Congresswoman Giffords are not entirely clear at this point. He apparently left social network messages indicated a belief in conspiracy theories and expressing a general hatred of government, but it seems entirely possible that he was mentally unbalanced. Nevertheless, only a willfully deluded person would deny that the increasingly harsh and borderline violent rhetoric being spread by certain elements of the American conservative movement probably played a role in the man's actions.

Representative democracy combined with free and fair elections are at the heart of what it means to be a Global Citizen. Violence must never be allowed to replace rational political discourse. Rebellion against unlawful tyranny might be permissable under natural law if there is no other recourse, but not in times and places where one can vote freely for one's representatives in government.

If a revolution can be initiated at the ballot box, there is never any justification for taking up arms. None whatsoever. We must decisively reject all those who would turn to violence to further their own political or religious ideologies in a free society.