I see a lot of arguments along the lines of “He only ever debated people, he was completely innocent”. Yeah, no. His words, even though just words, were violence. Because of things he said, and standpoints he defended, real people died. And when confronted with this truth, his reply was “I am willing to make that sacrifice” - meaning, he was willing to sacrifice others on the altar of his convictions.
Today, it was simply his turn.
Besides, he really hated empathy as a concept. If you want to honor his views, you should definitely not be mourning him, because you’d besmirch his remembrance that way. And if there’s one thing we can expect from conservatives, it’s that they’re consistent and clear in their communications and wants…
Words matter!
I’m also flabbergasted by how little reflexivity is being shown in the reactions from the extreme right. Ideas exist on their own, and don’t have a different value depending on who speaks them.
Many of his talking points were the same as those from extremist jihadists, but now people that consider themselves to represent ‘the moderate right’ are defending his right to debate them? Disgusting!
