The Canceling of Jimmy Kimmel

Late night host Jimmy Kimmel was

suspended indefinitely for comments he

made about the Charlie Kirk

assassination. Now, on the one hand,

it's easy to celebrate the downfall of

someone who at the very least made some

very foolish comments, if not blatantly

lied. But we really need to ask

ourselves, is this the kind of society

we want to live in? Welcome to Provoke

and Inspire, where I look at culture and

current events by asking, what would

Jesus think and what would Jesus do?

Comedians play a vital role in society.

At their best, they expose hypocrisy,

challenge the status quo, and hold

everyone on both sides accountable. But

here's the problem. In today's polarized

age, too many comedians and especially

late night hosts only target their

ideological opponents. They're no longer

equal opportunity critics. They've just

become hired goons for one side. So when

Jimmy claimed that Charlie Kirk Shooter

was a MAGA extremist rather than the

left-wing radical nutbard that he

actually was, nobody who watches was

surprised. It's right on brand for him

to represent things this way. But the

fact remains his words and comments were

incredibly foolish and downright lies.

And words do carry consequences, and

people should be held accountable. But

here's the unsettling feeling I can't

shake. Charlie Kirk was someone who

spoke his mind. no matter the cost. And

he paid the ultimate price. If he was a

martyr for anything, he was a martyr for

free speech. And free speech doesn't

mean defending what we like. It means

defending what we don't. The true test

of whether you're in defense of free

speech, is your willingness to defend

the right of people to say things that

offend you, even things that you think

are awful and hateful. Just recently, I

went to a major university campus where

I live to ask the students about Kirk's

assassination. All of the students

denounced the violent act that led to

his death. But almost all of them also

said that it was his hate speech that

caused it. So I asked them, "What is

hate speech? Can you give me a clear

definition?" It became very obvious that

hate speech is a very hard category to

define. You see, one person's hate

speech can just be another person's

truth. It is so easy for us to label

something we simply don't agree with as

hate speech and in so doing shut that

person down. And that is what so often

happens in our society. The reality is

free speech is all or nothing. Either we

defend the right of everyone to speak,

including our opponents, or we slide

into a culture of censorship and

dictatorship. Look, you don't have to

like Jimmy Kimmel. You don't have to

like any political pundit or media

personality. But if Charlie Kirk died to

defend his values and his right to

communicate them, the way to honor him

is to extend those same rights even to

those we disagree with. We have to be

better. We cannot in this case be

hypocrites. It doesn't excuse or justify

the violence committed against him. Not

at all. But I think the best way forward

is to let bad ideas, foolish comments

come into the light and let the truth

expose them for what they are. That's

how we move forward. That's how society

progresses and that's how we honor the

legacy of Charlie Kirk. Thanks for

watching Provoke and Inspire. If you

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Also, provokeandinsspirepodcast.com

for everything else. That's it. Peace.