Moral Relativism and the Justification of Political Violence

Moral Relativism and the Justification of Political Violence

The shocking recent wave of politically motivated violence reveals the radicalization of the American Left. The moderates have been displaced by hard-core radicals who would stop at nothing to destroy the system. History helps us understand the rationale behind the radical Left’s justification of violence.

As early as the 19^th century, radical leftist ideologues indoctrinated their followers that violence was unavoidable to destroy traditional society and achieve their utopian vision. They believed in moral relativism and repudiated Judeo-Christian ethics and objective morality. They did not perceive human life as unique and inherently valuable and did not consider murder wrong.

One hundred years ago, radical leftist violence resulted in one of the bloodiest terrorist acts in the world, which happened in my native city of Sofia. Members of the communist party received funding from the Soviet Union to assassinate the Bulgarian government and political elite. The first step was to murder a famous general to ensure a large gathering of prominent figures for his funeral in the church of St. Sunday.

The assassins planted a bomb under the roof of the church and placed it in such a way as to target primarily the government officials present at the ceremony. It so happened that the general’s casket needed to be moved from its original location to accommodate the multitude of attendants. This managed to partially block the blast and spare most of the government members. Unfortunately, hundreds of others were killed or severely wounded.

Image credit: public domain

This act was received with mass condemnation. The various terrorist groups in the United States from the 1960s onward were also condemned by society at large. In recent years, however, acts of political violence have been positively perceived by the Left. In a tragically prophetic X post, dated April 7^th of this year, Charlie Kirk remarked:

Assassination culture is spreading on the left. Forty-eight percent of liberals say it would be at least somewhat justified to murder Elon Musk. Fifty-five percent said the same about Donald Trump. In California, activists are naming ballot measures after Luigi Mangione. The left is being whipped into a violent frenzy. Any setback, whether losing an election or losing a court case, justifies a maximally violent response. This is the natural outgrowth of left-wing protest culture tolerating violence and mayhem for years on end. The cowardice of local prosecutors and school officials have turned the left into a ticking time bomb.

In a heartfelt tribute to Charlie Kirk, Victor Davis Hanson pointed out that his assassination was not only politically motivated but represented an attack on free speech and open and civil debate, a pernicious new phenomenon in our country:

It was a political assassination because when you think of people under the age of 35 on the conservative side who combined photogenic ability to speak to people without notes, to do a podcast, to have the administrative skill to create from scratch a huge organization, to be politically savvy, and to know which states to go in and how to approach the electorate to help the conservatives. And you put all that together, he is irreplaceable. He really is…. This was a political assassination, but it was also journalistic. Usually, we don’t see attacks on reporters or journalists or podcasters, and so this is new … then it’s a not just a political act, but it’s also trying to thwart the dissemination of knowledge.

Justifying violence and attacks on free speech is an extremely dangerous tendency that needs to be addressed and stopped with every lawful means available.

Nora D. Clinton is a Research Scholar at the Legal Insurrection Foundation. She was born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria. She holds a PhD in Classics and has published extensively on ancient documents on stone. In 2020, she authored the popular memoir Quarantine Reflections Across Two Worlds. Nora is a co-founder of two partner charities dedicated to academic cooperation and American values. She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and son.

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