Silencing Truth, Rewarding Hate: The Double Standard in America’s Culture of Speech

By Rev. Paula Josephine Sadler

The Dangerous Double Standard

In recent weeks, we’ve seen a wave of firings, suspensions, and disciplinary actions against ordinary people who expressed their grief, anger, or criticism after the death of Charlie Kirk. At least 13, 15, and in some reports more than 30 individuals have already lost jobs or been investigated—including journalists, teachers, corporate employees, and nonprofit workers.

Their crime? Sharing thoughts on social media about a man who spent his life spreading division, misogyny, and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. They named truths about who he was and what he represented. And for that, they were silenced.

Meanwhile, Charlie Kirk himself was given endless platforms. His voice was amplified by the GOP, the MAGA movement, white Christian nationalists, and even presidents of the United States. He was celebrated—not punished—for promoting ideologies that endangered women, minorities, LGBTQIA+ people, and the very fabric of democracy.

This is the double standard of speech in America today:

• If you speak out against hate, you risk losing everything.

• If you promote hate, you are rewarded, pardoned, or elevated.

Throughout history, those who have spoken truth to power have been silenced, imprisoned, or even killed.

• Abolitionists who stood against slavery were beaten, jailed, or lynched for daring to declare that no human being should be owned.

• Civil rights leaders who defied Jim Crow segregation were harassed, arrested, and assassinated — their voices branded as “dangerous” because they demanded freedom.

• Women’s rights pioneers were ridiculed, arrested, and institutionalized for claiming that women deserved the right to vote, to control their own bodies, and to be seen as equals.

• LGBTQIA+ activists were fired, outed, beaten, and murdered for the simple act of living authentically and demanding dignity.

We remember the fate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated for calling America to its highest ideals of justice and equality.We remember President John F. Kennedy, taken by violence at a time when he dared to dream of a better world and to challenge entrenched powers.

We also remember those who spoke out against the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups — journalists, clergy, politicians, and everyday citizens who faced bombings, lynchings, cross-burnings, and threats simply because they dared to expose hate for what it was. Many lost their lives; others lived in fear, yet they stood anyway.

And now, we see it happening again today. Those who call out hate — whether in politics, in corporations, or in our culture — are branded as “uncivil” or “unprofessional.” People are fired for naming the truth about dangerous ideologies, while those who spread those very ideologies are rewarded with platforms, book deals, and power.

But there is a difference we must always remember:

• Calling out hate is not the same as spreading hate.

• Speaking truth is not the same as inciting violence.

• Doing the work of love and justice is never the same as those who cling to fear and oppression.

History shows us again and again: those who expose injustice are treated as threats, while those who uphold oppression are protected and rewarded.

And yet — their voices live on. Their sacrifice was not in vain. Because the truth, no matter how violently opposed, cannot be buried forever.

Why Kirk Was Celebrated

Charlie Kirk wasn’t censored because his words served those in power. His brand of rhetoric—fear-driven, authoritarian, and exclusionary—aligned perfectly with Project 2025, MAGA politics, and white Christian nationalism. These movements see speech as a tool of domination. And so long as that speech serves their goals, it is protected and magnified.

This isn’t about “free speech.” It’s about who owns the microphone. Kirk had one. Ordinary people don’t.

Why Everyday People Are Fired

For workers and citizens, the rules are different. Companies don’t want controversy. They fear backlash. And they enforce silence to protect their brands, their donors, and their political allies. Employees are treated as expendable.

But make no mistake: this isn’t neutral. When corporations punish dissent, they align themselves with the very movements that Kirk represented. They declare, whether they admit it or not, that their allegiance is to power, not to truth.

Who Is Not Punished

Here lies the greatest hypocrisy:

• White Christian nationalist leaders who openly call for segregation, banning interracial marriage, revoking the 19th Amendment, and criminalizing LGBTQIA+ people remain in power.

• Project 2025 architects, who are plotting the dismantling of women’s rights and LGBTQ+ protections, remain comfortably employed in think tanks and government positions.

• January 6th insurrectionists and their supporters were not fired en masse—they were pardoned, defended, and in some cases elected to higher office.

• Donald Trump, who incited violence, continues to lead the Republican Party.

Those who advocate oppression are celebrated as “leaders.” Those who speak against oppression are punished as “unprofessional.”

A Culture of Control

This isn’t about “civility.” It’s about control. Corporate censorship enforces silence on one side while amplifying hate on the other.

It’s like going to a doctor and getting a pill to treat a symptom while ignoring the disease. Firings are the quick fix. But they don’t address the deeper illness: a society choking under authoritarianism, religious extremism, economic elitism, and systemic injustice.

What We Must Do

Violence is not the answer. But neither is silence. People feel the way they do—not because they lack compassion—but because they have compassion for the oppressed.

The righteous anger expressed online is a cry for justice in a country where rights are being stripped away daily. If we don’t listen to that cry, the oppression will only grow stronger.

Resistance must be nonviolent, but it must also be unapologetic. We need collective voice, counter-platforms, solidarity, and moral clarity.

If 1,500 January 6th Insurrectionists Can Be Pardoned, Then These People Deserve Reinstatement and Apologies

If over 1,500 people involved in the January 6th insurrection—an attack that killed police officers, injured many, desecrated the U.S. Capitol, and attempted to overturn democracy—can be pardoned, then surely the handful of teachers, journalists, professors, and professionals who expressed their grief and anger over Charlie Kirk’s death can be rehired, reinstated, and given public apologies.

Anything less exposes the raw hypocrisy of America’s so-called standards of “civility” and “professionalism.”

Letter to Corporations

To every corporation, boardroom, and HR department now disciplining employees for speaking their truth:

Your role is not to silence. Your role is not to suffocate. Your employees are human beings, not disposable brand risks.

When you fire workers for expressing their pain, you are not “protecting professionalism”—you are aligning yourselves with authoritarianism. You are not denouncing violence—you are endorsing the ideology of oppression that Kirk himself championed.

I call on you to:

• Reinstate every employee who has been unjustly fired.

• Offer public apologies for the harm you’ve done.

• Show compassion, not punishment.

• Recognize that your employees’ feelings are rooted in empathy for the oppressed.

If you truly want to protect your brands, protect them by standing on the side of truth, not tyranny. Protect them by choosing compassion over control. Protect them by rejecting the agendas that would strip women, LGBTQIA+ people, immigrants, and minorities of their rights and humanity.

We are living in dangerous times. Voices of truth must not be silenced. Nor should we celebrate violence. But we must have the courage to address the cause, not just the symptom.

It’s time to pray for healing as a nation—and to act for justice.

Until then, every unjust firing, every silenced voice, is not just an HR decision. It is a public declaration: you have chosen the side of oppression.

And now, the world knows where you stand.

In light of the firings, suspensions, and forced resignations following the death of Charlie Kirk, it is necessary to name those individuals who have been unfairly punished for expressing their feelings. Their words may have been raw or angry, but they were born out of compassion for the oppressed and out of grief for the state of our nation. Violence is not the answer—but neither is silencing truth.

Below is a partial list of those who should be reinstated, with public apologies offered to them and their families. This list will continue to grow as more cases become known.

Public Figures and Professionals

• Matthew Dowd – Former MSNBC political analyst

• Charlie Rock – Communications Coordinator, Carolina Panthers

• Bobby Machado – Fox Sports Las Vegas radio producer

• Gerald Bourguet – Reporter, PHNX Sports (NBA Phoenix Suns beat)

• Laura Sosh-Lightsy – Associate Dean, Middle Tennessee State University

• Mark Sivek – Realtor, Las Vegas; incoming board member of Las Vegas Realtors

• Ted Berry – Ohio judge; Joe Burrow Foundation board member

• Unnamed Nasdaq Employee – Junior-level staffer

Educators and Academic Workers

• Teacher in Klein ISD, Texas

• Teacher in Newport News, Virginia

• Two Professors at East Tennessee State University

• Multiple teachers and staff in Tennessee, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Mississippi, and Ohio (names not disclosed)

The Bigger Picture

At least 13–15 people have been fired or suspended with names confirmed in the press. Reports indicate more than 30 individuals nationwide are facing consequences, with at least 21 educators among them.

✍️ Rev. Paula Josephine Sadler Founder, Universal Rainbow Faith

✍️ A Message of Compassionate Truth

By Rev. Paula Josephine Sadler

To those who have followed Charlie Kirk, or who feel drawn to the Christian nationalist movement:

I write to you not in anger, but in love. Not to condemn you, but to call you back to the deepest truth of God’s heart.

I know many of you sincerely believe you are standing for God, for family, for freedom. You believe you are protecting the country you love. You believe you are guarding what is sacred. I honor your desire to be faithful.

But I must also speak the truth: the words and actions of Charlie Kirk, and of the Christian nationalist movement he helped lead, have caused great harm. They have divided families. They have pushed young people to despair. They have told women, immigrants, LGBTQIA+ people, and people of color that their lives are worth less in the eyes of God and the nation. They have cloaked fear and hatred in the language of faith.

This is not the way of Jesus.This is not the way of love.

The Gospel calls us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, and heal the sick. It calls us to humility, mercy, forgiveness, and compassion. Nowhere does it call us to dehumanize, exclude, or oppress.

Some of you may say, “But we are defending truth.” I ask you to consider: if the truth you defend leaves people crushed, despised, or suicidal, is it God’s truth—or is it human fear dressed up in holy words?

I know it is hard to admit when a leader has misled us. I know it is painful to realize that someone you trusted may have steered you away from love and toward fear. But you are not your mistakes. You are not your leaders. You are children of God, capable of returning to the path of compassion at any moment.

Look at the fruit of this movement: broken families, young lives cut short, neighbors turned against neighbors, a nation divided, and the name of Christ dragged through the mud. Does this look like the Kingdom of Heaven?

You do not have to stay bound to this. You can choose again. You can choose love over fear, mercy over judgment, healing over division. You can choose to walk the path of Christ, which is always the path of compassion.

I urge you: see the harm, not to wallow in shame, but to awaken to love. If you have spoken words that wounded others, you can apologize. If you have followed leaders who misled you, you can turn back. If you have felt trapped in anger or fear, you can be free.

This is not about left or right, Democrat or Republican. This is about love versus fear, truth versus lies, life versus death.

And God’s love will always be stronger than fear.

May this be the moment you choose love.

With compassion and prayer,✍️ Rev. Paula Josephine Sadler