Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 13 hours ago
FULL EPISODE: Truth and Reality Amid Political Violence and Attacks on Free Speech
On this episode, the Convocation Unscripted team talks about the importance of truth and reality amid the whirlwind of debates about political violence in the aftermath of the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk and the subsequent attacks on free speech, such as the suspension of Jimmie Kimmel by ABC. While acknowledging that all political violence is abhorrent, we also look at the facts about the actual shape of political violence in the US; the government’s own official reports—recently purged from the Department of Justice website—found that “since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists.” We also discuss the kind of response to Kirk’s assassination that we wish we would have heard from the president and other Republican leaders—one that focused on condemning all political violence and calling us to our better selves rather than fanning the flames and using it as an opportunity to infringe on the Constitutional right to free speech. As Christians, there has never been a time when we need a theology that refuses to separate people into good and evil categories, one that foregrounds grace and love for enemies. We close with an urgent message for all to stand up against political violence and in defense of free speech, while we still have the freedom to do so.A Live Q & A Session with The Convocation Unscripted
Substack: The Convocation- convocation.substack.com
Robert P. Jones- whitetoolong.net
Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com
Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com
Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com
FULL EPISODE: Truth and Reality Amid Political Violence and Attacks on Free Speech
On this episode, the Convocation Unscripted team talks about the importance of truth and reality amid the whirlwind of debates about political violence in the aftermath of the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk and the subsequent attacks on free speech, such as the suspension of Jimmie Kimmel by ABC. While acknowledging that all political violence is abhorrent, we also look at the facts about the actual shape of political violence in the US; the government’s own official reports—recently purged from the Department of Justice website—found that “since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists.” We also discuss the kind of response to Kirk’s assassination that we wish we would have heard from the president and other Republican leaders—one that focused on condemning all political violence and calling us to our better selves rather than fanning the flames and using it as an opportunity to infringe on the Constitutional right to free speech. As Christians, there has never been a time when we need a theology that refuses to separate people into good and evil categories, one that foregrounds grace and love for enemies. We close with an urgent message for all to stand up against political violence and in defense of free speech, while we still have the freedom to do so.A Live Q & A Session with The Convocation Unscripted
Substack: The Convocation- convocation.substack.com
Robert P. Jones- whitetoolong.net
Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com
Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com
Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com
![Stuck in the Cycle of Doom and Gloom?
We love your comments. In fact, we led off our discussion by sharing our reflections on one particular comment.
Robby shared,
[This person was] finding themselves feeling a little jaded by the constant, “You wont believe what just happened now.”
And same thing, day after day, after day—kind of a Groundhog Day experience, and worried about getting caught up in the negativity, not being able to think about: What do we do?
How can we manage the chaos?
How can we manage our own responses to it, and try to get to do something productive in the meantime?
So we each shared how we approach our obligation to tell the truth—which necessarily involves a lot of “doom and gloom”—with the equally urgent call to hope and resilience.
We do these live episodes once a month, and the best part for us as hosts is interacting with you in real time.
So we devote about half the episode to answering your questions.
We’re curious: How do you resist feeling jaded when there’s so much bad news? How are you cultivating hope and resilience? Let us know in the comments.
A Live Q & A Session with The Convocation Unscripted
Follow on BlueSky:
https://bsky.app/profile/jemartisby.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/kkdumez.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/dianabutlerbass.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/robertpjones.bsky.social
Follow on Substack:
The Convocation- convocation.substack.com
Robert P. Jones- www.whitetoolong.net
Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com
Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com
Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com Stuck in the Cycle of Doom and Gloom?](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KU7vIdyo31Q/mqdefault.jpg)









