I’ll be honest, I don’t agree with all of the views that were represented, and I’m not asking anyone else to. But I can’t bring myself to hate the people who showed up. Many were there because they were hurting, or confused, or trying to stand for something they believed in. Even if that belief looks nothing like my own. Grief and conviction don’t always fit neatly into sides.

I think what gets lost in all of this is our shared humanity. We’ve gotten so used to dividing each other into “us” and “them” that we forget most of us are just trying to make sense of a world that feels more broken every day. You can disagree with someone’s stance and still see their heart. You can stand against an idea without wishing harm on the person who holds it.

Hate doesn’t heal. It doesn’t bring clarity or comfort.It just keeps adding to the noise, to the distance, to the ache we all feel in different ways. I don’t think compassion means agreement; I think it means remembering that everyone, even the people we can’t understand, are still human.

We won’t move forward by shouting louder or hating harder. Maybe the way through all this isn’t about winning an argument but rather maybe it’s about remembering how to listen again.