A recent survey reveals nearly half of American college students believe “words can be violence.”
After Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression commissioned a survey that found 48% of students either “completely” or “mostly” agree with the statement “words can be violence.” The survey also found 29% agreed that “silence is violence.”
As John Stonestreet at the Colson Center often says, “ideas have consequences and bad ideas have victims.” That is what makes these survey findings so deeply troubling.
It’s one thing to say, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer is often quoted, that “silence in the face of evil is itself evil.” It’s another thing to say that “silence is violence.”
And how is there supposed to be civil discourse if “words can be violence“? If young adults view disagreement as violence, it shuts down legitimate speech and — as we have seen — it can lead to actual violence.
These are serious problems, but it’s worth pausing to remember that the news isn’t all bad when it comes to young adults.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that right now young adults seem particularly interested in scripture. Those findings track with a study Barna released in September showing young adults “are driving a resurgence in church attendance.”
According to Barna, Millenial and Gen Z churchgoers attend services approximately twice a month, on average, and teens are “very motivated to learn about Jesus.“ This year, experts have also tracked a “quiet revival” happening among young adults in the U.K.
Gen Z and Millennials generally do not support abortion on demand. And fewer young people are identifying as transgender.
All of that is good news. Still it’s troubling that so many young adults would agree that words can be violence. It’s a “bad idea” with serious consequences.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
