By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
Picture, for a moment, a reversal of roles.
Suppose a radical on the right assassinated one of the most visible voices on the left in front of live cameras. Imagine if, after that horror, crowds of conservatives cheered, called for more, and excused the violence as justified. Picture further attacks – one shouting slogans, another storming a newsroom, a sniper targeting a Planned Parenthood clinic – and all of them part of an ongoing pattern.
Would there be any question how the left would react? Their calls for action would be immediate, sweeping, and relentless.
This thought experiment matters because it exposes a double standard. Violence should not be judged by the ideology of the perpetrator.
Violence is violence.
Terror is terror.
No citizen of any party is free to murder or intimidate with impunity. If one side received the full weight of law for such acts, but another side is excused or shielded, justice ceases to be justice. It becomes partisanship with a badge.
That is not how a republic endures. A nation cannot survive if law bends toward political advantage. The rule of law – blind, impartial, unwavering – is the only ground on which free people can stand together. The founders understood this. Scripture affirms it. God’s Word tells us that He “shows no partiality” and that rulers are to be “a terror not to good conduct, but to bad.” Equal justice is not a luxury of order, it is the very command of righteousness.
For Christians, this principle runs deeper still. Every person is made in the image of God. Every life is sacred. To allow political violence to flourish is to deny that truth. To excuse terror based on ideology is to replace God’s justice with man’s prejudice. The law exists to restrain evil, to protect the innocent, and to punish the guilty. When it is wielded selectively, it ceases to be law and becomes a weapon of tyranny.
This is why our moment demands clarity. We must not respond to evil with persecution or vengeance. But neither can we shrug off systematic violence because it happens to serve the interests of a faction.
Government bears the sword not to protect an ideology, but to protect the people. If it fails to use lawful authority against those who commit, fund, or incite violence, then it abdicates its God-given responsibility.
We are called to something higher than partisan retaliation. We are called to insist that the law be enforced equally, without fear or favor. We are called to demand that terrorism – whether it carries a banner of the left or the right – be stopped with every tool the Constitution allows. And we are called to remember that the rule of law itself is a reflection of divine order: justice tempered by mercy, authority guided by righteousness.
A government faithful to these truths does not crush its opponents. It crushes evil. It does not silence dissent. It silences terror.
This is the only way to preserve liberty, the only way to honor God, and the only way to keep this nation from tearing itself apart.
C. J. Garbo is a cybersecurity expert, political strategist, and former law enforcement officer with more than fifteen years of service in public safety. His background spans music, education, and politics, but his driving passion is the defense of constitutional values and the preservation of justice. He writes and speaks often on the need for equal application of the law, drawing on his Christian faith to emphasize that true liberty rests on righteousness, order, and impartial justice.
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.
