By: Rachel Morales, Executive Director Right to Life
I recently came across a video where Kristin Hawkins of Students for Life was tabling with students at George Washington University, asking, “How many cities burned after Charlie Kirk was assassinated? How many violent things happened?” A student responded by saying, “Black students were lynched on campus… There were people hung from trees on campuses.”
When Mrs. Hawkins asked her for more details about where this had happened and why it hadn’t received mass media coverage, the student began scrambling to her phone to Google this news for a potential mic-drop moment. After a few minutes of scrolling, she slowly lowered her phone and finally allowed Mrs. Hawkins to talk about the value of life we should all share.
The part of this interaction that bothered me the most was the fact that the student was never able to find any evidence to prove her outrageous claim. Instead of admitting she was wrong and that what she had said was inaccurate, she just allowed herself to fade into the background, letting her comments hang in the air, ready to possibly ensnare another uninformed person.
Our culture needs to bring back the idea and practice of humility.
Part of the recent downfall of our culture is a pride problem, coupled with a lack of consequences. For so long now, people have felt like they can say whatever they want and nothing will happen to them. It doesn’t matter that their claim is completely baseless: whether it’s “Charlie Kirk is racist and sexist” or “A fetus is just a clump of cells.” It doesn’t matter that their claim has already been repeatedly proven false, like the claim that “Donald Trump called white supremacists ‘very fine people.’” As long as people feel like they’re only talking into a little rectangle in their hand—and that nothing is going to happen to them for saying these things—we will not see a change in our culture.
Two things need to happen again:
#1. We need to bring back consequences.
Free speech is free, but it’s not free of consequences. If you say something and it’s wrong, you need to be called out on it.
#2. We need to bring back humility.
We need to bring back the practice of publicly admitting when we are wrong—whether that’s because we’ve learned something new, entered a new season of life and see things differently, or have been proven wrong by another person. Admitting you’re wrong shouldn’t be seen as a weakness but as a strength. Taking accountability—and having the self-awareness and maturity to recognize and admit when you’re wrong—is a quality of higher thinking.
When we lose our grip on truth and humility, we open the door to chaos, division, and a culture that values being loud over being right. If we want to rebuild a society where civil discourse is possible—where ideas can be debated without distortion—we must reestablish the value of truth, the expectation of accountability, and the courage it takes to say, “I was wrong.”
It starts with us. Whether we’re engaging in conversations online, at work, or around the dinner table, we must choose to speak truthfully, listen openly, and admit when we’ve missed the mark. That’s not weakness, it’s wisdom. That’s not defeat, it’s maturity. When we can no longer speak honestly about facts—whether scientific, historical, or moral—we lose our ability to advocate for the most vulnerable among us. The unborn depend on a culture that values truth over slogans, and human dignity over convenience.
Let’s be people who raise the bar for public discourse on any topic. Let’s model what it looks like to hold strong convictions and yet remain teachable. And above all, let’s create a culture where truth has the final word—not pride.