About a week ago, my family and I watched Bonhoeffer on Angel. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s a kid-friendly account of WWII from inside Germany. One thing that struck me was how Deitrich Bonhoeffer and his family were stunned by Hitler’s rise to power, and the wave of anti-Jewish hatred that spiritually consumed their nation. It was not something they expected.
Previously, they’d written off Hitler as fringe, a vocal minority, and a problem to be ignored until it disappeared on its own.
Americans in 2025 are not more intelligent than the Germans were in 1925. We are not more evolved. We are not more educated. We are not morally superior.
We would be naive to think that someone like Hitler could never take power in America. And I’m not only talking about political power. We live in the age of social media, where dangerous people can influence the minds of millions from a webcam.
We would be wise to study and learn from the German’s mistakes.
Over the past few months it’s become increasingly clear that Charlie Kirk was the North Star of moral clarity and rationality for many conservative influencers. Without him, people like Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson have devolved into ravings about antisemitic conspiracy theories, chemtrails, dream interpretation, and bizarre stories about being physically attacked by demons. It’s as if Kirk were a dam holding back a flood of paranoia, or a tether keeping them dubiously linked to rationality.
Since his murder, Owens and Carlson have increasingly platformed men like Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes. I am not talking about investigative journalism in which tough questions are asked and lies are contradicted. I’m talking about PR-stunts portraying Tate and Fuentes in a rosy light, spinning them as misunderstood victims of prejudice, and growing their audiences.
Tate has openly bragged about pimping and abusing women. He is under investigation in several countries for rape and human trafficking. Fuentes openly praises Hitler and Stalin and refers to women as “whores” who he claims want to get beaten and raped.
Unfortunately, many on the Left have affected the proverbial boy-who-cried-wolf phenomenon. By calling everyone they disagree with Nazis and fascists, they’ve made it nearly impossible to call out actual Nazis.
As a result, when one points out that Fuentes refers to himself as, “Team Hitler,” and jokes about Jews burning to death in ovens, one’s warnings fall on deaf ears. Even more concerning than deaf ears are those who actively discourage any opposition.
After Kirk’s murder, Matt Walsh posted, “I will unite with anyone on the Right. I hereby discard any grudge or personal feud I may have had with anyone on my side. Maybe we will pick up those arguments sometime in the future. Now we have to stand together.”
Having received significant pushback, Walsh posted again, “Everything that’s happened over the past two months has signaled to the left that assassinations work. Take out one of our leaders and we’ll start eating each other. That’s the message we’ve conveyed, loud and clear. And it puts us in serious danger. They aren’t going to stop now. Someone else will get taken out in the not too distant future.”
Jack Posobiec agreed, replying, “Every day the right spends in-fighting … only reinforces to the left that they should commit more assassinations.”
Megyn Kelly stated, “If you need me to condemn Candace or Tucker for their opinions in order to listen to me, then I may not be for you. He’s a close friend … My fight is with the left, not these two.”
They all share this common idea that in order to defeat the Left, conservatives must join forces with people like Carlson, Owens, Fuentes, and Tate. Conservatives who refuse to do so are accused of causing division.
Posobiec wrote, “I’m glad the masks have fallen from those who would rather … [be] consumed with in-fighting than defeat our common enemies. We now have clarity on who they are. Thank you!”
But sometimes the enemy of your enemy is also your enemy. We do not need to unite with antisemites, conspiracy theorists, and alleged human traffickers in order to win elections. In fact, doing so will almost certainly cost the Right elections, if not lives.
Far-Left terrorists, like Tyler Robinson, falsely call conservatives Nazis and fascists to justify their hatred and violence. How could vocally opposing Naziism and fascism do anything but make their delusions harder to cling to, and harder to sell? One must not cower in fear, refusing to speak truth, just because a homicidal furry might get triggered.
Last week, Joel Berry lamented, “Candace and Tucker have given our side nothing but demoralization, division, confusion, and conflict. Their impact on the Right has been devastating.”
Owens retorted, “Very important for you to know that I am not nor have I ever been on your side.”
There is no in-fighting on the Right if Owens and Carlson aren’t actually on the Right.
My mind drifts back to pre-Nazi Germany, 100 years ago. Is this what it was like in 1925? When Germans warned against the rise of Hitler, were they accused of in-fighting and causing division? Were their concerns dismissed as ridiculous or irrelevant?
Most conservatives are not upset because Nick Fuentes is a Nazi. They’re upset because men like Matt Walsh no longer seem to mind.
It is apparently too difficult for Megyn Kelly to simply say, “Yes, it is wrong for Candace Owens to claim that Jews murdered Charlie Kirk. It is wrong for her to implicate his friends, including Erika Kirk, in his murder.”
Stating that, “Tucker Carlson should not have allowed Fuentes to praise Stalin on his podcast,” is too frightening a prospect for men who once seemed courageous. They would rather unite with antisemites than oppose them, as Kirk would have.
They chide those with moral courage rather than risk offending their friends. They shame those speaking the truth rather than admit a truth they find unpleasant. They sacrifice the safety of Jews in exchange for power and influence.
When friendships matter more than morality, business connections more than truth, and podcasts more than faith, we are not worshippers of God but worshippers of people and money: We are not friends, we are enablers. We are not journalists, but propagandists. We are not conservatives, we are fools. We are not Christians; we are cowards.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
Let us pray that more on the Right take his words to heart.
Jennifer Michelle Greenberg has risen to become one of the foremost voices against child abuse in the church. She writes for Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, and the Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention.
Jennifer also develops resources for Christian leaders and counselors to help them identify abusers, respond responsibly to crisis situations, and minister to abuse victims and survivors in a wise and loving manner.
Besides her theological and ministerial work, Jennifer enjoys writing adult fantasy and science fiction novels, singing, and composing music. She and her husband, Jason, live in Texas with their three young children.
