Sept. 11, 2025, dawned much as did Sept. 11, 2001, for me. It was a beautiful late summer day here in Utah.
As is our habit, my wife and I had the morning news on TV. Suddenly, images from New York City brought the horror of the attack on the World Trade Center. This time, the news carried word of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. She and I were struck by how moments in history can confront us with the urgency for strong leadership.
Today, as we face a deeply divided culture, ongoing global conflicts and persistent human suffering, the question for leaders is pressing: What kind of leadership does our time require?”
As I reflect, I am drawn to lessons from 9/11, Charlie Kirk’s advocacy of civil dialogue, Elie Wiesel’s warning against indifference and the teachings of
Jesus Christ.
Charlie Kirk and Civil Debate
Charlie Kirk was a strong advocate for free speech. While decidedly conservative, he consistently claimed that honest disagreement is essential, especially in environments where opposing voices feel marginalized. His example should remind us that debate need not lead to destruction — it can sharpen convictions and invite deeper understanding.
Jesus Christ
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared, “Blessed are the peacemakers…” (Matthew 5:9). Yet He also warned: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34).
At first glance, these statements appear contradictory. But together they reveal the paradox of true leadership: Genuine peace cannot be built on avoidance or indifference. It requires truth, justice and reconciliation, often disrupting false peace.
Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel
Wiesel observed: “The opposite of love is not hate; it’s indifference.” Hatred is visible; indifference is subtle but deadly, allowing evil to thrive. Wiesel insisted that leaders must never look away from suffering.
9/11
The memory of 9/11 reminds us that when evil strikes, the best of humanity has always shown up in extraordinary acts of courage, compassion and sacrifice. It also reminds us that vigilance is essential — complacency can have catastrophic consequences.
Taken together, these voices offer a powerful challenge: Leadership in our time must reject indifference and embody courageous peacemaking. This applies across every sphere of influence.
In Business: Leaders must create workplaces where truth and dialogue are valued over silence. Too often, organizations settle for a false peace — avoiding hard conversations to preserve comfort. Real leadership calls for transparency, accountability and integrity.
Peacemaking in business means ensuring employees are seen and heard, rooting out toxic cultures and aligning profit with purpose. Choosing indifference toward people’s well-being may preserve short-term stability, but it undermines long-term trust.
In Communities: Communities fracture when leaders avoid engaging differences — cultural, political or generational. We must be bridge-builders, creating space for honest dialogue, listening across divides, and investing in shared goals.
We also must confront indifference toward the marginalized — the hungry, the homeless, the unseen. Leaders who lean into discomfort can transform conflict into connection.
In the Nation: Our political discourse is marked by polarization, cynicism and hostility. In such an environment, indifference can feel safer than engagement. But silence cedes ground to extremism, including acts of violence, and avoidance allows corruption or injustice to thrive unchecked.
National leaders must model the courage to debate passionately without dehumanizing opponents. Civil discourse is not weakness; it is moral leadership. As Jesus warned, His “sword” divides when truth confronts falsehood — but the goal is reconciliation grounded
in justice.
In the World: Global crises — from hunger to war, from refugee displacement to climate challenges — are often met with a shrug. Yet these issues cannot be dismissed as “someone else’s problem.”
Global leadership requires using influence — whether financial, political or cultural — to advance peace, justice and compassion. Peacemaking sees humanity as one community and rejects policies or practices that perpetuate violence or neglect.
The Courage to Reject Indifference
What unites Jesus’ call, Wiesel’s warning, Charlie Kirk’s martyrdom and the memory of 9/11 is this: Indifference is the enemy of true peace.
• Charlie Kirk stood up for his beliefs while openly inviting others to challenge them.
• Jesus exposed false peace — the kind maintained by silence or compromise — and demanded allegiance to truth, even at the cost of division.
• Wiesel named indifference as the greatest sin because it abandons those who are suffering and empowers injustice.
• 9/11 showed us that when leaders and citizens choose courage over apathy, resilience and unity emerge from tragedy.
For leaders today, the choice is clear: Will we remain indifferent — avoiding hard conversations, looking away from suffering, preserving false harmony — or will we embrace the costly but transformative work of courageous peacemaking?
A Closing Vision: Imagine leaders in every sphere — business, community, nation and world — who refuse indifference and embrace engagement; leaders who confront injustice, feed the hungry, seek reconciliation and practice civil dialogue even in the midst of division. Leaders who embody the paradox Jesus described: disrupting false peace with truth, bringing about lasting peace rooted in justice and love.
This is the leadership our time demands. It is not easy, and it is not comfortable. But it is the only way forward.
Let us rise to this challenge. Let us be leaders who choose engagement over indifference, truth over silence, and peacemaking over complacency. In doing so, we will not only honor the past — we will shape a future worthy of hope.
Richard Tyson is the founder, principal owner and president of CEObuilder, which provides forums for consulting and coaching to executives in small businesses.