A cautionary tale of division and hope for our Republic

Republic Day is a time when we celebrate the dignity of self-governance and the right of a people to shape their future. It’s also a day to pause and reflect on what holds a Republic together—shared values, respect across difference, and the courage to live peacefully as neighbours.

In moments like these, we are reminded that the heartbeat of a nation is not only in its laws and constitutions, but in the daily choices of its citizens to live with one another in peace.

Around the world, we have seen what happens when voices become so polarising that dialogue breaks down and violence becomes the response. The September 10 assassination of Turning Point USA founder and conservative activist Charlie Kirk—a Christian who boldly proclaimed his convictions—stands as a chilling reminder of this.

Kirk was admired by many for standing up for Christian principles, yet he was also deeply divisive. He confronted cultural battles head-on, unafraid of controversy, and in doing so he inspired both loyalty and hostility.

For his supporters, he was a beacon of courage in a world that seemed to be pushing Christianity aside. For his critics, he was unyielding and provocative, a voice that stoked division rather than healing.

His tragic death did not come out of nowhere. It grew out of an atmosphere of heated rhetoric, where ideological opponents ceased to see each other as fellow human beings.

It is a cautionary tale for every nation, including ours here in Trinidad and Tobago.

We are not immune. In our own land, we are seeing danger signs that should not be ignored. Guns seem more available than ever. Violence is too often the first language in conflict resolution. Communities grieve as shootings scar families and neighbourhoods. Parents bury their sons who should have had long lives ahead of them.

If our laws around firearms loosen further, or if illegal guns continue to flow unchecked through our borders, the spiral of anger and retribution will only deepen.

General Manager of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice, Fr Stephan Alexander, in his column last Sunday, warned of the slippery slope. Republics are not destroyed only by external wars—they are slowly eroded from within when violence becomes normalised and when fellow citizens stop seeing one another as neighbours.

This is not a distant threat. It is already visible in the fear that keeps people indoors at night, in the rising anxiety of parents sending their children to school, and in the quiet despair of communities where gunfire has become routine.

And yet, Trinidad and Tobago still holds a precious blessing: the space of neighbourliness. In this small country, a mosque, a temple, and a church can stand side by side.

Worshippers can greet each other at the market, buy doubles from the same vendor, or watch their children play together in the schoolyard. That is no small gift. It is a living witness that we do not need to fear or hate one another.

In many parts of the world, religion has become the spark for violence, dividing communities and leaving trails of bitterness for generations. Here, though tensions may exist, our reality is still one where faith traditions coexist, often literally as neighbours. This is a treasure we must guard carefully.

Kirk’s story warns us of what happens when a society allows its divisions to fester unchecked. But our story in Trinidad and Tobago can be different.

We can choose to disarm anger before it becomes violence.

We can defend laws that protect life rather than cheapen it.

We can insist on dialogue, on listening, and on seeing one another as fellow citizens first, before race, religion, or politics.

Republic Day must remind us that our strength is not in polarisation or in the barrel of a gun, but in the simple, sacred truth that we are meant to live side by side in peace.

If we nurture that truth—in our homes, schools, worship spaces and in our Parliament—then this Republic will not only endure, but flourish.

The viability of our Republic beats in all of us.