Featured Essays Tron The Divine (and Not-So-Divine) Mysteries of Tron A video game world populated by messiahs, angels, gods, and devils. By Robert Repino | Published on October 8, 2025 Credit: Walt Disney Productions Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Walt Disney Productions Some messiahs are dangerous because they spread lies. But others are far more dangerous because they’re telling the truth. In science fiction and fantasy, the “good” messiahs (or chosen ones, prophets, whatever) tend to represent a religion or ideology that is ultimately real, or demonstrably true. That makes sense. After all, few people want to root for a hero who is dedicating their life to a myth. In the real world, however, it’s rarely that simple. Belief, faith, and a sense of hope, meaning, and purpose are rarely, if ever, verifiable. Trusting a messiah can be as terrifying as it would be liberating and exhilarating. Many would argue that this tension is what makes faith worthwhile, and that the lifelong process of interpretation and discovery are more rewarding than the finality of some testable prediction. The Tron franchise—about to launch its third movie, Tron: Ares—has tinkered with these ideas in some surprising, though at times uneven, ways. Steven Lisberger, director of the original Tron (1982), has framed the movie’s allegory in mostly secular terms, saying that the film “can be considered a metaphor for our world,” with all its conflicts and clashing ideologies. Yet the imagery and language in the film comes across as almost deliberately religious, so much so that many viewers have mapped their own theologies onto the story.   Tron takes place in two connected worlds: the real meatspace where humans live, and a computer network, which is depicted as a futuristic neon city populated with programs that appear as individual people. Typically, a program in the digital world resembles the User who created them. As one human character describes it, “our spirit remains in every program we designed.” But a renegade artificial intelligence called the Master Control Program (or MCP, voiced by David Warner) seeks to control the network by severing the connection between the humans and their electronic counterparts. In this new dictatorship, programs are expected to renounce any belief in the Users, which the MCP’s security forces label a superstition punishable with “deresolution” (i.e., execution). But the MCP has other perceived enemies in the outside world. One of them, a hacker named Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), is trying to break into the network to find his successful video game design that the corporation stole from him. Using a sophisticated laser, the MCP zaps Flynn into the network, where he materializes as just another program. There, the MCP forces him to join the others in endless gladiator-style matches that mimic some of Flynn’s video games. The champion of these games is a quiet hero named Tron (Bruce Boxleitner), who looks exactly like his designer. Like most programs, he carries a disc with all his memories that can be used as a projectile weapon, like a flying, circular lightsaber. Tron, we are told, “fights for the Users,” and his power is so great that the MCP presumably lets him live so that, one day, Tron can be coerced into service. Flynn, however, may be even more powerful, for his knowledge of the games, and his ability to manipulate the digital world as if by magic, allow him to directly challenge the authoritarian system. In the climactic battle, Tron and Flynn infiltrate the MCP’s stronghold. To help Tron destroy the MCP, Flynn leaps into the nerve center of the system, corrupting it long enough for Tron to deliver the killing strike. This apparent sacrifice tosses Flynn back into the real world, where he collects his stolen data and takes down the corrupt corporation. Meanwhile, the programs celebrate a newfound freedom as the MCP is “derezzed”. This brief summary ticks many boxes for religious themes across various traditions. Depending on how you frame it, Flynn’s initial journey could be compared to an angel descending from heaven, or a soul finding a new body. Later, Flynn’s sacrifice results in a resurrection and a redemption—or maybe an ascension to some higher plane of existence, having proven himself worthy. Another element is revelation. In one of the most beautiful sequences in the film, Tron communicates with Alan, his User (also played by Boxleitner). To make contact, Tron journeys to an input-output tower, which resembles a holy place, guarded by a wise old program. When Tron asks if he may commune with his User, the old one responds: “All that is visible must grow beyond itself and extend into the realm of the invisible.” That strange introduction, along with the wonderful score by Wendy Carlos, gives the setting a mystical feel. Here, one could interpret Tron as performing some ritual, or a prayer. Instead of kneeling, he lifts his disc and watches as it rises into a glowing light. From there, he receives a message from Alan that shows him how to defeat the MCP. A download becomes a spiritual union with the other side. Many observers have described the MCP as a kind of devil character. Like Lucifer, he is a superior angel who nevertheless turns on the creators who made him so special. Despite his immense power, the MCP’s evolution has changed him in ominous ways. He is rendered as a massive, expressionless face, seemingly sealed in place and issuing orders to his demons from the lowest circle of hell. A more humanist take could frame him not as the devil of Western theology, but as one of many failed godlings from around the world. At the end of the film, as the MCP is dying, the massive face gives way to a miserable old man, who almost seems relieved that the end has come, much like the Authority in the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman. But it is the messiah figure, and his burgeoning cult, that might be the most compelling religious element in the film, though the story leaves a lot to the viewers’ imagination. First, there remains the question of whether Tron or Flynn should be regarded as the story’s chosen one. Tron has the charisma and the following, but Flynn is the one who sacrifices his life to save the world and is later born again. So, co-messiahs then? I’m not sure. That aside, the film implies that Tron’s devotion to the Users has garnered a following. When Flynn first enters the digital world, the MCP’s henchman Sark (also played by Warner) warns the newly captured programs to avoid “this superstitious and hysterical belief” in the Users. Clearly, there are enough believers to alarm the MCP. However, we meet only a couple of those followers. That absence leaves so much to explore, from the adherents’ everyday rituals and customs, to the authority figures and sacred texts, to the possibility that Tron might one day use his power to become a new version of the MCP. Rather than going into detail about any of that, the film settles for a straightforward battle climax similar to the Death Star sequence in Star Wars, and doesn’t touch the question of what might come next, when one system of belief abruptly yields to another. Maybe I’m asking too much. The exploration of religious themes I’m envisioning would bloat the movie with even more exposition. As much as I enjoyed the very late sequel TRON: Legacy (2010), some critics have argued that it gets a little too heavy-handed with its philosophical and spiritual monologues. Moreover, there is a gentler way that the original movie handles some of the biggest questions it poses. Around the midway point of the 1982 film, Flynn reveals to Tron that he’s a User. Instead of falling to his knees, Tron simply asks a few questions. “If you are a User,” he wonders, “then everything you’ve done has been according to a plan, right?” Flynn scoffs at this idea. For him, morality, identity, and destiny come down to this: “You just keep doing what it looks like you’re supposed to be doing, no matter how crazy it seems.” Tron has some trouble accepting this, but he’s so humble and curious that he continues to ponder its meaning. “Stranger and stranger,” he says to himself, smiling. If you have thoughts on this moment, or a different interpretation, please chime in, but I think Tron’s remarkably chill response is in keeping with the fact that his religion, if we can call it that, is demonstrably real. Whenever confronted with some intractable debate about morality or meaning, I’ve often asked: “Wouldn’t it be great if God (or, the gods) could just show up and tell us what to do?” But for Tron, this is no longer a question that torments him, or drives him to some heroic deed. The gods have descended into his world, appeared right in front of him, and have told him—and shown him—the truth, without the need for exegesis, translation of cryptic texts, trust in an inscrutable god, debates about uncaused causes, or rituals to commune with the other side. For Tron, learning that the Users are regular people like him is simply another discovery among many. In the process, he may lose the wonder and mystery of faith, but he also avoids the cognitive dissonance and the soul-crushing silence. Imagine how different this film would be if Tron never got to know for sure that the Users were real, and if he could never truly “extend into the realm of the invisible.” Imagine the long-term consequences for this world, with rival messiahs speaking for the humans on the other side, and skeptics declaring the Users to be dead, or to have never existed at all. Those deep personal conflicts with the unknown and the spiritual are difficult to depict in a tale of adventure, and their outcomes often remain deeply personal, which is why, I suspect, so many stories understandably avoid them. As intrigued as I am by that possibility, I’m grateful that the deities of this world went easy on Tron by revealing themselves. With a god in his ear, and a mission that he has freely chosen to undertake, there is no need for him to experience some existential crisis, nor to demand some ultimate, objective meaning to his quest, as if his creators would owe him such a thing. In this interpretation, the messiah is knocked down a peg, from a divine being to a regular person just doing what it looks like they’re supposed to be doing, with the tools and the information at hand. Hoping to find meaning and purpose, while trying not to get derezzed. When the gods turn out to be less than you’d hoped for, sometimes that’s the best you can do. What are your thoughts? Do you have a different read on the religious elements in Tron? Let me know in the comments…[end-mark] The post The Divine (and Not-So-Divine) Mysteries of <i>Tron</i> appeared first on Reactor.

Israel’s battlefield victories haven’t kept it from losing support among Americans. The New York Times recently released some jaw-dropping poll results on U.S. support for Israel—more accurately, the lack thereof. Forty percent believe Israel is intentionally killing civilians. Just 25% say Israel is taking enough precautions to avoid civilian casualties. There are major splits by political party and age. Fifty-nine percent of Democrats believe Israel is intentionally killing civilians. Among Republicans, it’s 15%. Just 12% of Democrats expressed more support for Israel than Palestinians. This portends that most, if not all, would-be Democratic presidential nominees will vocally oppose Israel. Sixty-eight percent of those with a bachelor’s degree want Israel to end its military efforts before eliminating Hamas. Among those without, it’s 54%. This is evidence of how higher education indoctrinates students in a leftist worldview. It’s worth looking at why support for Israel has fallen. It starts with the Left’s embrace of critical theory, which has infested the American education system. This Marxist worldview divides people into arbitrary groups based on race, sex, sexual orientation, wealth or religion. It deems those who do well as the oppressors and those who are struggling as the oppressed. This is why so many on the Left, especially on college campuses, blamed Israel for the Oct. 7 massacre. They viewed the murder of 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of hundreds more as justified resistance against a supposed oppressor. Then there are the Left’s beliefs about colonialism, which criticize Western countries for settling other lands and expanding their influence. Leftists consider Israel an example of “settler colonialism.” Never mind that Jews first lived in Israel more than 1,500 years before Islam was founded. Notice that this critique isn’t leveled against Muslims, who’ve long spread their religion and political power by bloody conquests. The Left is also largely silent about Muslims currently slaughtering tens of thousands of Christians in Nigeria. The Left only applies this to Western countries. It isn’t about advancing a neutral principle. It’s about making the Western world ashamed of our history and success. Combine this with the propaganda and lack of moral clarity from the press, the Democratic Party and even some on the right. Israel has taken unprecedented measures to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip. That’s necessary because Hamas purposely hides its military infrastructure among the civilian population. It wants Gaza Strip residents to die because it knows Western leftists will blame Israel. Guess how many Iraqi civilians were killed during the Iraq War. In 2023, NBC reported the total was “approximately 200,000.” Yet, the U.S. military never received the blowback Israel does. Civilian casualties are both a tragedy and unavoidable if the enemy uses human shields. If Democrats wanted to save Gaza civilians, they’d attack Hamas for its tactics. The Left frequently accuses Israel of starving Gazans. Yet, there is little outrage over Hamas and other looters stealing the vast majority of U.N. aid. Hamas uses what it plunders to fuel its fighting efforts. Israel is attacked for not distributing aid, but Hamas isn’t attacked for stealing it. Israel quickly signed on to a comprehensive peace plan laid out by President Donald Trump. It’s Hamas that doesn’t want to accept the deal. Unfortunately, the truth doesn’t always win out. As Charlie Kirk laid out in a letter just months before his death, Israel needs to be more aggressive in countering the falsehoods many Americans now believe. Support for Israel, America’s best ally in the Middle East, has long had bipartisan support. More must be done to ensure it stays that way. COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post The Battle Israel Still Needs to Win appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. A Tunisian man sentenced to death over social media posts has been granted a presidential pardon, but the case has already laid bare the intensifying crackdown on dissent. Saber Ben Chouchane, arrested for allegedly insulting President Kais Saied and other state officials online, became a symbol of Tunisia’s ongoing collapse into speech policing, where voicing criticism can now come with a fatal price tag. Ben Chouchane, 51, was sentenced in early 2024 under Decree 54, a sweeping cybercrime law passed in 2022 that criminalizes the spread of “false news” and insults targeting public officials. Authorities accused him of offending the president, the justice minister, and the judiciary in Facebook posts. But the actual content of those posts was never made public. No evidence was presented suggesting that his words posed any threat to public safety or national security. The court’s decision to impose the death penalty shocked observers both inside and outside Tunisia. While executions remain on the books, none have been carried out in over three decades. The punishment marked an unprecedented leap in the use of legal tools to stifle dissent. The sentence drew immediate outrage online, with many voicing disbelief that nonviolent speech could lead to such a punishment. After months of mounting domestic and international pressure, Ben Chouchane withdrew his legal appeal, paving the way for a presidential pardon. Ben Chouchane’s case highlighted just how far this politicization has gone. Decree 54 has become a blunt instrument for targeting anyone who challenges state authority, from journalists and lawyers to ordinary citizens expressing frustration online. Trials increasingly resemble political statements rather than impartial proceedings. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Tunisian Man Pardoned After Death Sentence for Criticizing President Online appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Microsoft is once again tightening its grip on local account setups in Windows 11, eliminating several widely used methods that allowed users to bypass signing in with a Microsoft account during installation. A new update in the Windows Insider Preview program points to a future where setting up a PC without connecting it to Microsoft’s services could become almost impossible. In build 26220.6772, now available through the Dev channel, Microsoft has officially removed a handful of command-line workarounds from the out-of-box experience (OOBE). Microsoft justified the change by saying these methods “inadvertently skip critical setup screens” and could leave a device “not fully configured for use.” However, users who have relied on these workarounds typically still see the full local account creation interface, including options to set a username, password, and some core privacy settings. What gets removed are the additional screens that push Microsoft 365, Xbox Game Pass, and features like Windows Recall, which tracks user activity and behavior. At the time of writing, it’s uncertain whether another commonly used method in Windows 11 Pro still works. This one involves indicating that the machine will be joined to a corporate domain, which has so far allowed the creation of a local account. Microsoft has not confirmed if this path has been closed off as well. Microsoft began enforcing account sign-ins more aggressively with the release of Windows 11 22H2, expanding the requirement to include the Pro edition. Earlier builds, including Windows 10 and Windows 11 21H2, offered more flexibility, especially for users who chose to install without an internet connection. Microsoft’s stance remains consistent. Feedback has not deterred the company from pushing account integration further into the Windows setup process. Its approach assumes that personal-use PCs should be tied to Microsoft accounts by default, regardless of whether the user subscribes to Game Pass, OneDrive, or other services. The pressure is now extending beyond Windows 11. Users of Windows 10 who want to receive Extended Security Updates through October 2026 must sign in with a Microsoft account to enroll. In some countries, Microsoft has gone even further by cutting off these updates entirely if users are not actively signed in. For users who value privacy, prefer offline setups, or want to avoid syncing their devices with a corporate cloud ecosystem, Microsoft is continuing to remove its options. With each update, it becomes harder to install Windows without surrendering some degree of control. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Microsoft Makes It Harder to Set Up Windows 11 Without a Microsoft Account appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Cruella De von der Leyen Oozes Closer to Total Control: All Your Thoughts Are Belong to Us

The gigantic horn is teaching scientists valuable knowledge about this extinct megabeast.

At least one of the ESA orbiters around Mars was able to see the comet.

We at the Media Research Center have long argued that one of the most insidious forms of media bias is bias by omission: the exclusion of stories, or of key items within stories, that run counter to the ongoing media narrative. We cover those omissions as they happen, but they are usually limited to one high-profile story. But last night’s legacy evening news omitted THREE major items. We begin with Virginia Democrat Attorney General candidate Jay Jones, and the media’s ongoing omission of his murderous text messages that have rocked that state's gubernatorial election, which the national media usually look to and cover as a midterm bellwether. Our own Geoff Dickens has tabulated the scant coverage these texts have received and has rightly noted that “If Jay Jones were a Republican, he’d probably be a household name by now.” To date, no major Democrat has broken from Jones over these violent texts, most notably among these Senator Tim Kaine. Neither the texts, nor revelations that Jones was busted for driving 116 miles per hour, nor reports that he reported time spent at his PAC as court-ordered community service, nor his just-revealed alleged pining for police deaths, disqualifying for a Republican, drew any significant media scrutiny. In other news, CIA Director John Ratcliffe declassified and published an explosive report that further clarifies the extent to which then-Vice President Joe Biden engaged in corrupt practices related to his oversight of matters pertaining to Ukraine. Today, I declassified @CIA intelligence regarding Ukraine after determining it is in the public interest. Read the report here: https://t.co/W0W1IjYFef — CIA Director John Ratcliffe (@CIADirector) October 7, 2025 The report, which can be viewed in its entirety here, contains this banger of a paragraph: (REDACTED) After the visit, these officials assessed that the U.S. Vice President had come to Kiev almost exclusively to give a generic public speech, and had not had any intention of discussing substantive matters with (Ukrainian President) Poroshenko or other officials within the Ukrainian government. Following the visit of the U.S. Vice President, (REDACTED) officials within the Poroshenko administration privately mused at the U.S. media scrutiny of the alleged ties of the U.S. Vice President’s family to corruption in Ukraine as evidence of a double-standard within the United States Government towards matters of corruption and political power. What’s that old saying about time being the only difference between conspiracy theories and truth? After years spent spinning the American people that Joe Biden was a devoted public servant, don’t expect the legacies to report that he WAS, in fact, The Big Guy.  Finally: did you know that Mexico was declared a no-go zone for Americans and that the cartels specifically threatened FBI Director Kash Patel? Per Nexstar’s BorderReport: Two banners reportedly left behind by members of the Sinaloa cartel on Sunday in Los Cabos openly threatened the lives of Americans living or visiting Mexican destinations controlled by the cartel. The banners, according to several social media posts and trade sites, were taken down quickly. … The banners are addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel and Terry Cole, administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Written in Spanish, the warnings say: “You will be the ones to blame. We’ll show how we’ll make this war starting 5/10/2025 on all Americans residing in areas where we have a presence … especially those living in San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas.” The banners go on to say, “We are the ones who rule here and we’ll demonstrate what we are capable of if you don’t stop arresting our people and decommissioning our loads and weapons.” This is an important story, given that the threats were directed not just at American officials but American citizens living and vacationing in these particular parts of Mexico- AND that the United States is currently on a war footing with drug cartels.  The legacies couldn’t be bothered with any of these stories- choosing instead to report accident filler, Taylor Swift refusing to perform the Super Bowl halftime show, and LeBron James’ latest “decision”. Honorable mention: Perhaps breaking too late for East Coast evening news, but we’ll see how the legacies report the Sunday arrest of the deranged leftist outside what is known as the Red Mass (a special Mass held in honor of the Supreme Court) with over 200 explosive devices and manifesto targeting Jews, Catholics, ICE, and The Supreme Court. Perhaps they’ll suppress this one, too, until after he pleads Not Guilty by Reason of Gender Transition. A man arrested with 200 explosives outside of a church event for Supreme Court justices on Sunday had a manifesto showing that his anger was directed at the Supreme Court, ICE, Catholics, and Jews, @realdailywire found. Last year, 3 conservative justices were at the special Mass. pic.twitter.com/x29gBfDYX9 — Luke Rosiak (@lukerosiak) October 7, 2025  

On Tuesday, a judge released pending trial the two suspects arrested for ramming and boxing in a vehicle driven by a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agent in Chicago on Saturday, saying they were not a flight risk and could be trusted to appear in court. U.S. Magistrate Judge Heather McShain was the judge who presided over the detention hearing, Judge McShain said, given that both are U.S. citizens and lifelong residents of Chicago with no criminal history, they can be released on bond, pending trial, WGN Chicago reports. Marimar Martinez – reportedly armed with a semi-automatic weapon – and Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz were participating in a protest against federal immigration law enforcement in the city when they allegedly rammed the CBP vehicle and attempted to box it in. According to the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Martinez and Ruiz used their vehicles to strike the vehicle containing three CBP agents Saturday morning near the intersection of West 39th Street and South Kedzie Avenue on Chicago’s Southwest Side. Both suspects fled, but were quickly apprehended, the Justice Department reports. Martinez, who had been shot during the confrontation, was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where she received treatment for her wounds. The complaint charges Martinez, 30, and Ruiz, 21, both of Chicago, with assault on a federal officer using a deadly or dangerous weapon, as well as impeding, and interfering with a federal law enforcement officer.

Charlie Kirk’s alleged murderer came from somewhere. We all do.Since the “In the beginning” times, our species has wrestled with the fundamental logic — and perceived unfairness — of holding parents responsible for the sins of their children. Or the other way around. In the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, the prophet makes this explicit:The person who sins will die. A son will not suffer the punishment for the father’s guilt, nor will a father suffer the punishment for the son’s guilt; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. (Ezekiel 18:20)Yet, we mortals struggle with this idea. It’s a matter of self-preservation. The unifying idea is that we must bear some responsibility for the behavior of our own kids. Our kids are reflections of us because we put our stamp on them. Functional societies have a justifiable fear of the ripple effects of other people’s bad parenting.What this family confronted deserves to be noticed, praised, and modeled.Healthy families are civilization’s frontline schoolhouse of needed humans — producers of good men, women, and citizens. Bad parents can easily replicate themselves and often do. It is a rare and beautiful testament to the enduring nature of the good to see exceptions to the rule.The inverse happens, too. I have met many good parents of bad kids — a bad seed that grows up to be a bad adult. Or a good kid who leaves the home for school, falls in with the wrong crowd, and rejects root and branch the ways of his family.Modern parents know that at some point, we must let our offspring venture into a hard and secular world outside the home threshold, a world that undermines good parenting at every turn. A school system that inverts the established, time-tested ways for purposes of political indoctrination. A culture that has lost any sense of moral and natural limits. An algorithmic media that is set on setting people into warring tribes with desensitized, brutish ways.Good soil, infected fruitCharlie Kirk’s alleged assassin was born and raised in Southwestern Utah — Mormon territory. He was the son of a mother and father who raised their kids in the Mormon way, which produces exemplary fruits that are missionaries to the world. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — its formal name — instills family loyalty, stewardship, tolerance, sobriety, hard work, and sharing. Members tithe. They contribute. They are impressive people.Even Matt Stone and Trey Parker, with their “Dumb, Dumb, Dumb” view of the Mormon religion (which is a cutout for all organized religion), recognized that Mormons have strong families and raise very good kids. The whole “Book of Mormon” craze began with a 2003 “South Park” episode featuring an impressive Mormon high school kid. His ending soliloquy put it best:Look, maybe us Mormons do believe in crazy stories that make absolutely no sense, and maybe Joseph Smith did make it all up. But I have a great life and a great family, and I have the Book of Mormon to thank for that.The truth is, I don’t care if Joseph Smith made it all up, because what the church teaches now is loving your family, being nice, and helping people.I don’t know about you, but I admire the old-school way the accused killer’s father brought his son — his own flesh and blood — to face justice.Would you have done the same?The family saw the fruit of their loins on video surveillance in a national all-points bulletin. The family reached out to their own. Father and grandfather. They talked him into coming home. Once he was home, they convinced him to turn himself in for the crime — and to stanch the dishonor that he had done to his family’s name.Would Luigi Mangione’s wealthy and well-connected Maryland family have done the same if they recognized his distinctive eyebrows? “Come home, son,” followed by, “You must turn yourself in to the authorities and be held accountable.” There’s no evidence they did anything of the kind. If they had, would Luigi have complied? I doubt it.Fathers and mothers of America: Do you think you and yours could do similarly? To ask that question is not to answer it easily.This Utah family has a quiet dignity to it. Their creed was not an assassin’s creed. Their kid is certainly a lost young man. He took a path outside of his family’s way, but his family retained a line of communication and influence over their prodigal son. They lost their son to dark, demonic forces, but appealed to the light remaining in him and brought him home and to justice.What this family confronted deserves to be noticed, praised, and modeled. Our country was given clarity in real time. We very rarely get that. This young man did not come in lawyered up and with his phone locked and encrypted.RELATED: Here's what we know about Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk Photo by Office of the Governor of Utah via Getty ImagesA reeling nation did not have to suffer the indignity of mushroom management, where “We the People” are kept in the legalese dark and fed legalese doggerel.Every family that has successfully raised a good kid to adulthood knows how hard it is in our present educational, cultural, and social media bathhouses.A family in need of prayerA family can hold a line, and a kid can transgress it. Once upon a time, the family had educational and cultural support systems that checked transgression and bolstered parents and kids. Kids heard a shared common and civilized creed in and outside the house. That cord has been cut for a while, and our families and nation are suffering at scale because of it.This family summoned their prodigal son home. While we rightfully think of their son as a moral monster, they still had a familial claim and power over him. And with it, they brought him home and then to justice.This family gave another grieving family and a nation the closure it needed. We owe them our thanks and compassion for displaying moral courage when it counted. The sins of their son are not theirs. They ought to be seen by the nation as neighbors in good standing. They need and deserve our parental prayers.Under present grooming circumstances, there but for the grace of God go all of us.Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.