This week, we mourned the loss of Lindsey Graham, who had represented his state of South Carolina in the House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 and in the Senate from 2003 until he unexpectedly passed away at the age of 71 after a “brief and sudden illness.”

And by “we,” I obviously mean anyone with the smallest shred of dignity or honor or respect for their fellow American citizens.

“Good riddance,” wrote Ana Kasparian, as did white supremacist and part-time hobbit Nick Fuentes. Not to be outdone, Cenk Uyghur responded by saying that Graham had “moved on to the next step on his journey, trying to convince Hades to attack Zeus and Poseidon.”

Then there were other equally intellectual knuckle draggers who chimed in. “Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham wrote “Lindsey Graham is dead. Have a great Sunday!” In a now-deleted post, author Seth Harp wrote, “I was going to go piss on Lindsey Graham’s grave, but when I got out of the army, I vowed that I would never wait in line for anything ever again.” And a professor of political science at St. Bonaventure University quickly apologized for posting “Rest in Hell.”

Similar sentiments were offered in recent days by America’s increasingly foreign cousin, the United Kingdom, after the murder of conservative political figure Ann Widdecombe.

Make no mistake: Any society that celebrates the death of its fellow citizens based on political disagreement is a society that is doomed, not just because it negates the fundamental respect of the individual that forms the West’s foundation, but because the political celebration of death will guarantee the continuation of political violence.

After all, consider those who celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk, or the CEO of UnitedHealthcare on the streets of New York City or those who were disappointed that the multiple attempts on Donald Trump’s life were unsuccessful.

By all means, feel free to disagree with — or even despise — Graham’s views on foreign policy, or indeed the policy of any political figure. Want to dedicate every waking moment to criticizing every single thing your political enemies say or do? Go for it. That’s part of what it means to live in a free society.

But a free society cannot embrace violence and death, and a free society cannot remain free if this freedom extends to allowing political disagreement with our fellow citizens — no matter how heated — to stray into violence, whether implicit (celebrating death) or explicit (celebrating murder).

Something has to change, because right now, our country feels broken. Yes, the vast majority of Americans remain moral, decent and honest people who would never dream of celebrating violence against even their greatest political adversary. But civilizations don’t require a majority to fall. When the stakes are so high — when so much damage can be done not by armies but individuals — we cannot rest from our uncompromising defense of the right to disagree and disagree safely.

And yes, that means respecting and remembering Lindsey Graham, first and foremost, as an American patriot who dedicated his life to public service.

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