It is said that without darkness there can be no light. This theme runs through scripture, assuring that believers that no matter how dark the world appears, the light of God and Christ are indestructible. John’s gospel tells us, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Charlie Kirk’s murder is a light which reveals a terrible darkness in the world.
People are murdered every day, but his death has rocked the world. At least, it has rocked the right people.
Abhorrently, some almost seem to take glee in it. Perhaps they are only a small and foul minority, amplified by algorithms, bouncing around bubbles and revelling for the shortest of times in their despicable moments of fame. But it is revealing nonetheless. Like lifting a stone and finding the creepy crawlies, the internet exposes the worst of humanity along with the best.
The internet introduced me, and probably you, to Charlie Kirk’s courage and persuasive rhetoric. The internet also exposes too many nasties to mention, alongside supposedly ‘progressive’ voices who think that someone who believed in the right to own a gun deserved to be murdered with one.
Charlie Kirk was the founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative youth organisation. He was known for his speeches, his podcasts and his determination to equip young people with the courage to challenge prevailing orthodoxies.
He was shot dead on stage, in front of an audience, wearing a T-shirt with the word Freedom emblazoned across it. It wasn’t only Charlie who was assaulted, but a movement of people in the US and beyond who believe in freedom — freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion. It was an assault on the First Amendment itself.
Turning Point USA’s statement read: “May he be received into the merciful arms of our loving Saviour, who suffered and died for Charlie.”
And his own death carries the aura of martyrdom. It is almost unbearable irony. The man who wanted to encourage debate, critical thinking, courage and freedom was killed in an act of cowardly violence.
Some events have a stand-out quality, a can-this-really-be-true feeling, almost as though they were written into the story of our age. Kirk’s death is one of them. It already feels symbolic. Significant.
Will this ghastly murder be a turning point for politics, culture and society? Will it hold a mirror up to leftwing commentators who so freely demonise their political opposites? The language of violence is now common parlance among those who call themselves progressive. Will they stop?
When George Floyd died, politicians, sports stars, celebrities and police officers took the knee. Will the same people take the knee for Charlie Kirk? Or is that a one way ritual?
It does not matter what you believe, or at least it should not. We must not turn to violence against those who disagree with us. Whether you liked Charlie Kirk or not, whether you agreed with him or not, he was robbed of his life. He has left behind a grieving family. It is unjust, cruel and very, very low.
In response to the murder, I feel a deepening of faith and resolve. Always speak the truth. Always stand your ground. Know what you stand for (or you will fall for anything). Take heart. Do not walk in fear.
As Charlie himself said, “If you believe in something, you need to have the courage to fight for those ideas — not run away from them or try and silence them.”
Perhaps that is the light we can take from this darkness. To carry the flame of courage, truth and faith into a world that too often rewards cowardice, violence and lies. This must be a turning point.
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Did the killing of JFK or Martin Luther King change politics for the better? Will this latest murder make any difference? If you take a spiritual viewpoint then Charlie was always destined to die in this way - he chose his path through the soul contract he made with his guides and teachers before he incarnated and his purpose is now complete in this Earthly realm. However horrific the end to your physical incarnation, your soul cannot die, it moves on. His legacy will live on and may even be strengthened by this event. The 'left' is increasingly being exposed as the true Facists they proclaim others to be. Perhaps this will prove to be significant in halting the tyrrany being delivered by their hatred. The "Great Reset" may turn out to be something entirely different from that envisaged by the 'progressives'. Resorting to violence is usually a sign that the argument has been lost.
It does feel different, a shift in the air, maybe, some unspoken line crossed.
Charlie Kirk was doing was democracy demanded of him - he was going to places where his political opponents congregated and engaged in debate.
To be murdered ostensibly for saying things that someone doesn't agree with at a debate on a university campus... This a damning thing indeed for the yesteryear bastions of freedom of expression - universities. I understand why university students are so radicalised today, but this might just be the last nail in the coffin for society's wider acceptance of higher education as something worth pursuing.
I myself started to think, well, I might have 5 generations of university graduates in my family, but I would love for my child to go into a trade, and I will be damn proud if it happens.