Yesterday, Charlie Kirk was assassinated in cold blood. He was murdered in front of television cameras on a college campus for daring to publicly articulate his conservative Christian worldview. The people in this world who oppose the views and opinions of Charlie Kirk have no idea what they have just done.
As Chuck Schumer famously warned Supreme Court justices for overturning Roe v. Wade, I’m afraid radical liberals have released the whirlwind and are about to pay the price. What these liberals don’t understand is that Charlie represented the very best of conservatism and Christianity. Charlie would enter the arena of ideas to mud wrestle with his critics. He demanded his followers show respect to the alternative point of view and listened carefully to what his critics had to say.
Charlie was the classically trained boxer who strictly followed the Marquis de Queensbury rules of the sport who always gave his opponents a fair fight. Many of his followers are more like bare-knuckle brawlers and I predict millions of them are now suddenly spoiling for a beatdown. The temptation to respond to violence with more violence from the right may grow, and that would sadly be detrimental to Charlie’s memory and legacy.
The only legitimate response to callous murder is justice, not vigilantism. If a Christian or conservative mob were to form to seek vengeance for this murder, all of Charlie’s heroic efforts will have been in vain. I have zero doubts that Charlie Kirk is in heaven even as I type these words. Recently I commented on my Facebook page for The God Conclusion that Charlie was a better Christian than I am and knew his Bible far better than I know mine. Charlie was less than half my age, and yet I looked at him as a role model.
There is a right way and a wrong way to move forward while learning from his sacrifice. Charlie leaves behind a wife and two very young children who deserve his legacy to remain unblemished by the brash actions from those who loved him and may wish to violently retaliate against the left in response. A true Christian will never strike the first blow. A true Christian will always try to turn the other cheek. I confess it is difficult to view the “other side” with anything less than utter contempt at the moment. The comments on X celebrating this horrific assassination have been appalling, to say the least. And when both cheeks are still damp from tears provoked by Charlie’s senseless murder, it’s okay to cry out to God and ask Him to give us justice in this world by allowing for the capture of the killer, and a fair trial.
When that day comes, some of Charlie’s followers will want the death penalty to be applied: an eye for an eye, Old Testament style. Personally, I would prefer the killer to be locked in a cell with a sentence of life without parole, and the cell walls to be covered with images from Charlie’s life, with his wife and children prominently displayed so the killer would be constantly reminded of the life he’d stolen. That way, one day the killer ultimately might repent and seek forgiveness. Perhaps the killer could even join Charlie in heaven, but only after the killer suffers from enormous guilt for the rest of his long, miserable lifetime. I believe it is safe to say the last thing Charlie Kirk would want is for one of his followers to murder his killer.
As a Christian, Charlie would seek justice, not revenge. When asked in an interview how he would like to be remembered were he to die prematurely young, Charlie poignantly said, “I want to be remembered for courage for my faith. That that would be the most important thing. The most important thing is my faith in my life.”
Rest in peace, Charlie Kirk. Normally, I would be praying for your soul to find peace, but I’m convinced your salvation is more certain than mine. I’m still depending on the promise found in Romans 10:9.
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