On September 10th, a week from now, Charles James Kirk was assassinated while in the middle of debating a young man on mass shooter violence. How coincidental the moments would play out.
In a blatant act of violence, a man’s life was cut short in such a repulsing and gruesome way.
To be quite honest with you, I knew Kirk was the head of Turning Point USA, and frequented Flashpoint with Gene Bailey. I knew that he was conservative, probably a Christian, and had a wife and kids. When you look like that, wearing suits and hanging out with the president, and when you’re talking politics, of course, there’s always a wife and kids. We as Americans love starting families.
But one thing I didn’t know, was what Kirk actually stood for. I knew he was influential and liked to debate. I knew he was ok with disagreements and often visited college and high school campuses. I didn’t always like this, still don’t, because I am not someone who handles disagreements and resulting conflicts directly. But what I didn’t know, was that he was three years older than me, he loved America and dropped out of college at 18 to start Turning Point USA, after witnessing what actually goes on during the college classes and how damaging it is to not only Christian students with a biblical worldview, but to ny student who is hoping to put their entire life–and nothing else–in the U.S. education system right now.
The days after Kirk’s murder, I read article after article that my phone sent me, knowing I would be interested in them after September 10th. I read one article that immediately rubbed me the wrong way, because it seemed to lack any emotion besides political vengeance.
When talking about Kirk, I read article after article centered on how he was a “bigot” who “was a homophobe and Islamophobe” who should be remembered as a man who “was divisive”. This is interesting to me, because yes, Kirk was very opinionated and educated. He resembled the likes of Candace Owens, a woman who knew what she believed and stood behind it and wasn’t afraid to voice her harsh opinions at times. He was not afraid to speak his mind, no matter how much trouble this seemed to cause in his peer groups and the general public. However, this is the very fearlessness that resulted in his untimely death. And these writers of the article miss the point—for a moment, put down the Republican and Democrat labels. Look at him as a human, a man who had something he believed in and ultimately died for–a man who was not afraid to welcome opposition. He was an anomaly, at only 31, being so willing to go into colleges where free thinking is often constricted and limited, and attempted to establish open mindedness and a pathway to new way of thinking. Hunter, the last person who spoke to Kirk before he was fatally shot, confirms this in a wonderfully unbiased interview by Andrew Callaghan. I highly encourage you to give this a listen.
Despite Hunter disagreeing with a lot of (if not all) things Kirk voiced, he had a hard time understanding the logic and thought processes behind those on social media sharing their celebrations and congratulations on his heinous murder. It was despicable, insensitive and heartbreaking to see those things, and I didn’t even go deep into the depths of TikTok, Instagram and Twitter. I just saw things reported in articles.
Kirk’s methods may have been brash at times, but he had the right intentions and heart. He was going into a world where Christians and any biblical worldview is not accepted at all and dissenting opinions are not welcome (I’m talking about college, but this can be applied to the world right now.)
Mainstream media is not covering his assassination with the fairness and impartiality it deserves. This is because they are unable to. Mainstream media is unable to loosen their grip on the political lenses they see the world through. And they don’t see a problem with it, either. It’s almost like they are conditioned to see either support the left or scrutinize the far right. There is an issue with this.
Kirk was a father to two young children, a husband, a son, a friend, a employer. Outside of his beliefs, appearance and associates, he was a person. A young person, at that. Still growing, learning and becoming.
I am not saying we shouldn’t discuss his legacy and even his controversial opinions. But I am saying we need to see the man for what he hoped to represent: restoring the beauty of America and the beauty of the youth of America. A man who loved the youth of America enough to utter the truth to them, even if this hurt their feelings a lot. That is the thing about truth. It is an acquired taste; you must seek it no matter how you feel about it. It will hurt more than it will feel good. The bible says this as well.
But in America, we are in an era where simple disagreement is not only unwelcomed, but deadly.
At the end of the day, Kirk was killed for one thing: differing opinions. And he was killed by a person who could not handle someone not having other opinions beside his, in a selfish attempt full of hatred.
Kirk’s murder wasn’t just about left and right. This is a spiritual battle between God and Satan, and Satan knows he is on his last leg. This is the truth. This explains the reason why there is so much more violence, hostility toward truth and sound judgement, and anything biblical. The end of the world as we know it is near, and we are not in a good place. But the good news is that God wins in the end, and the bible says that those who died in Christ will be raised again; all martyrs who died for God and Jesus Christ will not be gone forever. As you can see, Kirk’s movement is growing rapidly and it will continue to grow as more people realize the truth: that Kirk’s movement has and will continue to survive him. That is what America is about. People who are different in all ways coming together and creating a better place with God. And that is who Charlie Kirk is.
I write this not out of sensationalism, as many of the mainstream media writers have done, but as a person who wants to spread truth.
Shanedra Writes Too Much 