The Assassination of Charlie Kirk and What Comes Next

The murder of conservative thinker and icon, Charlie Kirk, has sent shockwaves through the United States on a scale unlike anything we have witnessed in recent times. Many of the countless expressions of love and admiration for Charlie on social media over the past few days have been posted by enthusiastic followers of the young influencer; others, I believe, came from Americans who may not have known a lot about Charlie Kirk, but intuitively recognized that this tragic event signaled a stark change in the way citizens with opposing views respond to one another. That even the political skirmishes that routinely play out on social media each day, and the endless stream of barbs traded by political commentators and candidates, pale in comparison to what recently happened on a university campus in Utah. In their hearts, they realized that their country, which has historically been a model for liberty and the peaceful exchange of ideas, has descended into the abyss of political violence. A dark place where an American who is offended by someone else’s political opinions picks up a rifle instead of a pen.

As the initial shock of the horrific event itself started to wear off, I began to feel a profound sense of dread as I witnessed a multitude of “normal” Americans celebrating the fact that they will never have to hear the victim’s ideas again. That they will be able to continue living their cynical, self-focused lives without the inconvenience of knowing that Charlie Kirk is somewhere peacefully presenting his constitutionally protected views. The callous inhumanity of the comments and memes that these people have posted calls to mind the spirit of evil that inspired the bloodlust of the French Revolution and filled Stalin’s gulags with anyone who disagreed with communism’s state-engineered notions of right and wrong. 

Although the civil authorities have repeatedly said they believe the shooter acted alone, that is not entirely true. Each person who has ever encouraged or applauded political violence in the past bears part of the responsibility for the Frankenstein monsters they helped create. Thankfully, I believe the childish and disgusting end-zone celebrations will be short-lived.

While Charlie Kirk was unique in that he had an encyclopedic knowledge, a rare gift for explaining difficult concepts in real time, and a love of God and country that was strong enough to carry him into the lion’s dens of today’s universities, there are legions of others who are smart, young, effective, and suddenly very motivated. 

I predict that the cowardly and despicable murder of Charlie Kirk will be the spark that catalyzes a new generation of conservative young people to rise up and carry Charlie’s torch boldly into the looming darkness that the hard left believes will engulf us and obscure the biblical truths that are their greatest fear. Today’s Peter Pans, who refuse to grow up and entertain others’ opinions, will soon see that ignoring truth or attacking its messengers doesn’t make it go away. They will learn that cowards who produce streams of sarcasm, ridicule and juvenile memes from the comfort and safety of their homes can never prevail over the efforts of real men and women of good faith who courageously go into the world and personally engage with other actual human beings.

When the leaders of the Roman Empire attempted to stamp out Christianity by murdering anyone who followed Jesus, they learned that people who are motivated by the love of their neighbors and a passion to see them gain salvation are harder to deter than they had expected. The more martyrs they created, the faster the young church spread. 

An evil person inspired by a corrupt, fallen culture has ended Charlie Kirk’s physical life, but his spirit is still very much alive, at peace, and currently experiencing the eternal presence of the living God. The gospel message that made this possible for Charlie is the same one he desperately wanted to share with every single human, and there are many more like him who will now carry forward God’s banner of truth with a fresh passion and an inspired sense of urgency.

The early church father, Tertullian famously wrote, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” This was true in ancient Rome and it is true today.