By MIKE WILEY
Publisher’s Perspective
The murder of Charlie Kirk hit tens millions of Americans like the death of a family member. The trauma of his death will remain in the psyche of millions of Americans for a long time.
Charlie was beloved because Charlie was good. He was a young man of virtue and promise. He loved his enemies and debated them without anger or rancor. He treated those who disagreed with respect and courtesy. You could feel that he wanted the best for them, even when they disagreed with him or even when they verbally attacked him.
Charlie Kirk’s character made him the friend and counselor of presidents, potential presidents, senators, and governors.
Charlie was the kind of young man that people hoped their sons would be and their daughters would marry. And, if your son wasn’t yet a Charlie Kirk, Kirk was the kind of influencer you hoped your sons were listening to.
The reaction to Kirk’s murder helps illustrate fundamental differences between the right and the left. In the wake of George Floyd’s death in 2020, leftists burned down American cities. After Kirk’s murder, Charlie’s supporters burned candles at peaceful vigils in his memory. What a contrast.
Facing the intolerance of the left
But Charlie Kirk was not killed in a vacuum. The left could not defeat the logical power of Kirk’s ideas, so they tried to shout him down, drown out his voice, cancel him. Charlie Kirk was killed after years of being name-called, demonized and de-humanized. One of the bullets of the alleged assassin had “catch, fascist” written on it. The harsh reality is that today’s left is no longer your father’s liberals. They are far more radical and far more intolerant.
Charlie Kirk pointed this out himself. Kirk said, “There’s a difference between liberals and leftists. A liberal is someone I will disagree with and we’ll have a wonderful time. We’ll go out to dinner and we’ll consider each other friends… A liberal will agree to disagree. A liberal will say, ‘I might not agree with you on this, but I still treat you with respect…’ A leftist will try to shut you up before you even open your mouth. A leftist is rooted in intolerance.”
Conservatives are happy to debate
It’s conservatives who say, “Let’s have a respectful, robust debate on the issues.” Conservatives are happy to have debates on controversial issues like DEI, ESG, vaccines, gender issues, on biological men in women’s sports, on crime, on climate change, on welfare spending, on the national debt, and many others.
Yet, for too many on the liberal/left today, it seems that the leftist position is simply not subject for debate — it must be blindly accepted. If you don’t, to many on the left you’re not simply a fellow American with a different opinion, you’re a “Hitler,” a “fascist,” intolerant, a bigot, not worthy of dialogue or respect.
Since the murder of Charlie Kirk, it seems that the intolerance of anyone who dissents from leftist orthodoxy seems to have grown even louder, more shrill, more hysterical. Some liberal websites have cherry-picked some of Charlie’s quotes, out of context, in a seeming attempt to paint him as an extremist. So sad.
The reality of the spiritual battle
I believe that there is a hidden spiritual realm where the forces of good and evil are at war, seeking to influence human beings either to good and right, or to tempt them to give in to their darkest impulses. I have never seen the spiritual forces of evil operating so openly, so close to the surface, as they seem to be today.
Respectful debate must be restored
So, in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death, what must be done? Truth and light must triumph over lies and darkness — for the sake of everyone, liberals, moderates, and conservatives. The standard of vigorous but respectful debate must be restored.
The darkness seeks to intimidate people into silence. It must not succeed. Charlie cannot be replaced, but everyone who shares his concern for the fate of the nation and future generations must step up, must be bolder and more confident about who they are and what they believe. This does not mean being offensive, but it does mean being firm and unashamed about your convictions, like Charlie Kirk.
Much of this work must start in the churches. If Oregon is to escape its slide into an socialist/Marxist dystopia, people are going to have to step up. Charlie’s goal was not to win the praise of the world, but to please God. Right now, there is a spiritual stirring. One young woman wrote on X: “I went to a church service for the first time last weekend, along with two vigils for Charlie Kirk. I was raised secular and I’m an atheist, but when he was killed, I felt a strong desire to be around people like I never had before.” She is one of many.
More people are open than ever in recent memory. In every church service, there must be an invitation to come to Christ.
In the 1970s, Pastor Jerry Cook saw thousands of people come to Christ at Gresham’s East Hill Church by asking, during prayer, for those who wanted to come to Christ to just look up at him. Simple, right? It worked.
Christ came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10), to offer new life to the hopeless. Are you and your church acting with focus and intention to do that? If not, it’s time to get busy. HVN