As you can imagine, this is not the post I had planned for today, and not one I ever thought I would write.

You have probably already heard by now that political activist and founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated earlier this week, at an event that he held all over the states, asking people to debate topics with him. You’ve probably watched or read hundreds of articles on it by now, but what’s one more?

Whether or not you agree with Charlie Kirk is irrespective of the point I will be making in this article. Whatever political views you have, put them aside for the few minutes it will take to read this post. 

My husband texted me at work that Charlie Kirk had been assassinated in Utah. Like dead?? I replied. A stupid text, I know, but I honestly didn’t believe it. While at that time, it wasn’t confirmed, it only took a bit longer until the news broke. 

I immediately logged into Facebook (to verify perhaps, I’m not quite sure) and the first thing I saw was a 10 second video that I was not prepared for and will never forget. I scrolled to the comments and wanted to vomit. I went back to the homepage, where a second post (just an image this time) also broke the news of Charlie’s death. I scrolled to those comments and immediately signed out of Facebook. The amount of people who were rejoicing and making fun of this man’s death sickened me. 

I’ve disagreed with plenty of people. I’ve thought certain people’s ideas were stupid. But never once have I wished death on any of them. And I would never celebrate in their death. 

I logged into Reddit because I needed to read something that was cheerful – something on the canning or baking subreddit, perhaps. Instead, I was greeted with r/therewasanattempt and again I was sickened. 

I haven’t been on Reddit or Facebook since Charlie’s death. I only watch longform Youtube videos because Youtube shorts were full of it, too. I cannot stand how many people are celebrating in Charlie’s death. It’s vile, corrupt, and shows exactly where this country is headed. And that makes me sad. 

The night of Charlie’s murder I comforted people on two different sides of the mourning spectrum. One who was angry and the other who was sobbing because their heart was broken. I never really felt anger, but I did feel sadness. 

In broad daylight, essentially televised to the whole world, we watched someone get brutally murdered for opening discussions about different topics and defending what they believed. Charlie was exercising his First Amendment right. If you didn’t like it, you didn’t have to listen or engage with him. It is supposed to be a free country, after all. Watching someone get murdered should get most people to stop, realize why, and have compassion. Instead, it just made people glad that Charlie was killed, leaving behind his two young children and his wife…all because someone didn’t like what he said and was determined to kill him and silence him for good. 

We live in America. Where people are supposed to be able to exercise their freedom to believe whatever they want and talk about whatever they want. You don’t have to listen. You don’t have to agree. But that doesn’t mean you can kill them and it doesn’t mean you should be glad they were murdered. But, the reactions show a person’s heart. 

I wasn’t even a year old when September 11 happened, so I can’t really speak to that. I was alive, however, when the current President suffered multiple assassination attempts. And I was alive when someone – not even a politician – was speaking about their political views and was murdered for it. 

It makes me sad that there are people so angry in America that they are willing to kill anyone they disagree with. That’s not how disagreements are resolved. In fact, it only shows that the person who was killed was likely in the right. 

“When you tear out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you’re only telling the world that you fear what he might say.”

– George R.R. Martin

This world is insane, and this country is severely messed up. But Charlie’s death might just be the tipping point for getting us back on track. I have a feeling something is going to come out of this, and you can’t just let bullies get away with murdering people they don’t like. You wouldn’t let a bully keep picking on your child and not step in. We should defend our country just the same. This has made me lose faith in America. I was very patriotic, and now I’m just…numb to it all, I guess. I have more of a feeling of sadness than I do patriotism – because people in this country are being murdered for their beliefs and their race (Iryna Zarutska, for example). Maybe Charlie’s death will be the catalyst for getting back on track. I don’t know. But I do know that you can’t live in fear that someone might kill you because they disagree with you. That’s no way to live. That’s not a Biblical way to live, and that’s not a patriot’s way to live. Instead, you must be the opposite. 

“Here’s a couple things I want to encourage you to do: learn something new every single day, and focus on what it means to be a good person and a person of strong character. Aristotle said that courage is the ultimate virtue. Without it, there are no other virtues. If people aren’t courageous, you don’t have honesty. You don’t have justice. You don’t have beauty. You don’t have wonder. And so at age 13, I want you to commit yourself to a life of courage. Courage is doing the right thing when you don’t know how it’s going to work out. Courage is committing yourself to the correct course of action, regardless of the cost associated to it.”

– Charlie Kirk, when a 13 year old girl asked how she could be a more informed and involved citizen as she grew up 

Charlie Kirk lived by his words. He died doing the right thing, regardless of the cost. His death was a shock to the country, but I bet you he would be proud of the way he acted in his final moments. 

Regardless of this and how you are feeling, don’t let your life be ruled by fear. Instead, be courageous, and do the right thing…regardless of the cost. Not many are willing to die for their beliefs. Are you?

As we saw this week, death can come for you at anytime, and you need to be ready. If you are not 100% sure that you’ll go to Heaven when you die, now is the time to repent and put your trust in Jesus Christ. If you have any questions or doubts about your salvation, click here to learn how you can be saved.

Let me know if you have any comments or suggestions below or you can contact me here.