Charlie Kirk, RIP

Charles John Kirk is dead. He was 31 years old. He was a leading figure of the new right. Around the country, through Turning Point USA, Charlie mobilized the youth vote for Donald Trump and attempted to push young voters into the Republican Party. But he also, as he got older and bolder, challenged college students to live more for Christ than the world.

Charlie got involved in politics in high school and expanded his interest and activism in college at Harper College near Chicago. Inspired, to a degree, by the organizing leftwing groups were doing that the right seemed to have no interest in, Charlie, with a very charismatic personality, convinced a number of prominent Republican donors to help him start Turning Point at 18 years old.

Later, as he matured, Charlie realized just filling young people with politics was not sustainable. He began weaving a faith message into his political message telling college students they should consider getting married, having children, and focusing on Christ. He warned, as recently as this week, that people needed to be able to talk to each other and Christ is the salve that can take anger out of politics.

A gunman killed Charlie at Utah Valley University where Charlie was doing what he loved—debating those who saw the world differently than him. As he grew up, got married, and had kids, Charlie had morphed from an often brash and confrontational personality into a listener and debater who could ask thoughtful questions and winsomely engage those with whom he disagreed.

I was, technically, a radio competitor. We had different styles and points of view, both filling the midday time slot once dominated by Rush Limbaugh. At the start of my show on Sept. 10, I told my audience events change things. The night before, Russian drones had flown over Poland. That same morning, Israel launched an air strike in Qatar. I noted that the people who left their offices in the World Trade Center on Sept. 10, 2001, expected to return the next day to finish work, meet clients, and have meetings. No one expected the evil that came out of the sky that day.

By the time I ended my radio show, I had to advise my audience that Charlie had been shot on a college campus at Utah. Before sunset came word he had died. In itself, and no pun intended, this event feels like a turning point. There have been a series of escalating acts of violence for some time. James Hodgkinson attempted the mass assassination of Republican members of Congress on a baseball field. Luigi Mangione assassinated Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare. An anti-Semite in Washington killed Yaron Lischinsky and Sara Milgrim, two Israeli Embassy employees. A man in Minnesota assassinated Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, while also attempting to kill State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.

In Ephesians 4:26, the Apostle Paul said, “Be angry, yet do not sin.” During the Biden Administration, a number of mostly online political activists on the right insisted the right must behave and operate the same way as the left. Some suggested the Christian idea of turning the other cheek and forgiveness were signs of weakness. Now, political activists on the left and prominent politicians like Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy say the left needs to “fight fire with fire.” Where Christianity calls for us to love our neighbors and let God handle retribution, the world desires that we take it upon ourselves to do that. Many political activists, shocked and angry at Charlie Kirk’s death, are wondering how to respond.

Last week on his radio program, Charlie said, “You have to try to point them towards ultimate purposes and towards getting back to the church, getting back to faith, getting married, having children. ... I'm trying to paint a picture of virtue of lifting people up, not just staying angry.” As Christians wonder how to respond to another in a growing list of violent acts in this country, we should remember Charlie’s words. Our job is to love God and love our neighbor. God will provide and God will punish.

Today, Charlie Kirk is home with the Lord. His wife, Erika, and his two children are without a husband and father. The conservative movement is without one of its prominent advocates. But Christ remains, and so too does the mission Charlie Kirk set for himself—painting a picture of virtue to lift people up instead of keeping anger festering.