Political Violence and the Death of Charlie Kirk

I wanted to take some time to sort my feelings about the death of Charlie Kirk. If I just said my thoughts and prayers are with his family and that political violence has no place in our democracy, I wouldn’t be speaking my full mind on the subject. Especially given all the violence that was happening that day, including another school shooting.

Stripped of the politics and all the social impact of Mr. Kirk’s death, two children lost their father. No doubt my thoughts and prayers are with them. In fact, that’s pretty much where my thoughts have been since I heard the news. But those thoughts and prayers won’t bring their father back. Nor will those thoughts and prayers stop even more of America’s children losing their lives, or the lives of their loved ones, to gun violence.

And yes, political violence should have no place in our democracy. But that doesn’t change the fact that we live in a system where we see it nearly every day, from armed troops deployed against unarmed citizens in our cities, to shootings at schools, workplaces, and churches.

I’ve never been openly religious, but I was raised a Christian. I was taught that God commands us to love above all else; to love God, love ourselves, and love others as we love ourselves. But we have a culture that glorifies unmerciful power. We withhold from the world the love we were built to share, and indulge the hate it takes to make villains out of complete strangers.

And our children see that. Their sense of right and wrong is untouched by years of experience muddying the waters. They know when something isn’t right, and their sense of safety and hope for the future is diminished when older generations do nothing about it. They are counting on us to act for the common good, so they have examples when it’s their time to do the same. Words matter clearly, but actions are what protect their future.

Mr. Kirk set out to influence culture, and that he did. I disagreed with nearly everything he stood for. But I don’t understand why someone felt compelled to kill him. I don’t understand why official responses so often focus on the death of a public figure while overlooking the countless other lives lost to violence that same day and every day. I don’t understand how common sense gun legislation keeps failing year after year in the face of all this violence, or how young men and women get so radicalized they feel justified in killing. I may not be young anymore, but none of that seems right to me. And too many in positions of power keep acting like it is.

But to leave you with a little bit of hope:  I believe we are built by God or the universe or whomever or whatever you believe in, to love. We are capable of empathy and compassion, and our own history has proven that we can do amazing things when that empathy and compassion guide our actions. But we have to act.