I hate politicizing this blog. I know I have in the past. I know that I’ve given in to my emotions and let myself rant about all sorts of social and political issues. It’s not why I created Morning Medications so many years ago.

But the Death of Charlie Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA, Trump ally, and conservative activist, poured gasoline on an already raging fire in news and social media.

Kirk was only 31 years old, younger than any of my adult children. He was a husband and father. He was a Christian. He was also a lightning rod.

What was shocking to me wasn’t necessarily Kirk’s death but rather the reaction to it.

Although I am both a Christian and a conservative, I’m not that conservative. I’m not a Christian Nationalist. I don’t believe Jesus founded a political party of any kind (Okay, he is returning as the King of Israel and the rest of the nations will be vassal servants, but that’s a long story). I wasn’t even all that aware of Kirk until he was shot and killed.

Then I became intensely aware of him particularly on social media.

For instance:

https://x.com/TaraBull808/status/1965871471722733605

https://x.com/camhigby/status/1966028087998705874

https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1966040485606121806

And so on.

Actually, I wouldn’t have agreed with Kirk on a lot of his platforms. While I’m grateful that he defended Jews and supported Israel, I disagree that Jewish communities have been pushing for hate against white people.

According to the New York Times, his stance on immigration as the “Great Replacement Theory” where whites will be outnumbered by people of color seems kind of heavy handed. America is supposed to be a mixing bowl of different peoples from all over the world. We’ve always been a magnet for legal immigration. People come here to build a better life for themselves.

Also, while I do have significant issues with what I see as an out-of-control gender ideology, that doesn’t mean I believe gay or trans people don’t have human or American (as citizens) rights, and based on my libertarian leanings, if two men or two women want to get married in a civil ceremony, from a legal perspective, I can’t object (my theological perspective is quite a bit different).

I say all this to explain that my not agreeing with Kirk on a lot of the issues doesn’t mean I thought he deserved to die. Sadly, there are people in the world today who would disagree with me.

“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who are abusive to you.” –Luke 6:27-28 (NASB)

That’s a commandment from Jesus and a sentiment atheists have a hard time with. Actually, a lot of Christians have a hard time practicing that including me.

That doesn’t make it any less required of us as believers.

I guess that’s what the difference is. Even if we disagree with someone, even if we detest what they stand for, while we are to fight against injustice, we are required to take the moral high road and show mercy even to the unmerciful.

I’m sure a lot of Kirk’s opponents thought he was unmerciful.

I’m hardly perfect. In fact, I’m far, far from it. In a theoretical situation, if Hitler was still alive during my lifetime and then I heard he died, I’m sure I’d be really happy about it. When I heard that Yasser Arafat was dead (his official cause of death is still under a shroud), I can’t say I was sad about it. The man was a murderer and a terrorist and responsible for the violent death of many Israeli Jews. On top of all that, most of the world treated him as if he were a legitimate national leader and gave him respect, even as he delivered speeches in the U.N. with a loaded pistol on his side.

But that applies to only a tiny handful of people in the world, people who are beyond disagreement, people who are truly evil.

I guess if you thought Kirk were actually evil, you might feel justified in celebrating his assassination. But then again, as far as I know, he never locked millions of people in concentration camps or directed terrorist acts that murdered thousands of innocent people. In fact, I don’t believe Kirk was responsible for the taking of even a single human life.

I know people will disagree. They’ll say because he supported the Second Amendment, he’s responsible for ALL gun deaths in our nation. That’s a little ridiculous, but that’s how some folks rationalize things. In fact, some people including politicians have said he’s responsible for his own death because of his 2A support.

You can say Charlie Kirk was wrong, and you can say he was insensitive to the needs of vulnerable groups, and you can say he was creating an America that was hostile to people of color and the LGBTQ (etc…) community. But I don’t think you can say he was evil, not Hitler or Stalin level evil.

Oh, some people will do it anyway, but they’re responding with their bias and their fear.

I would have disagreed with Kirk on many issues but I don’t believe he deserved to die for that.

If you think he did, then when you’re calm, when you’re away from social media and you’re not wound up tight enough to snap, stand in front of a mirror and take a good, hard look at yourself. If, after some contemplation, you still feel perfectly fine about celebrating and enjoying Kirk’s death including the grief of his wife and children, then you are definitely NOT on the moral high road. Not even close.