Charlie Kirk's death and the response of a weak nation
What you’ll read about in this post:
This is not a good time for America. Conservative commentator and provocateur Charlie Kirk was assassinated in front of an audience (including his wife and children) in Utah. Also, two students die in yet another school shooting. Finally, a woman on a train in Charlotte is murdered in random act of violence.
Americans have politicized the death of Charlie Kirk more quickly than usual. Why are people making some of the most horrible comments about his death? The indifference towards human life is appalling.
Can we learn how to hold multiple ideas in our minds at once?
No one has cornered the market on hatred and violence. The ugliness of humans affects everyone and yet we aren’t doing anything.
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. … The dignity of man requires obedience to a higher law — to the strength of the spirit …
— Mahatma Gandhi
Sound the alarm: America is not okay
The 21st century American political climate has struggled to maintain even a hint of civility. Now, the problem is worse. A 22 year old man fired a single shot from a rifle and killed Charlie Kirk, a political commentator and key ally of President Donald Trump. The crowd of mostly college students were videoing the event, giving rise to the sharing of one of the most gruesome videos I’ve ever seen. I wish I could unsee it.
Within 36 hours, the FBI apprehended Tyler Robinson, an engineering student in Utah who did not fit the profile of what we might expect. He was not involved with the Democrat or Republican parties, was an excellent student, and came from a seemingly normal family.
Lost in the shock of Kirk’s tragic death was the news of yet another school shooting, this time in Denver. A 16 year old boy shot and killed two students and then took his own life. In a social media post just days ago, he wore a black shirt with the word ‘wrath’ written in red. Police are searching for motives and so far, they have revealed that the shooter might have been radicalized by an ‘extremist network,’ but declined to offer further details.
In Charlotte, citizens are struggling to understand the brutal murder of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee who fled her home in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion. While riding the train home in late August, Zarutska was stabbed in the throat several times by a man seated behind her. Almost as horrifying was the response of other riders on the train, who did nothing to stop the assailant. They didn’t even attempt to comfort a dying woman.
I’ve written about the culture of violence in the United States, and I view these events as an outgrowth of that obsession with violence. And there is no sign that Americans have any desire to change our culture. This nation is not in a good place, but seems perfectly content to stay there.
This is the hallmark of a weak nation, a nation which is continually slipping further into moral decline.
The indignity of indifference
In the wake of a horrific assassination, people took to social media to express their thoughts on Charlie Kirk. They focused on all the wrong things. Politicians, per usual, played the blame game. Regular Americans appalling posted some of the most disgusting comments, with some contending that Kirk deserved to die for his comments in the past.
I don’t know how to state it any more plainly that no one deserves to be shot for their political beliefs. Charlie Kirk was a human being. He had feelings, thoughts, family. To suggest he somehow deserved to die is dehumanizing and immoral. That type of attitude has become more common in a nation that continually distances itself from personal interaction and community.
For some time now, Americans have isolated themselves and withdrawn from community organizations and events. The people we do spend time with are often more likely to think like us. This, coupled with our addiction to social media, has created a nation which views people with different ideologies as ‘not real Americans.' We have slowly disregarded the people who don’t look or think like us.
Instead of cold indifference, maybe each of us should follow the advice of Utah Governor Spencer Cox, who aptly suggested, “… I would encourage people to log off [social media], turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community.”
We can be upset about many injustices at one time
For some reason, people want to believe our minds only have the ability to consider one thought at a time. Liberal critics of Charlie Kirk want Americans to be just as upset about children being murdered at school as they are about Kirk’s assassination. The conservatives want Americans to see Kirk’s death for the tragedy that it is.
You do not have to pick one or the other. Whether it’s Charlie Kirk, a Ukrainian refugee, or school children — we can be angry about all of these injustices. None of these people deserved to die in the manner they did.
In the case of Kirk, his critics have pointed to his often bombastic comments as reason for their indifference over his death. I reject this line of thinking and encourage others to do likewise.
I never liked Kirk’s political stances, and I thought he could sometimes be purposely incendiary with his messages. He reminds me of the bizarre, fast-talking Ben Shapiro, and I never fully understood Kirk’s appeal. But we must separate his beliefs from his personhood.
I believe it’s also important for Americans to resist the urge to lionize Kirk. His death was undeniably tragic, but that does not mean he was always right. It’s possible to lament his passing while critiquing his ideas. And some of those ideas were controversial. Charlie Kirk was a human, and a flawed one, just like the rest of us.
The indiscriminate terror in the United States
I’m baffled at the sheer idiocy of the people who try to blame a single political party for the hatred and violence which saturates the country. It ignores the extremist elements of both ideological fringes and the history of violence against people of all kinds.
In 2011, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords (D) attended a local constituent event when a man shot her in the head at point blank range. She miraculously survived, but was unable to continue in her role as an Arizona representative.
Six years later, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R) was seriously wounded while at a baseball practice for members of Congress.
Nancy Pelosi’s (D) (former Speaker of the House) husband, Paul, was attacked in his home in a politically motivated assault.
In the summer of 2024, President Donald Trump narrowly avoided assassination at a political rally in Pennsylvania.
Just a few months ago, Mark and Melissa Hortman (state officials in Minnesota) were murdered their home.
When it comes to political violence, no one is immune. But it just isn’t political violence which should frighten us.
Iryna Zarutska was on her way home from work and had just texted her boyfriend before she was murdered. Children attend school thinking about homework, dances, sports, and their future, only to see it evaporate in indiscriminate gunfire.
Are we sick of this yet? How much violence can we stomach before we do something? It’s easy to think that it isn’t our problem because it didn’t happen to us. It always happens in a faraway place — until it doesn’t. That’s when we care, when it’s personalized. And when someone we know becomes the victim of violence, then the harsh reality sets in that somewhere, a person is thinking, “not my problem.”