Charlie Kirk’s critics
Charlie Kirk (1993-2025)
“My fellow liberals, let us please stop with the snarky comments when a right wing talking head or an insurance company CEO or a bunch of dumb rich people on a submarine get killed. It’s just…not a good look. Anyone who thinks Charlie Kirk deserved to die or ‘reaped what he sowed’ just for being a vociferous douchebag has truly lost the plot. Violence is never the answer. Period. That’s my ‘hot take’ on all of this. Thanks.”
My friend made that post on his Facebook page following Charlie Kirk’s murder on September 10. Apparently, several of his “fellow liberals” had made snarky comments about the deceased Charlie Kirk, immediately following his murder.
While I applaud my friend’s discretion in not wanting to allow his Facebook account to be used to foment hostility toward Charlie Kirk, I take exception to his statement that such comments are “not a good look.” Actually, I think the comments give us a very good look at what’s inside of the people who made hateful comments about a 31-year-old father of two little children and husband gunned down because he was exercising his freedom of speech.
I have heard Kirk characterized as misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic, and other phobics. I would characterize none of the videos I’ve seen of Kirk actually speaking as being phobic; he didn’t seem afraid of anything (remember, “phobic” means fearful). He was always respectful, kind, and truthful in interacting with his audience, sympathizer and confronter alike. He invited debate; his campaigns on college campuses often were invitations to “prove me wrong.”
By contrast, some of the comments made by people who disagreed with him politically were celebratory and snarky. One commentator even suggested that he got what he deserved.
My point is this: such comments tell us nothing about Charlie Kirk. They only tell us about the persons making the comments. Referring to someone as a “douchebag” really tells us nothing about Kirk, only that the person making the comment (my friend in this case) didn’t like him, for whatever reason. “Talking head” is the same kind of comment. It tells us nothing about the person referred to and only about the person making the comment. Jesus said, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:45).
My wife was one of the estimated 100,000+ people who attended Charlie Kirk’s memorial in Glendale, Arizona on September 21, 2025. At the memorial, Kirk’s widowed wife, Erica, emotionally pronounced of the person who murdered her husband, “I forgive him.” The crowd was peaceful and orderly; there were no calls for violence or riots or vengeance. The memorial was a celebration of Charlie Kirk and his life message and of Jesus.
Anyone who reads or hears the comments made by the detractors and supporters of Charlie Kirk has a clear choice: would they rather be more like the supporters, more like the detractors, or just remain indifferent? I personally would rather be like the supporters: civil, thoughtful, and grieving; not vengeful, jubilant, and self-justified.
Subscribe to receive an email notice when I post a new blog article.
Please leave a comment on the original post.
