Charlie Kirk (1993 - 2025) - Christian, Husband, Father, Political Activist, and Martyr
10 September 2025 • by Bob • Opinion, Politics, Religion
Ah, I see that the "Coexist" people are alive and well and spreading their message of tolerance again.
I saw the following image when the news broke that Charlie Kirk had been shot by an assassin while speaking at a University in Utah, and as most people probably now know, Kirk has sadly succumbed to injuries. Kirk's untimely death at the age of 31 leaves a wife and two children, which is tragic enough by itself, but what I find reprehensible are the circumstances surrounding his death and some people's reactions to it.
Prior to his death, the majority of people in this country probably weren't aware of Charlie Kirk's existence. For their benefit, I should explain that Kirk made a name for himself by traveling around the country to visit college and university campuses and debate students across a broad spectrum of political and religious topics. One topic that he was particularly outspoken in favor of was our constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech, and the ultimate irony of which was the number of people who tried to prevent Kirk from speaking at their college and university campuses. These bastions of higher learning were at one time the strongholds of free thought and expression, but they have devolved into close-minded, echo chambers where the mere possibility of a dissenting opinion is met with derision, or in many cases - outright violence, such as Charlie Kirk's assassination earlier today.
The prominent Democratic governor, ambassador, and former presidential candidate, Adlai Stevenson II, famously said two things that have always stuck with me: "My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular," and "All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions." I never met Charlie Kirk, but I would be willing to guess that he probably agreed with both of those sentiments.
Having framed that part of Charlie Kirk's professional history, that leads me to what I find far more tragic about his assassination: the imminent demise of free speech. There is no shortage of hate-filled people in this country who despised Charlie Kirk and others like him for expressing an opinion that is contrary to what the hate-filled people believe. But these hate-filled people do not understand that their misguided attempts to shut down free expression stand in direct opposition to what living in a "free society" actually means.
Over the past few years, I've had several conversations with Millennials and Gen Zers who have actually said that some people do not deserve free speech. I'd love to say that these Millennials and Gen Zers were speaking about racists or neo-Nazis, but they weren't. These Millennials and Gen Zers were talking about people with whom they simply disagreed. (Although in further irony, these Millennials and Gen Zers were predominantly opposed to capital punishment, with the exception of racists and neo-Nazis, whom the Millennials and Gen Zers felt didn't deserve to live - much less have freedom of speech. However, these same Millennials and Gen Zers often take the additional step of labeling people who disagree with them as racists or neo-Nazis, but I digress.)
This sort of thinking from Millennials and Gen Zers - that free speech shouldn't be a universal right for everyone - is especially dangerous, for it tears away at one of the core principles in the bedrock of our civilization. Here's a case in point: there are untold millions of people who despise our sitting president, but freedom of speech guarantees our citizens the right to speak out in opposition to our president. We are one of the few countries in the world where this form of political opposition is enshrined in our constitution and protected by law, and no one - certainly not Millennials and Gen Zers - should be afforded the opportunity to say who "deserves" to have free speech. To paraphrase former ambassador Stevenson again, everyone should feel safe enough to be unpopular.
Adding insult to injury, there are several people today who are actually happy that Charlie Kirk was assassinated. They detested what he had to say, they loathed him for his beliefs, and now they're rejoicing at the news of his death. At the end of the day, I think that's the greatest tragedy in all of this. I may disagree with others' opinions, sometimes vehemently, but no one should fear for their safety just because I think they're wrong about something. No one needs to die just because they've said something unpopular.
All this discussion brings me back to my opening statement, for it is the people who consistently preach messages of "coexistence" and "tolerance" whom I have usually found to be paradoxically the least tolerant and least interested in living peacefully with others and others' opinions.
In closing, if you disliked Charlie Kirk, I understand why, and you're certainly entitled to your opinion. But Kirk didn't deserve to die for his opinions. And if you're one of the people who is glad that he was killed earlier today, then you should seriously reconsider your worldview, because Charlie Kirk wasn't the problem - you are.
Tags: Christianity, Politics, Opinion