This situation has indeed been complicated. Initially when I heard the news my thoughts were “he asked for it”. I’m still not sure his hateful rhetoric didn’t bring about his demise. I began to feel like that stance was harsh so I thought some more. I came to a place where I could acknowledge “ok, this is sad and shouldn’t have happened the way it did”. However, I just couldn’t bring myself to feel real grief. That is still more or less where I find myself. However, this has been a convicting read. I can recognize that my current mood/thoughts on the situation are not quite Christlike. That being said, it remains a conundrum. I still have no idea where my stance and heart will eventually land. I’m processing
I couldn't sleep, either. Waves of grief for all, including the walking wounded, injured (or broken) by flawed theology and cruel politics. And (not but)... in the wake of this violence that is never The Way, my heart is cracked wide open for a human with the Thumbprint, and his family. Whatever we do or say, we belong to God and to one another.
Also... your humility and graciousness in response to comments (fellow wrestlers) is light in the darkness. Thank you.
Thank you, Laura. I don’t want to become numb to the violence…but it’s also so exhausting. There was another school shooting yesterday too. We are so broken. Lord, have mercy. 😞
I understand the complexity of emotions here, but still believe human life must be held in regard and valued. Violence should not be applauded, or tolerated.
The path we are slithering down, is no longer a slippery slope. It’s a diamond ski run. We should all be terrified at where we’re heading and what we’ve become.
I agree, Susan! I told my wife last night that events like this are bad for everyone. Unfortunately, there will probably some sort of retaliation. I pray there isn't.
I am far away from all this, in South Africa, but have two comments. I am not sure we properly critique what "being His" means. This view that we are Jesus' regardless of what we do seems a bit loose and untested. I would like to see this idea tested. Yes, we are to love everyone. Yes, Jesus loved everyone. But can we say he never rejected anyone, and won't ever? Its a bit more complicated for me. Second, there is truth in what you reap you sow. So why is this reaping wrong if what was sown is anger and hatred? Again, more of a critique, please. Perhaps a third comment. Is there, I wonder, a genuine understanding of the effects of the discord sown among the targeted by people like Kirk. We speak of hurt, but do we really understand how damaging years of being at the sharp end of comments from this peanut gallery have been? Real things were said and felt, and this is a not unexpected outcome - even if a very sad one.
Thank you for this thoughtful critique from South Africa...I appreciate you wrestling with these hard questions rather than offering easy answers.
You're absolutely right to push back on my "being His" language. I was drawing from the idea that we're all made in God's image (imago Dei), but you're correct that this doesn't mean Jesus never rejected anyone. The rich young ruler walked away. Jesus spoke harsh words to religious leaders who used their power to harm others. There's a difference between being created by God and choosing to follow Him.
Your second point about reaping what you sow cuts deep. Charlie did sow division and his words caused real harm...that's not something I want to minimize. The "natural consequences" argument has biblical weight. But I keep coming back to this: if we accept that some people deserve to be murdered for their words, where does that line get drawn? Who decides? And what does that do to our souls when we start celebrating or justifying political violence, even against those who've caused harm?
Your third comment is perhaps the most important. I don't think I adequately honored the real damage done to LGBTQ+ Christians, immigrants, women, and others who've been at the "sharp end" of Kirk's rhetoric for years. That damage is real, ongoing, and traumatic. When I call for love and grace, I'm not asking people to forget that harm or pretend it didn't matter.
Maybe what I'm wrestling with is this: how do we hold space for both the real damage Charlie caused AND our call to reject violence as a solution? How do we love our enemies without abandoning those they've wounded?
I don't have clean answers. But I do know that bullets solve nothing...they only create more trauma, more division, more reasons for people to retreat into their corners with weapons drawn.
Thoughtful discussion of a difficult topic. This line struck me as uncomfortably true. "Some of you are grieving today, others are conflicted about feeling anything at all." I grieve because any loss of life is tragic. I'm angry because he will now be considered a martyr for the conservative cause after years of spewing hate. And I'm saddened by the fact that I'm angry. Conflicted might not be a strong enough word for what I'm feeling.
You aren’t alone in those feelings. Thanks for being bold enough to share them. I’m sure others will find comfort in knowing they aren’t alone. I appreciate it, Joanna.
I did not sleep much either. Charlie rejected personal accountability for his hate. Maybe Charlie did not deserve this but he did ask for this. He played the white male victim asserting he was superior because of his gender and whiteness. Charlie promoted violence against women, LGBTQ+, people of color and many more. Contrast him to MLK who did not promote violence or superiority. This is going to eat at me for a long time and we are going to live with this for a longer time. 90% of everything we hear or read about this will be bullshit. The other 10% will remain in the cowardly shadows. Charlie did not deserve this but neither did we deserve Charlie.
You're right, Doug. I appreciate you taking the time to name those feelings and thoughts. I am struggling to process this and to do so in a Christlike way.
The only thing I don’t agree with is that any of it is complex. We all have doubts and question our faith, but why does those that think some where in the gospel there is a message of hate not ever question that? It doesn’t say it anywhere but when they are sitting under a pulpit that preaches ugliness, they never have Jesus move their hearts to see the fault in that.
I know I don’t understand their way, but to me Jesus is so clear.
Jesus came to teach us The Way. The way of living in peace with each other and ourselves. The way of loving one another as God loved us. His message is clear and concise and easy to follow. I don’t get how it gets complicated for some people.
I hear you, and honestly, I wish faith were as clear as you describe. Jesus’ message of love really is simple…love God, love your neighbor.
I think the complexity comes from how broken people try to live that out. Charlie Kirk genuinely believed he was following Jesus, which is heartbreaking to me. Somehow the simple message of love got tangled up with fear and cultural warfare.
You ask why people don’t question hateful preaching, and I wonder about that too. Maybe they’re scared, or maybe they’ve been taught that questioning equals faithlessness.
The clarity you have about Jesus’ love is a gift. The world needs more people who see love as the obvious answer.
I agree, Beau: Violence is never the answer! It’s wrong for anyone to say Kirk deserved to die because of his beliefs or rhetoric. It seems equally absurd to care more about his death than anyone else killed by a gun, including children who have no political ideology — they simply go to school. While I do not support Christian nationalism, I do believe God must intervene to heal our divided nation. Sadly, it hasn’t been “united” since 9/11 24 years ago. Yet people with different beliefs show up all the time to cheer for their favorite sports teams. I can’t wrap my head around it.
You’re absolutely right, and thank you for that reality check. Every life lost to gun violence…especially children who were just trying to learn and grow…deserves the same grief, the same outrage, the same call for change.
Your point about sports teams is haunting and brilliant. We can unite around a football game but not around protecting children in schools, caring for immigrants, or even agreeing that political violence is wrong. There’s something deeply broken about that.
I’m with you on needing God’s intervention. I’ve spent a lot of time praying today. 😩
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. Before yesterday, I'd never heard of Charlie Kirk. At the same time I heard of his assassination, I also heard news of a school shooting in CO, which is where I live. I have no thoughts to add to Kirk's death, but I'm feeling an overwhelming sense of sadness about the violence in this country. It feels unbearable.
Thank you in particular for the term “the complexity factory”. I sincerely find myself struggling on how to handle this moment as much as you do. God have the mercy on the souls of all those dying for ideology in our particular moment.
My knee jerk response is that if we regard this through a societal normative lense then we have a tension. It is behaviour we want. However, when the outcome is agency exercised freely by any individual then it is a matter of that person's choice and has little to do with me. I feel no tension observing that someone has chosen a path that leads to obvious destinations. There is only tension if I want behaviour to be acceptable to me. Why would I want that? Are my desires more important than the person's choice? When the Lord tells us there are two paths before us and urges us to choose life, he eecognises our agency and will and provides a choice and redemption, but leaves our agency intact. Do we pay attention to the tension or the fact that in his love our God gives us choices. Of course I am being deliberately problematic but I hope I am stimulating some thought in response to your post so in our critiques we ask questioms beyond the norm and make space for forgotten things like lament, consequences, and mystery.
You're being wonderfully problematic in the best way...forcing me to think beyond my comfort zone. Your point about divine agency versus human desire for acceptable outcomes is profound and uncomfortable.
You're right that God honors human agency even when it leads to destruction. The tension I'm feeling might indeed be more about my desire for a world that feels safer and more predictable than about honoring the complex reality of free will and consequences. When I say "Charlie didn't deserve this," am I actually saying "I don't want to live in a world where words can lead to bullets"?
Your framework helps me see that maybe the real question isn't whether consequences are "deserved" but how we respond to the mystery of human choice and divine sovereignty playing out in real time. Charlie chose words that sowed division. Someone else chose violence. Both exercised their agency. Both face consequences...earthly and eternal.
But here's where I get stuck: even if I accept that Charlie's path led to "obvious destinations," does that mean I should feel nothing? Or does lament still have a place...not because the outcome was unjust, but because the whole situation reveals how broken we all are? Maybe I'm grieving not just a life lost, but the choices that led us here...his, his killer's, and our collective failure to find better ways forward.
You've pushed me toward something I hadn't considered: perhaps the tension itself is the point. Perhaps sitting with the mystery of agency, consequence, and divine love without rushing to neat theological conclusions is exactly what faithfulness looks like in moments like these. I don't know.
This situation has indeed been complicated. Initially when I heard the news my thoughts were “he asked for it”. I’m still not sure his hateful rhetoric didn’t bring about his demise. I began to feel like that stance was harsh so I thought some more. I came to a place where I could acknowledge “ok, this is sad and shouldn’t have happened the way it did”. However, I just couldn’t bring myself to feel real grief. That is still more or less where I find myself. However, this has been a convicting read. I can recognize that my current mood/thoughts on the situation are not quite Christlike. That being said, it remains a conundrum. I still have no idea where my stance and heart will eventually land. I’m processing
It's so challenging, huh. You are naming why I couldn't sleep last night. I have been wrestling with this since it happened.
It’s truly a mess. I want to just ignore it all but I feel like my heart still isn’t right on the matter.
Brother, you have wrestled well here. Really.
I couldn't sleep, either. Waves of grief for all, including the walking wounded, injured (or broken) by flawed theology and cruel politics. And (not but)... in the wake of this violence that is never The Way, my heart is cracked wide open for a human with the Thumbprint, and his family. Whatever we do or say, we belong to God and to one another.
Also... your humility and graciousness in response to comments (fellow wrestlers) is light in the darkness. Thank you.
Thank you, Laura. I don’t want to become numb to the violence…but it’s also so exhausting. There was another school shooting yesterday too. We are so broken. Lord, have mercy. 😞
I understand the complexity of emotions here, but still believe human life must be held in regard and valued. Violence should not be applauded, or tolerated.
The path we are slithering down, is no longer a slippery slope. It’s a diamond ski run. We should all be terrified at where we’re heading and what we’ve become.
I agree, Susan! I told my wife last night that events like this are bad for everyone. Unfortunately, there will probably some sort of retaliation. I pray there isn't.
I’m worried as well, Beau. 🙏🙏
I am far away from all this, in South Africa, but have two comments. I am not sure we properly critique what "being His" means. This view that we are Jesus' regardless of what we do seems a bit loose and untested. I would like to see this idea tested. Yes, we are to love everyone. Yes, Jesus loved everyone. But can we say he never rejected anyone, and won't ever? Its a bit more complicated for me. Second, there is truth in what you reap you sow. So why is this reaping wrong if what was sown is anger and hatred? Again, more of a critique, please. Perhaps a third comment. Is there, I wonder, a genuine understanding of the effects of the discord sown among the targeted by people like Kirk. We speak of hurt, but do we really understand how damaging years of being at the sharp end of comments from this peanut gallery have been? Real things were said and felt, and this is a not unexpected outcome - even if a very sad one.
Thank you for this thoughtful critique from South Africa...I appreciate you wrestling with these hard questions rather than offering easy answers.
You're absolutely right to push back on my "being His" language. I was drawing from the idea that we're all made in God's image (imago Dei), but you're correct that this doesn't mean Jesus never rejected anyone. The rich young ruler walked away. Jesus spoke harsh words to religious leaders who used their power to harm others. There's a difference between being created by God and choosing to follow Him.
Your second point about reaping what you sow cuts deep. Charlie did sow division and his words caused real harm...that's not something I want to minimize. The "natural consequences" argument has biblical weight. But I keep coming back to this: if we accept that some people deserve to be murdered for their words, where does that line get drawn? Who decides? And what does that do to our souls when we start celebrating or justifying political violence, even against those who've caused harm?
Your third comment is perhaps the most important. I don't think I adequately honored the real damage done to LGBTQ+ Christians, immigrants, women, and others who've been at the "sharp end" of Kirk's rhetoric for years. That damage is real, ongoing, and traumatic. When I call for love and grace, I'm not asking people to forget that harm or pretend it didn't matter.
Maybe what I'm wrestling with is this: how do we hold space for both the real damage Charlie caused AND our call to reject violence as a solution? How do we love our enemies without abandoning those they've wounded?
I don't have clean answers. But I do know that bullets solve nothing...they only create more trauma, more division, more reasons for people to retreat into their corners with weapons drawn.
What are your thoughts on holding that tension?
Thoughtful discussion of a difficult topic. This line struck me as uncomfortably true. "Some of you are grieving today, others are conflicted about feeling anything at all." I grieve because any loss of life is tragic. I'm angry because he will now be considered a martyr for the conservative cause after years of spewing hate. And I'm saddened by the fact that I'm angry. Conflicted might not be a strong enough word for what I'm feeling.
You aren’t alone in those feelings. Thanks for being bold enough to share them. I’m sure others will find comfort in knowing they aren’t alone. I appreciate it, Joanna.
I did not sleep much either. Charlie rejected personal accountability for his hate. Maybe Charlie did not deserve this but he did ask for this. He played the white male victim asserting he was superior because of his gender and whiteness. Charlie promoted violence against women, LGBTQ+, people of color and many more. Contrast him to MLK who did not promote violence or superiority. This is going to eat at me for a long time and we are going to live with this for a longer time. 90% of everything we hear or read about this will be bullshit. The other 10% will remain in the cowardly shadows. Charlie did not deserve this but neither did we deserve Charlie.
You're right, Doug. I appreciate you taking the time to name those feelings and thoughts. I am struggling to process this and to do so in a Christlike way.
The only thing I don’t agree with is that any of it is complex. We all have doubts and question our faith, but why does those that think some where in the gospel there is a message of hate not ever question that? It doesn’t say it anywhere but when they are sitting under a pulpit that preaches ugliness, they never have Jesus move their hearts to see the fault in that.
I know I don’t understand their way, but to me Jesus is so clear.
Jesus came to teach us The Way. The way of living in peace with each other and ourselves. The way of loving one another as God loved us. His message is clear and concise and easy to follow. I don’t get how it gets complicated for some people.
I hear you, and honestly, I wish faith were as clear as you describe. Jesus’ message of love really is simple…love God, love your neighbor.
I think the complexity comes from how broken people try to live that out. Charlie Kirk genuinely believed he was following Jesus, which is heartbreaking to me. Somehow the simple message of love got tangled up with fear and cultural warfare.
You ask why people don’t question hateful preaching, and I wonder about that too. Maybe they’re scared, or maybe they’ve been taught that questioning equals faithlessness.
The clarity you have about Jesus’ love is a gift. The world needs more people who see love as the obvious answer.
Thanks for chiming in, Nicole!
Agreed—and there really isn’t anything more to say in the matter (for me).
Thanks so much for reading!
No he didnt. No one does.
But you can simultaneously call out the abhorrent side of the man as well as the violence. This is being human.
You’re right!
I agree, Beau: Violence is never the answer! It’s wrong for anyone to say Kirk deserved to die because of his beliefs or rhetoric. It seems equally absurd to care more about his death than anyone else killed by a gun, including children who have no political ideology — they simply go to school. While I do not support Christian nationalism, I do believe God must intervene to heal our divided nation. Sadly, it hasn’t been “united” since 9/11 24 years ago. Yet people with different beliefs show up all the time to cheer for their favorite sports teams. I can’t wrap my head around it.
You’re absolutely right, and thank you for that reality check. Every life lost to gun violence…especially children who were just trying to learn and grow…deserves the same grief, the same outrage, the same call for change.
Your point about sports teams is haunting and brilliant. We can unite around a football game but not around protecting children in schools, caring for immigrants, or even agreeing that political violence is wrong. There’s something deeply broken about that.
I’m with you on needing God’s intervention. I’ve spent a lot of time praying today. 😩
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. Before yesterday, I'd never heard of Charlie Kirk. At the same time I heard of his assassination, I also heard news of a school shooting in CO, which is where I live. I have no thoughts to add to Kirk's death, but I'm feeling an overwhelming sense of sadness about the violence in this country. It feels unbearable.
Same here, Jackie. “Unbearable” is exactly how I’m feeling as well.
Well written my friend, I always value your ideas & thoughts
Thanks, Cody! Doing my best. 😊
Great commentary. I believe that we as a society have to learn how to communicate and work through hard topics without resorting to violence.
I wholeheartedly agree. Thanks for reading!
Thank you, Beau. This was truly needed.
Thanks for reading!
Thank you in particular for the term “the complexity factory”. I sincerely find myself struggling on how to handle this moment as much as you do. God have the mercy on the souls of all those dying for ideology in our particular moment.
Thank you for your kind words and support, Shawn!
My knee jerk response is that if we regard this through a societal normative lense then we have a tension. It is behaviour we want. However, when the outcome is agency exercised freely by any individual then it is a matter of that person's choice and has little to do with me. I feel no tension observing that someone has chosen a path that leads to obvious destinations. There is only tension if I want behaviour to be acceptable to me. Why would I want that? Are my desires more important than the person's choice? When the Lord tells us there are two paths before us and urges us to choose life, he eecognises our agency and will and provides a choice and redemption, but leaves our agency intact. Do we pay attention to the tension or the fact that in his love our God gives us choices. Of course I am being deliberately problematic but I hope I am stimulating some thought in response to your post so in our critiques we ask questioms beyond the norm and make space for forgotten things like lament, consequences, and mystery.
You're being wonderfully problematic in the best way...forcing me to think beyond my comfort zone. Your point about divine agency versus human desire for acceptable outcomes is profound and uncomfortable.
You're right that God honors human agency even when it leads to destruction. The tension I'm feeling might indeed be more about my desire for a world that feels safer and more predictable than about honoring the complex reality of free will and consequences. When I say "Charlie didn't deserve this," am I actually saying "I don't want to live in a world where words can lead to bullets"?
Your framework helps me see that maybe the real question isn't whether consequences are "deserved" but how we respond to the mystery of human choice and divine sovereignty playing out in real time. Charlie chose words that sowed division. Someone else chose violence. Both exercised their agency. Both face consequences...earthly and eternal.
But here's where I get stuck: even if I accept that Charlie's path led to "obvious destinations," does that mean I should feel nothing? Or does lament still have a place...not because the outcome was unjust, but because the whole situation reveals how broken we all are? Maybe I'm grieving not just a life lost, but the choices that led us here...his, his killer's, and our collective failure to find better ways forward.
You've pushed me toward something I hadn't considered: perhaps the tension itself is the point. Perhaps sitting with the mystery of agency, consequence, and divine love without rushing to neat theological conclusions is exactly what faithfulness looks like in moments like these. I don't know.