Australia’s Largest Christian News Site

10 September marks the one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

What a week it has been, both past and present.

• The Lindsay Clancy murder case: I just penned 3 pieces on it.
• One year ago the murder of Iryna Zarutska: I penned 2 pieces on that at the time.
• Immediately after that was the murder of Charlie Kirk: I penned 13 pieces on that.
• And 25 years ago 3,000 people in the US were murdered by Islamic jihadists: I have often written on this.

So much death and hate. It seems that demons are running amok in the West today. Unless God intervenes, we are all toast.

It was hoped that these various shocking events of the past would wake us up in the West and help us to turn things around. But that does not seem to be happening. If anything, things seem to be getting worse. And the secular left and the woke media are aiding and abetting all this.

Consider for example what “far right” in the West now means:

Believing in patriotism.
Believing in secure borders.
Believing in marriage and family.
Believing in the sanctity of life.
Believing in fair and honest elections.
Believing in private property.
Believing in just two sexes: male and female.
Believing babies should not be murdered.
Believing children should not be murdered.
Believing in the Judeo-Christian worldview.
Believing we should talk about our differences, and not kill others for taking a different viewpoint.

I guess that list makes me ‘far right’ then. And of course it makes Charlie Kirk ‘far right’ as well.

Remembering Charlie Kirk

Now we commemorate his savage killing. One year ago on September 10, the leader of Turning Point USA was cruelly murdered by a trans-supporting leftist killer.

Charlie was just 31 years old. He left behind his wife Erika and two young children. Sadly, the actual trial for his evil killer has not yet been properly held, although a preliminary hearing did take place in July. When I first learned of the news of his murder last year, I penned this piece.

I said this in the article:

• There are already many online posts from devilish people who are jubilant about Kirk’s assassination and are celebrating his murder. That tells you everything we need to know about so many of those in the secular left.

• Kirk enraged the radical left because he was a happy Christian with a wonderful family, and he dealt with his intellectual and ideological opponents with facts and good cheer. He invited his most ardent detractors to come and debate him. His mastery of the facts and his debating skills meant he constantly was getting the best of his countless debating partners. No wonder so many leftists hated him so much.
• For simply challenging the leftist narrative and asking hard questions, Kirk got plenty of people to think and rethink. This also made plenty of unhinged people go ballistic. As Jesse Watters said, “They killed Charlie for asking questions”.
• Satan is alive and well, and he especially hates those who above all love Jesus Christ and seek to champion the King of Kings. Kirk was the first to admit that as important as political action is, even much more important is spiritual action: turning a heart of stone into a heart of flesh by putting one’s faith in the finished work of Christ.
• Believers can ask why God allows certain things to happen. Why did the assassin’s bullets fail in Butler on July 13, 2024 with President Trump, but not with Kirk’s killer? What we do know with certainty is that Charlie is right now enjoying fellowship with his beloved Saviour, who also died at an early age.
• “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” So said Tertullian. This murder of Kirk was certainly a political assassination. But more than that, Charlie Kirk is one of the most recent Christian martyrs. He was killed for proclaiming truth and loving others enough to challenge them. He simply followed in the footsteps of his Lord.

In the year that has followed the situation in America and the West has only gotten worse, with countless attacks and murders of various people. The political left has become intent on violence and bloodshed when it comes to dealing with those that happen to differ with them.

So we have learned nothing from last year, and the hate-filled rhetoric of the Left continues to ramp up. Most recently we had Australian Prime Minister Albanese and his team turn up the vitriol and rage against One Nation and Pauline Hanson.

It has gotten so bad that Hanson just recently said that Albo is “inciting violence” against her, and she demanded that he “turn down the temperature” on his language. That in part is why I pray daily for her — she needs very real protection as the hate-filled left keeps demonising her and making her out to be an evil troublemaker.

Indeed, I pray daily for many others, including Donald Trump who has already experienced three assassination attempts. I also pray for so many other conservative and Christian leaders who are also under threat and in the crosshairs of the raging secular left.

Erica’s Reflections

Getting back to Kirk, let me share a few words from others as we reflect on that tragic day last year. First, Erika penned this piece for the New York Times: “My Reflections on Grief, One Year Later”. Here is part of her moving personal story:

“I stood in the doorway of our bedroom. I turned on the light and walked toward his side of the bed. I stared at his pillow and wondered how long a person’s scent can last in sheets. I stood there in silence, replaying all of the completely ordinary mornings we woke up there together. I wasn’t ready to be there, so I turned off the light and crawled into bed with my 3-year-old daughter. Just get through the next 15 minutes.

“For months, I avoided my bedroom. I told myself it was OK to confront the pain gradually and to sit with each memory as it came to me. The first Saturday without a love note from him passed. His 32nd birthday. My birthday. Thanksgiving. When I put the Christmas tree together wrong, it made me realise that being a widow means old traditions will need to make room for new ones. The wave crashes on me again and again. Every time, just get through the next 15 minutes….

“Still, I can stand and say without a shadow of a doubt that God is good.”

And here are some quite recent remarks about Charlie and his passing:

Sen. Mike Lee

Charlie Kirk would’ve become president. He’d have been the most effective and successful conservative politician in more than a century. So they killed him.

Eric Metaxas

Those of us who knew and loved Charlie miss him right now…

Rep. Nancy Mace

It’s almost been one year since we lost Charlie Kirk. A husband, a father, a man of faith who spent his life defending the ideas which built this country. “The greatest threat to liberty is from within. We must not lose sight of our values.” His words are more important today than ever. We remember Charlie not for how his life ended, but for how he lived it: fearlessly, faithfully, and always in service of the truth. May we uplift his life by protecting American values.

Frank Turek

I was twice his age, but I learned more from him than he learned from me.

Scott Brown 

As we approach the one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s tragic death, I’ve found myself reflecting on his life and the example he left behind. Charlie believed in the power of conversation. He went to college campuses across America, spoke directly with those who disagreed with him, and never backed away from a difficult debate. I was fortunate to know Charlie and call him a friend. I’ll always remember him telling me to keep fighting and emphasising how important New Hampshire was to our country’s future. That’s why he invested so much in building Turning Points presence here, because he believed we could flip this seat. Throughout this campaign, I’ve carried that spirit with me by showing up, listening, and engaging with people whether we agree or not. Our country needs more conversation, not less. Charlie’s friendship, encouragement, and commitment to free speech will never be forgotten.

Kentucky Girl

We lost our beloved Charlie Kirk 51 weeks ago today. I remember how unreal it felt….it just couldn’t be. Not our Charlie. He was the most reasonable, Christ-centered, even-keeled, thoughtful conservative political thinker, and he was an excellent representative of MAGA. Charlie wasn’t just a podcaster or peerless debater, he was a force for good in the world.

Graham Allen

Charlie was the very best of us, and unfortunately now the world is left with the rest of us. You were a world changer. You were the leader we all needed. We miss you my friend.

Rep. Burgess Owens

Today I held a moment of silence on the House Floor. Charlie Kirk unashamedly believed in the promise of America, and that we could continue to become a more perfect Union through conversation and spirited debate. He believed you beat bad ideas with better ideas, not by shouting them down or resorting to violence. He was having a conversation when he was taken from us, and while he may be gone, the cause he gave his life to – settling our disagreements with words, not violence – does not die with him. It lives on in the millions of TPUSA students who he inspired, and it will outlive whoever tried to silence it. May God watch over the Kirk family, and may we carry forward what he taught us: to argue with conviction, and to do it without hate.

John Fetterman

Like Charlie Kirk, all I could say is let people grieve — give people the space. I’m not going to use that terrible thing and that assassination to make my argument and try to put out my views. It’s like, my God, he’s a father that had his neck blown out by a bullet. And now people have forgotten: President Trump was in my state — was shot in the head. Could you imagine where our nation would be if he were hit in the same way as Kirk? We really got to turn the temperature down.

Brandon Tatum

Left-wing activists are planning to protest Charlie Kirk’s memorial on the anniversary of his assassination at Utah Valley University. Leaked audio reportedly captures an organiser discussing how to make it “as uncomfortable as possible” for mourners to enter. Harassing mourners is as low as it gets.

Elon Musk

Charlie Kirk was killed because his words made a difference. He was showing people the light, and he was killed by the dark.

Mikey McCoy

One of my favourite stories from our last night in Tokyo happened just before Charlie was supposed to take the stage. A local pastor pulled him aside and cautioned him about talking too much about Christianity. “Japan is not a particularly a Christian country.” So, naturally, one of the first things Charlie did when he walked on stage was proclaim the name of Jesus Christ. He told the crowd how important his faith was to him and made no attempt to water it down. And instead of getting upset or walking out, the crowd cheered. That was Charlie. It didn’t matter what country he was in, who was in the audience, or whether proclaiming his faith was considered popular. He was never going to hide the most important part of who he was.

Brilyn Hollyhand

Hard to believe it has been almost a year since we lost Charlie. Walking through this kind of hurt tests you to your core. Psalm 23 is easy to read when life is good, but it hits completely different when you are actually in the valley. At the end of the day, it comes down to two things: turning back to God and truly trusting Him, even when the world makes no sense. Just wanted to share a few thoughts on what that looks like. Pray for the Kirk family this week.

___

Republished with thanks to CultureWatch. Image via Wikimedia Commons.