We’re stunned and heartbroken by the brutal assassination of Charlie Kirk, shot in the neck during a speaking event at Utah Valley University. A father of two, conservative voice, pro-life, campus fixture, his life was ended in a brutal act of political violence that shakes us to the core. Words can’t capture the grief spreading across America. We pray. We mourn. His was a young life, standing on his beliefs who engaged our young people with ideas, truth and logic. Only, those who would rather hear the fallacies of their own hearts and believe them, took his stance as a threat to their self-proclaimed omnipotence. I can’t help but to think that some who are expressing outrage are denying their dark hearts.
Within hours, some on the left ignited the worst kind of rhetorical spin. On MSNBC, political analyst Matthew Dowd, formerly ABC political director, said, “He’s been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.” He implied Kirk provoked his own fate. Breitbart reported that House Democrats objected to a request for prayer after Kirk’s assassination. This speaks volumes. Meanwhile, left-leaning Fort Worth City Council member Elizabeth Beck shared Kirk’s quote that “Yes, people die from gun violence… that’s the price of freedom,” captioning it simply “Unfortunate.” That post, later deleted, was widely condemned.
This violence is the sign of a deep darkness spreading across our nation. And the message is growing louder: free speech is free only if radicals approve it. Speak something they can’t swallow, and you’ll be silenced, or worse. That’s not the First Amendment; it’s speech policing on par with totalitarians. The US was founded on tolerating speech we despise. Once you erode that foundation, civil society crumbles. Charlie Kirk’s death is a horrible tragedy, and it’s also a warning. The marketplace of ideas, once America’s biggest strength, is decaying under tribalism and fear. There is no place in a civil society for murdering someone simply because you disagree with his political views, but it is happening far too often. Kirk didn’t silence opponents; he engaged them.
On campuses across America, Kirk debated students and professors alike, often with patience, allowing them to wrestle with their own contradictions until the weakness of their arguments showed itself. That’s how free societies refine themselves through persuasion, not intimidation, through reason, not violence. If his killers, and I do mean killers, thought they silenced him, they’ve only amplified the urgency of his example. The Apostle Paul gave us encouragement in Ephesians 6:19-20, “And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel…that therein, I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.” God is a God of truth and freedom, let no one oppress the truth.
Sources
- Associated Press –Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event
https://apnews.com/article/546165a8151104e0938a5e085be1e8bd - https://www.tampafp.com/msnbc-analyst-sparks-outrage-after-saying-charlie-kirks-hateful-words-led-to-hateful-actions/#:~:text=In%20the%20wake%20of%20a%20shooting%20that%20took,event%20at%20Utah%20Valley%20University%20in%20Orem%2C%20Utah
- Reuters –Reactions to the fatal shooting of US right-wing activist Charlie Kirk
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/reactions-fatal-shooting-us-right-wing-activist-charlie-kirk-2025-09-10/ - The Guardian –Trump says Charlie Kirk shot dead during event at Utah Valley University
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2025/sep/10/trump-charlie-kirk-shot-dead-utah - Daily Signal / MSNBC coverage –Matthew Dowd’s comments implying Kirk provoked violence
https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/09/10/charlie-kirk-msnbc-dowd-comments/ - Houston Chronicle (via AP) –Elizabeth Beck’s Instagram post sharing Kirk’s quote, calling it “Unfortunate”
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/charlie-kirk-shooting-elizabeth-beck-post-19456732.php - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/media/article-15086033/MSNBC-Charlie-Kirk-shooting-katy-tur-matthew-dowd.html
- https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/09/10/report-charlie-kirk-shot-during-speaking-event-utah-valley-university/
