The Assassination of Charlie Kirk

Raw Reflections From an Anxious Theologian

"Charlie Kirk has been shot. Please pray!"

That was the first message I saw from a friend. Then my Instagram was flooded with breaking news about the shooting of Charlie Kirk. I'm tempted right here to qualify who Charlie Kirk is (was). I want to say "conservative political pundit" or "president and founder of Turning Point USA." But who was Charlie? He was a son of God. He was a son of a mom and dad. He was the husband of a wife. He was the father to two beautiful little children. He was a human made in the image of God with inherent dignity and worth. And the past tense I keep having to use—"was"—is crushing me.

Once again, I feel like I have to clarify so much. I feel like I need to qualify my areas of disagreement with Charlie. I feel the pressure of the opponents of Charlie's method and message attacking me, saying, "Where was the post about innocent black brothers and sisters murdered?" Or, "Where was the post about the innocent children that were murdered in the classroom?" I fee…