We used to say that martyrdom didn’t really happen in the west. We might face increasing opposition to our beliefs, but Christian persecution is pretty minor in countries like ours. Today Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was shot dead. I have seen the footage. There was a lot of blood. But as Tertullian famously said “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church”.
Some of us, myself included, woke up to this news this morning shocked and dismayed. Charlie was one of the most effective and helpful Christians of our age. He spoke rationally, Christianly, and in a God honouring manner. He was a committed father of two young children, loving husband to his wife, and a strong proponent of biblical Christian values. He rightly believed and preached that abortion is wrong, that it is perhaps the single biggest evil in our time, that it results in the en masse murder of children to the tune of millions each year. For this he was constantly attacked. He stood up against liberal leftist views and spent a large portion of his time openly debating people in public. During these debates he would put forward a rational and logical view and invited others to poke holes in his arguments. Very few, if any, succeeded at that. At the same time he allowed others to freely express their opinions and would then challenge them on the aspects of their worldviews that were in conflict or irrational. For this he endured abuse and, at times, assault. He stood up for historical views that society has held as given for hundreds of years. These "radical" views include that there are only two genders, that men and women are different, that it is good for men and women to have children, that it is immoral to murder unborn children, that people should take responsibility for who they have sex with, and that the problem with the world was not primarily "out there" but "in here". He actively opposed transgenderism as an evil which forces people to participate in, affirm and champion a lie they know to be untrue.
He did these things because he was a Christian who loved Jesus. He was a patriot who loved his country. He was a rational debater who loved people enough to challenge them on beliefs that harm themselves and the world. I do not agree with his view that gun ownership is a good thing, but He did not force anyone to accept his views. Instead he tried to convince people through rational argument. He let rational common-sense thought dictate what he believed, and publicly invited others to do the same.
I believe that that is why he was shot. No, not shot, martyred. Killed for promoting a world in which Christ ruled. Assassinated for fighting for a world ordered the way the Creator did. He died as a victim of a spiritual war. A victim of the fight for the very soul of countries like the USA and Australia that were built on a Christian foundation. He died after being shot, while openly and publicly inviting debate in his "Prove me wrong" booth at Utah Valley University. But today Channel 9 (Australia) reported "Pro-trump personality Charlie kirk dead after shooting on US college campus". BBC reported that "Trump ally shot dead at campus event". ABC (Australia) ran a piece titled "Who was Charlie Kirk, the MAGA podcaster and Trump ally shot dead in Utah?". While this may be media shorthand, it goes to show that these media outlets have fundamentally misunderstood what Charlie Kirk stood for.
Charlie Kirk was assassinated, not because he supported Trump. He was martyred because he fought, peacefully, for a world aligned with the design of God. A world where people weren't forced to participate in lies. A world in which the courage to speak the truth would be applauded instead of ridiculed. R.F. Kennedy Jr. said it well: "Once again, a bullet has silenced the most eloquent truth teller of an era."
But perhaps the one who said it best was Jesus himself: "Well done, good and faithful servant... Enter into the joy of your master."
Note: this is an opinion piece on a developing situation.