I am sure you don’t need me to tell you that Charlie Kirk was shot and killed yesterday. While I knew his name and had seen a few of his videos in passing, I had little familiarity with him or his work. But when articles about him flooded my app this morning, I understood that his death was proving to be especially noteworthy among the people whose sites I read (and, therefore, presumably among the people who read my site). For that reason, I thought it might be worth putting together this special edition of A La Carte. I do so simply to provide a curated collection of articles written by people whose writing I follow and who, therefore, I consider trusted voices
Scroll down for the latest updates
It is noteworthy how many people are sensing that there is a deep significance to the event that will only become clear in the days ahead. Another theme is how deeply this event will affect a younger generation of conservatives who looked up to Kirk and saw him as representing their interests. A third theme is the tragic injustice of his death and the need to pray for his wife and children.
WORLD magazine approaches the story as news in Charlie Kirk, 31, dies from gunshot wound. They explain what happened while also explaining who Kirk is and what he was known for. (You may need to create a free account to access WORLD.) Christianity Today also provides a news story and, as they do so, offer quotes from a variety of believers. Their article, which may require you to create a free account, is titled simply Charlie Kirk Fatally Shot at TPUSA Event. The Wall Street Journal explains how the shooting and immediate aftermath unfolded. (This article should be unlocked for you.)
Albert Mohler dedicated today’s entire episode of The Briefing to Kirk’s death, calling it “a day that will shape a generation.” As part of his discussion he explains why he thinks this should be considered an assassination rather than simply a murder. You can watch it, listen to it, or read the transcript. Mohler also wrote “A Most Tragic Turning Point” for WORLD Opinions, in which he says, “Every generation has its own formative moments. … Yesterday is now one of those days, and for today’s young adults, and especially for young Christians, and even more specifically for Christian and conservative young men, it is a day that will also be seared into generational memory. The assassination of Charlie Kirk, right at the heart of a major American university, even as he sat under the banner, ‘Prove Me Wrong,’ is a generation shaping event.” (Also at WORLD: Charlie Kirk, RIP by Erick Erickson)
On a related note, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (and Boyce College) adjusted their chapel schedule to dedicate that block of time to a discussion between Albert Mohler, Dustin Bruce, Denny Burk, and Andrew Walker. They did this, in part at least, because so many of their students are familiar with Kirk. Thus they grapple not only with the facts, but also on the impact of the event and the gruesome videos of it. You can watch it on YouTube or at the seminary site.
Samuel James wrote “How Great the Chasm That Lay Between Us” and says, “The murder of Charlie Kirk feels different. It feels like a true inflection point, a milestone of American cultural history after which things may not be the same. As someone online pointed out, the assassination attempt on Donald Trump last summer was shocking, but both his survival and America’s relative familiarity with that sort of thing helped soothe the country’s nerves. Charlie Kirk was not an elected official, but a private citizen. He was a commentator and media personality. Because of that, this killing feels wider in symbolism. Tonight, a lot of Americans feel like someone died on their behalf. And there’s some truth in that.”
Denny Burk points out that “many Americans have a sinking feeling that they know where this is going. They believe that this is political violence perpetrated for political reasons to achieve a political effect. Those assumptions are difficult to resist in a moment like this, but they are nevertheless only assumptions at this point. We will have to reserve final judgement until all the evidence is in, and we aren’t even close to that yet. But still, that sinking feeling persists, doesn’t it?”
Kevin Carson wrote a lengthy response in which he says, “His untimely death, a public assignation at Utah Valley University during a ‘Prove Me Wrong’ event for his organization, leaves a country asking questions about our very soul as a nation. On the eve of the 250th anniversary of the country, his death and others in the news recently leave an unmatched ache in the decades since the 1960s and 1970s. His loss not only provides a void in the landscape of American political discourse, but moreover demonstrates how broken this discourse is. Yet, in this moment of grief, followers of Jesus Christ are called to reflect and to respond in a manner that reflects the hope of the Gospel and the call to love and civility.”
Jonathan Van Maren titled his article What We Have Lost and says, “The killing of Charlie Kirk feels like one of those black swan events that constitutes a before-and-after moment. I have been on many major American college campuses to do pro-life displays; I’ve stood next to the open mic with over a thousand angry protestors crowding the display. Even when hostility seethed below the surface, it never felt genuinely dangerous. With one bullet, the era of open discourse on campus feels utterly transformed.”
Mitch Chase focuses a bit less on the event itself and more on the Bible says about God’s hatred of evil in Six Things the Lord Hates, Seven That Are an Abomination. “The biblical authors are crystal clear that God hates evil. On the appointed day of judgment, he will administer his righteous wrath with holy and unimpeachable justice. In the meantime, since believers are image-bearers who are being restored and renewed in Christ, a need we have is to hate what God hates and to love what God loves.”
Mike McGarry of Youth Pastor Theologian, whose ministry is largely among teens and young adults, writes Three Biblical Principles for Christians After Charlie Kirk’s Death. He says, “The way parents and youth workers talk about this will matter just as much as the content of what we say. For that reason, I want to offer a few biblical principles that may help us collectively grieve and seek unity as a nation.”
Collin Hansen turns to some crucial theological questions and does so not only in the light of Kirk’s death, but also the horrifying murder of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte. In Where Is King Jesus When Violence Reigns? he says, “the cries of victims, and their families, ring loud in our ears. This world is groaning (Rom. 8:22). So where is God? Why don’t we hear from him? Where is justice? Who will bear the sword to defend the law, to defend innocent life? (Rom. 13:4).”
Jonathan Threlfall offers Four Prayer Responses to the Murder of Charlie Kirk. “All murders are tragic and unconscionable, but some seem to signal a kind of inflection point in social life, especially when it comes to our ability to engage in public discourse on highly contentious topics. That’s the way many people, including myself, feel about the killing of Charlie Kirk.”
Updates (Evening of September 11)
Gavin Ortlund offers a video titled If You Need Hope….
Sarah Walton laments The Day We Stopped Seeing The Humanity In Each Other. “Ultimately, this battle against evil won’t end on this side of heaven. But we press on in hope because we know how the story ends. And then we live by example by treating each person as a life that Jesus sacrificed himself for.”
Trevin Wax brings Scattered Thoughts from a Heavy Heart. “I wrestled this morning with the question of if and what to write, after a long and heavy week of unspeakable evil and injustice. There’s always the risk, when passions run hot, I might say something that could sound insensitive or untimely, and so I beg the grace of readers as I share a few thoughts that feel as scattered on the screen as they are in my mind.”
Melissa Edgington is concerned This Will Turn Us Into Radicals. “I have no doubt that this tragic killing will make radicals out of us. I pray it makes us radically tender-hearted, radically bold, radically controlled, radically merciful, radically compassionate, radically loving.”
Updates (September 12)
Todd Friel has a lengthy video in which he asks Why Would God Ordain Something So Evil?.
Bethel McGrew says Je Suis Charlie. “The people who have truly taken Kirk’s spirit to heart are not the people who want to watch the world, or the city, burn. And it is to them we must look: to the students immediately praying in the moments after he was shot, the young men showing up next morning in suits and ties, the little fanboy leading Bible study, the mourners singing hymns. And in hope, we also look to those whose minds he changed.”
Randy Alcorn offers Charlie Kirk, the Brevity of Life, God’s Sovereignty, and Our Rock-Solid Hope. “As a young teenager who had no spiritual life, my head full of vivid memories of watching hours of the televised killings and related news and the funerals of JFK, MLK, and RFK, I was haunted by a sense of hopelessness. I knew the world was a mess, and in the next few years I would come to realize that I too was a mess, and was prompted to turn to Jesus. That’s why I am especially sorry for the countless young people, believers and unbelievers alike, who followed Charlie Kirk. Many of them are now feeling exactly what I felt back in those days.”
