Truth Cannot Be Killed: A Tribute to Charlie Kirk

The assassination of Charlie Kirk was not just the killing of a brilliant young mind, a husband, and a father; it was an attempt to kill the truth. It was an attempt to kill a movement of young adults engaging in public discourse about the essential truths of humanity. And it was an attempt to kill civility.

This is not to say that everything Charlie said was true; I don’t think that is the case for any of us. But Charlie Kirk engaged the arena of ideas more courageously, more robustly, more civilly, and with more faith than just about anyone in the public square today, which is why he had such a following among the youth. He was different.

He did not, as far as I could tell, use the inflammatory language so common in today’s public discourse. He was obviously a staunch conservative and a man of genuine faith, with firm convictions and a preternatural gift for debate, all of which got him killed. But his conservativism was not ideological or partisan. It came from conviction, well-reasoned conviction.

The loss of Charlie Kirk at the hands of yet another practitioner of the culture of death is a tragedy for the country since he, more than anyone else, attempted good faith efforts to model civil discourse and debate in the public square. His hallmark characteristic was to use speech, with patience and kindness, not violence, to address divisive issues. You might disagree with him, but he would give anyone a genuine hearing and then respond.

The assassin and those who are pleased with the fact that Charlie Kirk is no longer in the public arena fail to understand that what was attacked was not so much a man as the idea that the truth is more powerful than a bullet.

This sort of violence is a tacit admission that untruths are not powerful enough to combat the truth. It is cowardice, but also the fruit of the failure of lies. Yes, there is profound loss with the death of Charlie, but the truth that he relentlessly pursued cannot be killed. In the end, truth will prevail.

Just by telling the truth, we can defeat evil. This, I hope, is part of Charlie’s legacy. The best way to respond to this tragedy is with truth, since the light of truth is what destroys lies, even violent lies.

We are living through a perilous moment in history. Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East threaten lives and peace everywhere. The cold civil war that exists in our country is heating up and threatens widespread violence. To acknowledge obvious truths is becoming increasingly dangerous.

And yet each of us has an obligation to speak the truth. We may not be able to do it as cleverly as Charlie did, but we must be willing to risk everything for the truth. We must give ourselves to the truth with the belief that even in death, the truth will prevail. Simply by telling the truth, evil and untruths will be defeated.

We are in a serious struggle for our freedoms and our culture, and the murder of Charlie Kirk seems to be an inflection point. Where do we go from here? There is a danger that his death will lead to more violence. Anger over his death is certainly justified, but violence will not win the day. The virtues that Charlie exhibited are what’s needed: Patience and kindness with a firm commitment to the truth.

Sadly, the open and at times violent hostility towards people of traditional faith in this country is becoming a new normal. Yes, there are examples of conservatives behaving badly, but it is obvious that the violence building in our country is directed at people of traditional faith.

We are not facing the systematic persecution of Nero, but the persecution is real, nonetheless. Lives are being lost, but the culture of death is destructive in other ways as well. My two teenage children were both fans of Charlie Kirk. On Wednesday, their innocence was taken away. They now know that to hold ideas that conflict with the progressive Left means that they, too, are hated and that hatred can turn violent.

Ultimately, of course, the response can only be an unwavering commitment to the truths of the Gospel. Belonging to God allows us to defeat lies and deception. Charlie Kirk was a Christian and outspoken about his faith. We’ve been learning that his wife went to daily Mass and that Charlie sometimes went with her. His murder cannot be separated from the fact that he had deep, personal faith.

The Christian faith is not safe. It requires a commitment to the truth that demands sacrifice. Let’s hope, not the sacrifice of one’s life, but our life is about the eternal, and it requires a commitment to the truth. If necessary, the commitment of a martyr.

Let us pray that Charlie’s life will inspire more of us courageously to commit to the truth regardless of the risk.