Tributes To Charlie

More moving words celebrating the life and work of Charlie Kirk:

By now many millions of words have been written and spoken about the martyrdom of Christian conservative champion Charlie Kirk. In my two previous articles on his diabolical assassination, I shared some of these words. By now entire volumes could be filled with all the remarks, commentary and testimonials about this great man.

Here are a select few more, first from overseas commentators – some famous, some not so famous; then some Australian remarks; and finally, a closing comment from a very special guest.

Powerful thoughts from Allie Beth Stuckey:

There’s so much ugliness online right now. People cheering on Charlie’s murder. I won’t highlight them. Instead I’ll just remind you of this: Charlie wouldn’t care one bit about what those people think. He was extremely aware of the existence of evil and of spiritual warfare. Demons are rejoicing. Satan’s glad he took an effective soldier out of the fight, and everyone who follows Satan feels the same.

What an incredible honor. May we all, when we die, make the demons rejoice. May we all be so courageous, so bold, so effective, so faithful, so obedient to the Lord, so relentless in the pursuit of His glory that when we die all of God’s enemies cheer. May they lament every breath we take, may they be enraged by every morning that our feet hit the floor, may they wince at every word we say. We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, my friends.

I am already seeing God use this moment to unite people and bring them to truth. If the enemy’s goal was to scare us into silence, he’s failed spectacularly. This is what happens when you make a martyr: you embolden everyone who believes like they do. Charlie and the truth he represented will spread further and wider than it ever has before.

To the people who did this, to the people who support this, you have changed the country forever. If your goal was to immortalize Charlie’s ideas, and to raise people even bolder and more relentless than him, good job. That’s exactly what you’ve done.

President Donald Trump shared these thoughts:

Charlie was the best of America, and the monster who attacked him was attacking our whole country. An assassin tried to silence him with a bullet, but he failed, because together, will ensure that his voice, his message, and his legacy will live for countless generations to come. Today, because of this heinous act, Charlie’s voice has become bigger and grander than ever before, and it’s not even close.

Here is some of what Vice-President J. D. Vance wrote:

When I became the VP nominee–something Charlie advocated for both in public and private–Charlie was there for me. I was so glad to be part of the president’s team, but candidly surprised by the effect it had on our family. Our kids, especially our oldest, struggled with the attention and the constant presence of the protective detail. I felt this acute sense of guilt, that I had conscripted my kids into this life without getting their permission. And Charlie was constantly calling and texting, checking on our family and offering guidance and prayers. Some of our most successful events were organized not by the campaign, but by TPUSA. He wasn’t just a thinker, he was a doer, turning big ideas into bigger events with thousands of activists….

Charlie genuinely believed in and loved Jesus Christ. He had a profound faith. We used to argue about Catholicism and Protestantism and who was right about minor doctrinal questions. Because he loved God, he wanted to understand him….

And now that Charlie is in heaven, I’ll ask him to talk to big man directly on behalf of his family, his friends, and the country he loved so dearly. You ran a good race, my friend. We’ve got it from here.

J. K. Rowling tweeted this:

If you believe free speech is for you but not your political opponents, you’re illiberal. If no contrary evidence could change your beliefs, you’re a fundamentalist. If you believe the state should punish those with contrary views, you’re a totalitarian. If you believe political opponents should be punished with violence or death, you’re a terrorist.

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I have no idea who the following four folks are, but they have great things to say:

Julie Orozco wrote:

I have never mourned a stranger so strongly before. There was something about him, he was set apart. My heart is broken for him and all the life and memories he should have lived with his wife and children. But I am forever grateful and inspired by his courage, faith, and tireless work for what he believed.

Drew Pavlou said:

I will explain to you why the killing of Charlie Kirk pushes me to the right. He had the exact same views as my Trump supporting parents who love. He had the exact same views as half my extended family. Just regular Boomer conservatism. And thousands of leftists celebrate him being shot in the neck and bleeding out in front of his three year old daughter. If they want that for Charlie Kirk, they want that for my parents and my other loved ones.

And I won’t stand for it. Because I’m not a suicidal spiteful mutant with hatred for my own family, my own parents, my own civilisation. I love the people who raised me and I’m loyal to them and I won’t ally myself with people who want to murder them. Just because they have old fashioned values that were completely common throughout 99% of modern history – a love of faith, family, church, nation.

Maya Poet said:

Thank you, Charlie Kirk, for showing such compassion to the young trans identifying students you identified with. Seeing your work helped me get myself out of the woke cult and to leave transgenderism behind. You, sir, have helped to save a generation. Charlie Kirk has changed so many lives. He will be so deeply missed.

Prof. Kyle Welch tweeted:

As a university professor, I’ve hidden my political beliefs to retain employment. I’ve posted on social media under anonymous accounts, fearing cancelation. That ends today.

Australia

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott said this:

Over the past 24 hours, especially talking to young people, I’ve been really struck by the impact Charlie Kirk has had on their lives. He’s been a force for faith and is now a martyr for free speech. His life should inspire more of us to be more like him: an exemplar of character, courage and conviction.

Victorian MP Moira Deeming posted this:

On the day of Charlie Kirk’s tragic death, my eldest daughter arrived at school to find her classmates celebrating his murder. What she recounted reminded me of William Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’ – about the descent of well-trained, well-behaved schoolchildren into violent savages. For publicly defending Charlie Kirk, my daughter faced a sudden and aggressive onslaught of physical intimidation, fury, jeering and accusations.

I’m pleased to report that she calmly answered every question, never responded in kind and after the teacher put a stop to it – one girl later apologised for her bad behaviour and acknowledged my daughter’s grace under fire. My daughter learned how to do so in large part, by watching Charlie Kirk use good humour, clear language and good will toward those he was debating. I’m so grateful my daughter had an alternative to the savagery of the youth “influencers” our culture has produced. Vale Charlie.

Christian academic Stephen Chavura wrote in part:

The cultured Christian despisers of political conservatism and MAGA especially, the cultured despisers of culture war discourse, have been telling us for years that everything Charlie embodied will just alienate people, and that the culture wars are a mere sideshow. “Trump evangelicals are driving people away from Christ!”, we were told. The term “culture warrior” to, say, the Gospel Coalition crowd or the CPX crowd is a low-key insult. Did Gospel Coalition Australia or CPX have anything to say about any of this yesterday when Charlie was assassinated?

But here’s the thing. All over social media I’m finding literally thousands of people who are grieving Charlie Kirk. In my own private life I have friends who aren’t regular church-attenders who are grieving Charlie Kirk and had watched his reels over the years. Normal people who may not have opened a Bible or cast a shadow in a church for years are grieving this man who meant something to them. This man who was MAGA, Christian nationalist, and loved nothing more than sharing his simple defence of the risen, triumphant Jesus to university students and anyone who would listen….

In fact, if your attitude to Charlie before yesterday was to basically be pretty dismissive, retire now from telling anyone about how to engage in cultural apologetics, because you manifestly have no clue and are usurping the authority of a teacher. The jig is up. Knock it off. Get an honest job. Charlie’s death should generate a paradigm shift in the thinking of the Christian cultured despisers of the culture wars….

The global reaction to Charlie’s death and the manifestly massive impact this MAGA-supporting, culture warrior preacher has should be a MASSIVE wake-up call to so many Christian intellectuals, that they actually have no idea about modern culture, they are in no way in touch with mass culture, and that most of them are in fact in no way qualified to teach others about cultural engagement.

Let your paradigm shift begin and finally become part of the actual conversation that is taking place in the world, and soak up everything you can from the life and legacy of that non-degree-holding, MAGA-supporting, Christian nationalist follower of Jesus, Charlie Kirk. I truly wish you well.

Closing remark

One last important word of testimony by Jesus in Matthew 25:23:

Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.

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