Charlie Kirk: Lights and Lumens in Turbulent Times

The cowardly and savage attack on Charlie Kirk deprived his wife (now widow), Erika Lane Kirk, and two children of the possibility of continuing to be part of a family centered on a man of integrity with much to teach the United States and the world. But fortunately, there's more than just bad news: Erika warned that "they have no idea what they've just unleashed" and has already assumed leadership of Turning Point USA, the organization founded by her husband.

According to journalist Matthew Continetti, Kirk is a victim of the increasingly notorious political violence in the US.

Kirk's murder was a barbaric attack on a member of civil society, as heinous as the shooting of two Israeli Embassy employees in the US. Compassion for the shooter, Hamas sympathizer Elias Rodriguez, reaches even lower levels when we know that one of the victims, Sarah Milgrim, crawled on the ground before being shot a second time and collapsing. Milgrim, 26, and Yaron Lischinsky, 28, were a couple who died outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.

It was recently announced that Luigi Mangione, who killed United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, will not be charged with terrorism for murdering the leader of the largest health insurer in the US, simply because New York state law does not consider acts motivated solely by ideology to be terrorism. Even so, nine charges remain against Mangione, who shot Thompson in the back as he was heading to a conference in Manhattan. The trial is scheduled for December 1st of this year.

This violence also affects politicians. Last year, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump was at risk of death at least twice. Senator John Hoffman and his wife, as well as lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, were murdered at their home in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. In April of this year, Cody Balmer was charged with attempted arson, aggravated arson, robbery, and terrorism, among other crimes, after throwing Molotov cocktails at the home of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.

In April, a California man allegedly in possession of guns, knives, and other dangerous tools was arrested outside the Maryland residence of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was charged with attempted murder in June. These are just a few examples.

As Continetti argues, reality and the rule of law are two drawbacks for those who, at least in America, have allowed themselves to be absorbed by anti-Zionism, climate alarmism, and the ambition to steer the US toward socialism and servitude.

What's proliferating on college campuses and in the streets of the United States is a continuation of so-called "propaganda by the deed ," a call for violent action, historically practiced and advocated by anarchists, designed to inspire the masses to revolt against the political structures of the state. This concept encompasses both peaceful demonstrations aimed at achieving social change and bombings, stabbings, shootings, and other terrorist acts. The concept's creation is attributed to the Italian anarchist (and later socialist) Carlo Pisacane, who considered it useful for awakening the masses and leading them to resist political oppression.

It was no coincidence that Charlie Kirk, three days before his death, admitted that his "day job" was "actively trying to prevent a revolution," without hiding his ambition to make Turning Point USA an "institution as well-known and powerful as the New York Times, Harvard, and tech companies." To prevent a revolution in the US, Kirk spared no effort in deconstructing the premises of socialism, feminism (especially its most toxic strains), gender theories, and the organizational structures of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), still sadly popular in the country.

It's hard to disagree with Allen Mendenhall, senior advisor to the Heritage Foundation's Capital Markets Initiative, when he writes that Charlie Kirk's death represents "the collapse of the great American experiment in self-government, a return to the Hobbesian state of nature in which might makes right and the strong devour the weak."

Charlie Kirk's Legacy: Rising Above Politics

Combating toxic ideas can (and should) go hand in hand with offering something positive for the community and the world.

According to Timothy P. Carney, Kirk was convinced that politics will never be, and should never be, treated as the most important element of our lives. More than striving to elect the right people or implement the best laws, we must cultivate our personal dimension. More important than politics is learning to love our neighbor, falling in love, marrying, and sharing our lives with another person, as well as sacrificing ourselves for others, especially our children.

As long as we live, there will be politicians who favor this path, but also others (often the majority) who will get in the way, as my generation well knows. For someone like Kirk, immersion in politics and the culture wars was (and is) inseparable from the suggestion and promotion of a healthy, happy, and responsible life.

Charlie Kirk's Legacy: Not Taking Free Speech for Granted

Mendenhall notes that America (and the world) owes a debt of gratitude to the founder of Turning Point USA for starting and expanding an association dedicated to empowering young people to speak out and argue for free markets and limited government.

As a speaker and organizer of debates on university campuses, always available for face-to-face discussions, Kirk was, and continues to be, a reference for all those who expect the university to be a space for freedom of expression, association, and discussion, as well as a starting point for a successful life without constraints in the assumption of convictions.

Kirk's life, which included a strong marriage and the raising of two children, is an example of how to live a commendable, productive, and enriching life.

It's heartbreaking to have to tell children and young people that the world is so dangerous today that people can pay with their lives simply for saying what they think out loud. We increasingly believe that the customs and beliefs that structure Western civilization are existentially threatened, and that we are approaching a dark future in which insults, physical violence, and, in extreme cases, weapons become the preferred method of conflict resolution.

Conclusion

Charlie Kirk would appreciate us standing with him to prevent a revolution and to show gratitude for the hard work of millions of men who, over the centuries, have built societies where debate has always been a regular practice, and where loss of life should not be a consequence of expressing one's true thoughts.

He would like us, in his name and with his dedication, to continue to do this. For the life we ​​all deserve.