The French philosopher Pascal collected his thoughts in a list and it was published in a volume called Penses (‘Thoughts’). Sometimes this format is more conducive to putting together several distinct but varied ideas about a topic. There were so many different topics being discussed regarding Charlie Kirk and I had thoughts about all of them, so rather than reply to each of them individually when I saw them, I have put them all in one post. For those interested..
1.
Charlie Kirk was a sinner.
All sin deserves death (because God is holy).
But it is God who must repay, not us.*
Rather, our job is to love everyone, acknowledge sin where it exists, work for change, always remain willing to forgive, and share the message of reconciliation with God (1 John 5:11-12).
(*In fact all sin was ultimately paid for by Jesus’ death because God wanted to simultaneously uphold the attributes of justice and love.)
2.
Kirk’s choice of president is suspect, not so his choice of Lord. Trump is guilty of many things which, in my view make him unfit to govern, even though he has made some good policy decisions and it may end up that his collective platform may ultimately be shown to be the lesser of two evils. But to put someone in power who is mostly ego is like playing Russian roulette with a presidency (no pun intended). I don’t believe Christians should promote Trump, certainly not without qualification, and absolutely not as a Christian president – He is not one. However, who your Lord is, is another story, as it goes above all other allegiances. Understanding Jesus’ claims and making Him one’s Lord, personally, is the most important decision anyone can make and I would implore everyone to make it. He is a loving and holy creator, saviour, invisible spirit, and the all powerful Son of God.
3.
Some people used Kirk’s stance on gun control (that some gun deaths are “acceptable”) to suggest he deserved what he had happen to him, but let me show you the flaw in that reasoning. The argument (whether or not he was able to properly voice it) is not that some deaths are acceptable with this platform and therefore are good or neutral events, but rather that some deaths, which are always tragic, will happen with this platform and do not impact the overall argument for the platform because of the claim to greater value brought by it. To greater clarify this, consider the parallel claim someone could make with ambulances. A certain number of deaths happen every year with ambulance accidents. Someone could claim (as most of us would) that the deaths are “acceptable” in order to have the greater good of ambulance service. But if you or I died in an ambulance accident, it would remain heartless to say we got what we wanted or got what we deserved. Rather one must evaluate a platform based on the evidence for the good claimed vs the evidence for the negatives, and base assessments on that. I personally believe we need wise gun control laws, but I live in Canada where there aren’t many guns.
4.
Was Charlie Kirk a Racist? There is an effort to suggest he is. What constitutes evidence for this kind of claim? Is there a difference between hating one specific person and a whole group of people? Other than knowing he was a YouTuber who did public debate stuff, I didn’t know who Charlie Kirk was before this, so I couldn’t have said one way or the other. I often let others do research for me and I wait for the headlines (which can sometimes save time). I’ve now seen many video headlines of people who have done the digging and see no evidence of a racist orientation.
5.
I don’t believe the left is rejoicing over Kirk’s death the way some on the right are suggesting. There’s always a fringe group that acts in these extreme ways and it is manipulative to characterize the whole group based on these few. Both sides must be responsible to put accuracy first when showing responses from the other side.
Applying the “Russia filter” to this situation would perhaps lead us to see how the Russian social media farms are working overtime to foment extreme views and further divide the US (and the west). Always look at things you see on social media through the “Russia filter”, especially extreme views or views that encourage hate of the other side. Their comparative strength is increased the more we tear ourselves apart and weaken ours.
6.
Free speech works both ways. But some ideas are more destructive than others. Destructive ideas take more effort and attention to combat, but should always be done without violence. Also without hate towards the people who hold them, but rather understanding. If both sides battle with understanding we can still live together at the end of the day if we still disagree.
Free speech works both ways. So companies cannot arbitrarily fire people but they can have standards and have a right to fire who they deem in violation of their standards. If they get the temperature wrong with the application of their standards, they will lose business. Leaders should never coerce companies (directly or indirectly) to fulfill their political ends. This is a violation of power that Trump is guilty of.
7.
What do you do when you see your “opponent” violating a ground rule? Do you simply call them out, or do you begin to violate the same rule? Choosing to violate, in any context, means you don’t actually believe in the rules. Rules, if they are indeed rules, are meant to be in place and held, always, regardless of what others are doing. If we put our human inclinations under the microscope, I believe we see that deep down part of us wants to violate “rules”.. for the benefit it will bring us in the immediate situation of our lives.. If we can get away with it.. And if there isn’t a God who is keeping track. But there is a God who is keeping track.
8.
Somehow we know that murderers deserve hell (there’s a certain moral logic to it), but Jesus said that even if I hate someone, or mock or defame them (call them a fool), I am engaging in that which will be judged as murder (Matthew 5:21-22). Words can crush, this we also know, but Jesus is teaching something even deeper, that God sees the same root in someone hating someone as someone living out the maximal action of that root – there are no illusions with God, even if there may be with us. Societies must make laws with gradations of punishment based on degree of crime, this God acknowledged too (Luke 12:47-48), however when it comes to final judgement before the great marriage supper (a celebration that will go on for eternity), it is meant to remove all evil people, that is people with even a hint of evil within. Except for the immense grace of God’s salvation plan, this would exclude every single one of us. But the good news is that with Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, God paid the debt for all sin AND offers the necessary evil removal (promising to eventually remove, via lifelong process, all evil from within those who accept the gift of forgiveness). I could never do this removing of evil myself, but God is working on me (amazingly at times) and he promises to finish me before the celebration (which is the only way I could ever be part of it).
9.
You are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). Does this make you perfect? Of course not, we still have free will (which is another aspect of how we are made in the image of God), and the Bible is clear that we all suffer from corruption of this ideal state, even as the image never fully goes away.
But what exactly does it mean that you are made in the image of God? It means that stirring within your thoughts and inclinations are inclinations towards God’s thoughts – automatic, pre-packaged orientation towards the good and the perfect. This then is why we want to protect children and the weak, help the less fortunate (at times with generosity, and other times with education and growth so they can help themselves), and to stand up for truth and justice… and when it comes to justice, it means this: we want to remove wrongdoers from society, and also give wrongdoers the best chance to reform rather than simply eliminating them, if at all possible. All of these inclinations are God’s good desires, therefore when you feel one of them, you’re feeling something that by nature is good and appropriate – the only problem that arises is if you misapply one of these when an opposing inclination is warranted. It is not we who get to decide which of two opposing responses is the correct one to apply, but God, for He knows everything.
And beyond an opportunity for reform, God begins with an opportunity for amnesty from all the wrong we’ve already done – and reform is meant to come out of that (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). To accept this amnesty, just believe all that Jesus claimed to be and to do on your behalf, confess Him as the Lord, and continue to acknowledge His personal presence in your life. Then it’s best to find a good church for encouragement, since the world and the devil will throw everything at you to hinder this decision – the world, because it doesn’t understand it, and the devil, because he does.