Charlie Kirk: Part 5: Is He a Martyr?

This is going to be a tricky one, and I bet one that a lot of people get mad at me for. But here goes.

First of all, what is a martyr? Like any good writer, let’s hit Oxford:
“a person who is killed or made to suffer because of their religious or other beliefs”

I think we can all agree there’s no debate on the brutal nature of Charlie Kirk’s death. He was intentionally hunted, targeted, and executed by a murderer. He was given no warning, and no escalation of violence. He was just killed, in broad daylight, in front of innocent people.

But what about the next question: was he killed for religious or other beliefs?

This is a tough one to answer right now, and I might come back and edit this post when more information becomes available. In the few days since his death, I’ve seen “proof” that the murderer killed him because Kirk was a Christian, he killed him because he (the killer) followed hard right leaders who thought Kirk was too liberal, he killed him because he was radicalized by antifa, he killed him because Trump ordered a hit over the Epstein files, he killed him because he had brain-rot from too much Net, he killed him to get famous, and who knows how many other reasons.

Here’s the thing: I don’t know that we’ll ever know. Even if the killer some day says “why,” who knows if that’s the real reason. Charles Guiteau, the man who assassinated President James Garfield, said on different occasions that he killed him because he helped get Garfield elected and should get a government job (Garfield refused), because he was angry about the wealth gap in America, because he thought he was saving a divided country, because he wanted his own faction to control the Republican Party, and because God told him to do it.

Which of these is the real reason? All of them? None of them? How would we ever know? We know of modern day assassins who killed someone to impress a hollywood actress, others who killed just to get famous, and others who wanted to die and just wanted to do it in a memorable way.

Will we ever know why Kirk was killed? I really doubt it. I’m sure everyone will find a reason that fits their own personal political or religious reasons, and they’ll settle in on that. We’ll see.

How Are We Known

But to answer this, I would ask this hypothetical question: if Mother Theresa were assassinated, what would you think the motivation might be? Would it be because of her political opinions? For her wealth? For her divisiveness? I think you wouldn’t even consider these things, and that’s because she lived her life in a way that left no room for that option.

Now consider Charlie Kirk. Why was he killed? Would you be confident in saying it was only because of his Christian life? Or did he live his life in such a way that the real motive is harder to find? Did he give people reasons, other than Christ, to feel anger towards him?

(Again, I know this is going to get me some angry retorts, but if you wish to know my opinion, here we go.)

I have said before that rhetoric has consequences; there’s no such thing as “idle talk,” or “locker room talk,” or “words will never hurt me.” Kirk himself said “When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence.” That implies that words are not violence, that they do no real harm.

But I disagree. Words mean things. As Christians, we know this. We believe God “spoke” Creation into being, we believe Jesus “commanded” demons to leave, we believe that our testimony changes the very fabric of existence. “The power of life and death is in the tongue” after all (Proverbs 18:21). Did Charlie Kirk use his words in a way that brought peace, or encouraged disunity?

Additionally, there are those who were angry at Charlie Kirk for what they perceived was a religious and political con game. I know some people will say “never,” but how do you reconcile Charlie Kirk’s reported 12 million dollar net worth at the time of his death? I don’t want to get into a big debate about wealth, but I think by any measure that’s quite a lot.

Do you believe martyrs of the past, Simon Peter or Polycarp, had that kind of material wealth? Why not? If you had that wealth, what would you do with it? (You can look up Kirk’s other material wealth if you care to; I don’t feel it’s necessary to this point.) Would you buy homes with it, or give it away? What would Jesus say if you asked him?

What about Kirk’s comments regarding school shootings or other gun violence? Can you picture Mother Theresa (I’m a kid of the 80s, I’m going to reference her a lot here) saying something like this: “ I think it’s worth it. I think it’s worth to have a cost of unfortunately some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is prudent.”

In a way, I agree with Kirk that gun deaths are the price we pay for the 2nd amendment. But I wonder if his wife and kids feel the same now. And I mean that sincerely; maybe Charlie and his family would say “yes, it may cost my life, but I feel that strongly about it.” Perhaps his passion covered that. I really don’t know.

But are these religious beliefs? Or are they political beliefs? Is it defending Christ or conservatism?

Muddle in the Middle

I am saddened by his death, as I would be by any victim of violence. I grieve for his wife and children, robbed of their husband and father. He may well have been a Christian man; I suspect he was, though I obviously don’t know him personally.

But he was not simply a vocal proponent of the gospel; he had many other views and I think a good argument could be made he was more known for those views than his Christian views. The outpouring of sentiments equating him to the saints is an example of the muddling of politics and faith that I think is the biggest error in our churches today.

My friends, Charlie Kirk may be a martyr, and I believe in a lot of ways he is. But he’s not a martyr for Jesus, Christianity, or the Church. He’s a martyr for conservatism, for aggressive politics, for a specific vision of America. If we want to honor him as a victim of political violence, I think that is legitimate. I don’t know at this point the motivations of the shooter, but I would guess that was a big piece of it.

He may well be a martyr, but he’s a martyr for Christian nationalism, not the gospel of Jesus Christ he promoted a message for America, not the faith that has been passed down through the Church since the book of Acts.

I have tried to remember to pray for peace for his family and friends. I want to be understanding of those in my circles who felt close to him, who felt that he represented them. It saddens me that he was killed.

But it saddens me even more that so many in the church don’t know the difference between political martyrdom and martyrdom for the Cross.