By JOHN STOWERS
On Thursday, America marked one year after famous right-wing political commentator and founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated.
In the year after Charlie Kirk’s murder at Utah Valley University was broadcast for the world to see, we have seen an outpouring of love for his family and his organization, but we have also seen a level of vitriol rarely seen before. We have seen conspiracy theories aimed at TPUSA, Erica Kirk, the Israeli government and even the US government. We have seen people mock Charlie’s grieving widow and even go so far as to mock the manner his death. This past week, the internet has seen people of all ages and of one political bent partying at “Kirkiversary” parties, which celebrate Charlie’s assassination.
My question to the “Kirkiversary” partiers and to the NW News readers who maybe didn’t like Charlie, or were uninformed about Charlie’s mission is a question that has already been asked repeatedly: have you ever watched one of his videos?
Most people on the college campuses he would visit would call him a vicious racist, or a homophobe, or a transphobe or any number of insults that would — had those words not lost their meaning to almost half of Americans — publicly discredit that person and, in some cases, cause them to be rightfully ostracized from public discourse. But Charlie was none of those things. He cared deeply about those who he talked to, and that’s why he talked to them. Charlie sought to debate with people on college campuses; to bring different or entirely new ideas to people who — for most of their lives — have lived in a bubble and had not experienced a serious presentation or defense of these ideas.
Charlie fought for equality amongst all peoples, regardless of race. He even went so far as to say that race is a societal construct and that there are no differences between the races, there are only cultural differences between people. When approached by a woman asking about transgenderism, Charlie said that he didn’t want her pumping herself full of drugs in a vain attempt to “fix” herself. Instead, he said that she should sort out whatever mental issue was making her feel that way and then learn to be comfortable in her own body. On the multiple occasions that he was confronted on his stance on gay marriage and the LGBTQ, he said how can I hate that which I have a heart for. Charlie wanted to turn people away from a lifestyle that is biblically considered to be sinful. He did not want to ostracize them, or segregate them or in some other way get rid of them.
I will close with a comment adjacent to a lyric from an AI song that most of us know. We are not Charlie Kirk. No one alive can fill his shoes. No one could command that kind of attention, gain that sort of influence, spread that kind of message as eloquently and with as much grace and kindness as he did. And yet we must. We are not Charlie Kirk, but we must be Charlie Kirk. Those who believe in his message and in the God he professed must pick up his torch and carry on where he left off. Even those who don’t believe in Charlie’s conservative principles but still believe in free speech and free debate in society should stand up with those in his movement in the same way that he did and are invited to do so. No one can replace him, but we must try. The furtherance of the message he spread depends on it. We must be Charlie Kirk.