On the Murder of Charlie Kirk

This story was originally published on Slack Tide.

If you’re online in any capacity today, I know you’re likely inundated with thoughts’n’feelings about the death of Charlie Kirk. So have no fear — you won’t be getting much of it from me. Which is not to say you won’t get just a little.

I don’t believe in heaping false praise on the dead. I try to stay ruthlessly honest around here, so I’ll say it outright: I had contempt for nearly everything that came out of Charlie Kirk’s mouth, including and especially his suggestion that a “patriot” post bail for Paul Pelosi’s attacker when the latter was nearly killed by a hammer to his skull in his own home. But no matter how you felt about Kirk personally, two little kids who depended on him are now fatherless. Kirk’s cold-blooded murder was disgusting and wrong. Watching him catch a bullet in his throat yesterday made me sick to my stomach. And the fact that someone like me

feels compelled to even weigh in with that utterly banal observation shows just how far our standards have fallen. Because feeling compelled to say the obvious often sadly means that it’s no longer so obvious. Which is why things like this keep happening. Anyone who is celebrating Kirk’s killing is neither a friend to their country nor human decency. Anyone calling for revenge against entire groups of people not responsible for his death is just as awful. War crimes are war crimes, no matter who commits them. We need to stop condemning them selectively, and start condemning them universally.

Abhor the hatred in yourself that you see in others. (Self pep-talk, there.) Love your neighbor, even if you loathe what they stand for. The best way to keep your country from breaking for good is to stop rationalizing its brokenness.