Sena C. Capparuccia
Many are saddened by the recent shooting which took the life of conservative speaker Charlie Kirk. And, somehow, in this sick culture in which we live, some are exuberant. Obviously, facebook and social media of all strands have “blown up” over the incident. One post which I heard today was that Kirk was “not a martyr.” Well, let’s think about that for a moment.
What is a martyr? Webster defines a martyr as “a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion;” and “a person who sacrifices something of great value and especially life itself for the sake of principle.” Now, Kirk did not voluntarily suffer death, to be sure. Undoubtedly he knew the dangers to which he was exposing himself by being out in the open with his college campus talks. And he did not surround himself with security nor impose security checkpoints and metal detectors at his events (he believed that all should be welcome without any infringement upon personal rights.) So, in a sense, he absolutely voluntarily put himself in danger.
He was not preaching a religion, per se, but preaching the reality-based, common-sense principles based on the Christian religion. So, in a sense, he was killed for being an outspoken Christian even though he was – though he was not advancing any particular ‘brand’ of Christianity.
But let’s take a look at another definition of martyr, the verb form, to be martyred: “to put to death on account of adhering to a belief, faith, or profession.” Oh, my friends, that’s exactly what happened and let no one argue it. Because of his beliefs and the profession of those beliefs, Charlie Kirk was killed, and many are praising the action. So even if he wasn’t a martyr, he was most certainly martyred and therefore the man who shot him, the ideology that was behind it, and all those who agree with this ideology, have made him a martyr. We saw this in 1968 when Martin Luther King was killed. He, too, could not be considered a martyr even though he was, in fact, martyred. And interestingly it is the same ideology that killed both Kirk and King. It is the ideology that wants to live in an identity-based culture with anti-Judeo-Christian ideals that always, in every place it has been tested, makes a society worse, more dangerous, and stricken with economic and moral poverty and distrust.
I suspect, given the reactions – which are clearly divided – there will be more to come. At this point, then, with the stakes that much higher, all who follow in Charlie Kirk’s footsteps will indeed be martyrs, voluntarily giving themselves up for a cause: a belief in Truth.
I believe that with the martyrdom of Kirk a line has been crossed that will escalate the cultural fight for sanity and truth to a new level. May the memory of Charlie Kirk along with the belief in Jesus Christ as King of all kings, lead God’s people, and those who believe in Right, on the path to America’s freedom from insanity. To make America great again will take a bit for effort than we thought as this incident shows just how far from greatness America has gone. Killing Kirk is like shining a light in a room full of cockroaches, but now that the light is turned on, we can all see where the roaches are and just how many we’re dealing with.
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