Don’t let Kirk’s murder further divide us

Like many of us out there, I share the grief, anger, and shock that the entire nation must feel about the despicable act that has taken the life of one of America’s most influential political commentators, Charlie Kirk.

As someone how had the pleasure of getting to know him, not from watching many of his videos on TikTok, but having been previously involved with Turning Point USA both as a student and as an employee for a brief time, I always felt like Charlie had a profound impact on my life and on the lives of many young people of my generation that will help shape the future of this country. Every conversation I got to have with him had an impact on me whenever he talked about God, his family, or the things that he believed whole heartedly needed to be done in our great nation.

His death comes after we witnessed a short time ago the shootings in Annunciation church in Minneapolis, and the brutal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte a couple of weeks ago. And now with his death was the most significant political assassination since the murders of Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King over 50 years ago.

But we as Americans shouldn’t let this act divide us more than it already has. No doubt this murder will change not only America, but the rest of the world on how we view each other on politics.

Recently we have, unfortunately, seen individuals celebrate this tragedy and suggest the need for more death to come to those that don’t believe in the same values that they do. But now has to come the time where we cannot lose ourselves in these petty squabbles, and the time is now more than ever to turn our hearts to God in our struggle and awake a new movement.

So, now there must come a time where we must learn from the past, so that we can’t let his death not be in vain. Whether or not you are conservative or liberal, atheist or Christian, it matters now. Let us strive for peace that Charlie, and a whole lot of other political voices that have gone before us, would have wanted for this country.

The death of Charlie Kirk is a wound to free speech and political engagement — but it need not be fatal to those beliefs. America will get through this together as she has in the past, but now we are being tested: whether we respond with more division, or whether we recommit to holding open, safe spaces for debate. The choice will define us for years to come.

Tanner Richards lives in Marion.