Mourn, Empathize, But Do Not Villainize, Do Not Canonize.
The following piece is a response to the recent tragic events around the assassination of the Christian political activist, Charlie Kirk. Responses to his untimely passing at the hands of a gunman whose motives are yet unclear have been widely divisive, with many opposing political movements each desperate to frame this national tragedy in their own light. While it would be easy to avoid speaking into such a divisive discourse, we see the need for more Christian voices calling for prayer and reflection before lending our voices and power to the various political movements of the world.
We hope that in reading this reflection, you might see with the eyes of Christ and ask the Spirit to begin to help you feel what others might be feeling right now. Jesus said, if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? (see Luke 6:32). It is easy to love, support, and agree with those whom we already agree with. It is much harder to love and bear with those we might see as “the other” or even "the enemy." So, how do you love those who don't love you? We believe this reflection can be a start in that direction, and a path towards healing in our public discourse.
As you engage with this piece, we invite and welcome your feedback: hello@projectarctos.com
Charlie Kirk’s assassination is a tragedy to be mourned.
Like many of you, I view the events of September 10th, 2025 as horrific. The shooting of Charlie Kirk backdropped by yet another scene of scared kids, terrified parents and another Colorado school rocked by a shooting. As I sit here on the morning of the 24th anniversary of 9/11, an event I sat in my 5th grade classroom watching in horror 24 years ago, I am here saddened and frustrated and angry and a whole host of other emotions that will take a few days, if not years, to process.
I feel all these things because as many have pointed out, Kirk’s assassination was political violence and political violence is never, under any circumstances, acceptable. Yet, this summer I have watched it become normalized in news stories about the killings of CEOs, violence at the CDC, violence in Colorado, Minnesota leaders being assassinated in their own homes. I have seen too much and yes, as a Historian, it does concern me. As Andrew Eggar at the Bulwark asked recently, “Can anything be done about this?” after he had asserted that these actions were “reflective of a deeply sick nation.”[1]
We have become so divided that there were people celebrating online that this heinous thing had happened. That is a symptom of our deep sickness, that we would celebrate tragedy befalling those we disagree with. Even when the leaders of the nation sought to have a moment of silence some could not keep from screaming and fighting with each other. If our leaders cannot act like adults, it will be harder for the rest of the nation.
When the towers came down, 24 years ago, I remember the sense of national mourning that was felt. I remember feeling the loss of all those people, none of whom I had ever met or had any connection to except for a classmate who had family who worked in the South Tower (they had been sick that week and had not returned to work, which added a degree of separation for our class to the tragedy). I do not feel that way today; today I am just sad and disappointed in my fellow Americans. Today I see people calling us to mourn the twin tragedies of the 10th and then getting shouted down online. I see people passing blame and arguing before the blood has dried.
But, we have to mourn, it is through mourning that we find healing, as a nation. It is also through empathy. I am not lost on the irony in saying this, since Kirk himself championed the idea that empathy was sinful.[2] However, we do need to have and show empathy, because empathy helps us walk a mile in the other guy's shoes.
Maybe it's easier for me since, like Kirk, I am a father of two young children, in my 30s, and if something were to happen to me, my wife would have to raise our kids on her own. I can put myself in those shoes because I ride a bike to work and the notion that I am mortal is ever before me as I put myself around drivers who could end my life if they do not see me. I can imagine what his wife and kids are feeling this morning because I think about how my wife and kids would feel if I was killed. I would not wish that on anyone, even my worst enemy, and while I disagree with him, Kirk was not my enemy, nor are his wife and kids. So, I show empathy by putting myself in their shoes. I also show sympathy and compassion by praying for Kirk’s wife and kids, and not going online and saying foolish things that will get me clicks. Lastly, as stated above, I recognize that these people are not my enemy, as Egger also pointed out in this morning’s Bulwark Newsletter: “The real enemy here is the shooter and those who perpetuate political violence.”
I will tell you the truth, there is much I disagreed with Kirk about, but disagreement, even strong disagreement, should never make him my enemy. We need to have both compassion and conviction, that is, our convictions need to be tempered by our compassion. Jesus was a good example of this. He clearly had convictions about the way the poor were being treated by the Pharisees; he had compassion on the poor and even, in those convictions, had compassion on the Pharisees by calling them to repent. That is, there are times when it is necessary to call someone to repentance for their sins, times when that is the compassionate thing to do. But if our convictions are let loose to run roughshod over others without compassion, we lose each other, we miss each other.
That is the biggest concern here: someone failed to see Charlie Kirk as a human being, a human being with a wife and kids. Something that is becoming easier and easier to do as we continue to be desensitized to the violence around us. It should concern us that even one person made in the image of God was murdered. Our rhetoric has made it so much harder for us to see one another and that is dangerous. Once someone ceases to be human to us, we can justify almost any atrocity. Once human life loses its value because we do not see it as human life…well….the price becomes way too high.
Again, I had strong disagreement with Kirk and I must admit that at times those disagreements made it hard to see him as a fellow human being, largely because I’ve never stood in the same room with him. This brings up another issue here, many of those making comments in the media, either celebrating his death or canonizing him as a saint, are failing to see him as a human being who needed the grace of God as much as every single one of us. Why were they able to do that? Because many of them only saw the public image through a screen, they heard what their side had to say about him and they stripped him of his humanity or placed him on a pedestal accordingly. I would like to point out here that placing someone on a pedestal is just as dehumanizing because it means we can’t have a productive discussion about a person's flaws or talk about the ways they might be right or wrong.
And maybe that is what we need to do in light of this. Turn off the screens and go out and meet actual people living everyday life. Learn to walk with and talk to people who think and live differently than us and learn how to live with them despite their differences. I am not lying to you, some of the deepest and richest friendships I have ever had in my life are people who I do not see eye to eye with politically. We share other forms of bonds, be they religious, shared experience or through music. They are people who I am told should be my enemies.
I know, this sounds cliché, but maybe what we need to do to lower the temperature, go out and get to know our neighbors again. Turn off our televisions and computers and get out of the echo chambers and get to know real people living real lives. Maybe that will also diminish the power of the people constantly telling us to hate one another, telling us that (insert person you’re told to hate here) is your enemy.
Ultimately, we need to remember that the core of Christianity is to love God and love People. That is the basis from which we are to operate, we start with loving God and our love for God spills out as love for neighbor. These are the greatest two commandments, the summation of all the law and the prophets. And while I am not a fan of how this often gets applied by those on the far left, it is 100% that Jesus does not give us an out or a definition of neighbor that is small or exact, he leaves it broad, he includes those who are different than you. He includes the believer and the unbeliever alike, the stranger, the foreigner, that (insert person you’re taught to hate here). But you cannot love your neighbor if you do not know your neighbor.
I am convinced that this is the best way forward for Christians and for society. The incarnate people of God have the ability, through the Holy Spirit, to live this way now and show the world the benefit. I worship with people I disagree with every Sunday, I do not hate them or see them as my enemy. In my secular workplace I hear things I disagree with all the time, I see the lostness and brokenness, I do not hate them.
The assassination of Charlie Kirk, as some have said, may very well be a tipping point. Hopefully, that tipping point is back towards a time like after 9/11 24 years ago, when we were united in compassion for the victims of the tragedy. Or for the church, back towards the beginning, when we had everything in common and we were known for our compassion and conviction, for our love of God and love for others. So that these heinous and evil things stop happening to humans made in the image of God regardless of their political leanings and our schools can become places of learning rather than battlegrounds in the latest culture war.
May God have mercy on us all.
Rev. Jonathan David Faulkner is a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary holding Masters in Divinity and Church History, a pastor, musician and writer. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Christian Education & Administration with a concentration in Urban Ministry. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Spokane, Washington.
You can read more from Jonathan below, or on his dedicated site: godsheartforthose.com
1) https://www.thebulwark.com/p/is-this-who-we-are-political-violence-charlie-kirk
2) https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/06/toxic-empathy-weakness/683355/
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