Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Politics and Religion
The Polarizing Death of Charlie Kirk

The Polarizing Death of Charlie Kirk

Last updated on: September 15, 2025 at 9:44 am by Mark Wilson

The Polarizing Death of Charlie Kirk 2025-09-15T09:44:18-05:00 Mark Wilson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

When it comes to reactions to popular conservative superstar Charlie Kirk’s gruesome and unnecessary murder they range from loved and heartfelt to hated and angry. His death has become very polarizing to everyone who religious, non-religious, conservative and liberal alike.

It shows in people’s reactions to whom they think killed Kirk. Everybody thinks everyone else is to blame but their own tribe for his murder.

Gage Skidmore Charlie Kirk | Charlie Kirk speaking with attendees at the 2… | Flickr

A liberal is to blame.

Aesthetica@Anc_Aesthetics (Sep 13, 2025) I am now 100% confident that Charlie’s assassination was carried out by a radical left wing transgender terror cell. Let’s get into the evidence 1) Tyler was dating a living with a transgender man (male to female)

A conservative is to blame.

David Shuster@DavidShuster (Sep 12, 2025) According to Utah officials + police interviews with his family, Tyler Robinson hated Charlie Kirk because Kirk wasn’t conservative enough. (Robinson reportedly admired Nick Fuentes). GOPer’s now scrubbing X posts about dems faster than DOJ erases Trump name in Epstein files.

It seems as if nobody wants to take responsibility and wait for the evidence in full. Blaming the other side makes us feel vindicated in our own shortcomings and better then the less superior opposition. Plus, it gets clicks and gets people all riled up with animosity.

Charlie was a very beloved heroic legend to some. The measure to use if your church is good or not.

John Strand@JohnStrandUSA (Sep 14, 2025) · I’m going to be blunt: If your pastor didn’t mention Charlie Kirk’s name today, they’re gripped by either fear or ignorance and you should seriously consider finding a new church

Charlie was also a terrible horrible human being to some others.

Robby Starbuck@robbystarbuck (Sep 14, 2025) Meet Matt Thorpe. He’s an elementary school teacher@pgcps in Laurel, Maryland. He said that Charlie Kirk’s murder was “karma” and that you should cut out people from your life with sympathy for him. He also has “acab” in his bio, meaning “all cops are bastards.”

People find it easier to go to extremes then to find a middle-balanced position.

I don’t know why
I go to extremes
Too high or too low
There ain’t no in-betweens
– Billy Joel

Yet they do exist. Here is the sanist reaction to this whole thing I have seen online. With permission the writer said I could share it. It comes from a Freelance Writer/Editor at Our Sunday Visitor named Woodeene Koenig-Bricker, Here is what she has to say…

I find it endlessly fascinating how polarizing the death of Charlie Kirk is. Those on the right see him as a martyr for Christian values, for love, for tolerance, for free speech, for patriotism, for all the good things that the right believes in. They also believe the left hates him for all those things.

Those on the left see him as racist, bigoted, misogynistic, promoting violence, intolerant, and generally not living out Christian values. They say the right is overlooking any of the negatives he might’ve had in favor of all of the virtues that they saw in him.

I knew almost nothing about him before he died. I was aware of his name. I knew he was a right wing influencer. But that was about it.

So, I started to look at videos. If you search Charlie Kirk videos, Christian values, patriotism, free speech. you will come up with a whole bunch of videos where that’s exactly what he looks like. A true champion of moral justice and a righteous man of God.

If however, you search Charlie Kirk videos, bigotry, racism, misogyny you will come up with a whole bunch of videos where he looks like he is the worst person in the world

I suspect that both sides are viewing only the videos that they are searching for or that they have come across. Obviously, he was a very complex individual. He held very polarizing views, but at the same time he does appear to have been very much believing that he was living out Christian values.

If nothing else, his death has shown me that we never really see the whole picture because we only seek out what confirms our own biases I tend to find his racist, misogynistic statements to overshadow his ability to discuss with college students in a non-heated debate and his statements about his religious faith. But that reveals my bias as well.

What’s even more puzzling to me is that he wasn’t polarizing just between the right and the left, but that he was polarizing between the right and the even further right.

He really is a symbol of how confused we are at this time. The same individual can be disliked by people who find him to be a bigot and those who find him to be not bigoted enough.

I’ve been feeling for a long time that we are in a very much of a tinder box moment. I don’t know if Charlie Kirk’s death is going to be the spark that sets off the fire, but it certainly could be.

And, as I’ve been saying, all along his death is a tragedy, especially for those who loved him.

I also think Mike Lewis of Where Peter Is had some helpful things to say…

Everything is connected. When someone’s life — anyone’s life — is cut short by a deliberate act of violence, a wound is inflicted on our shared humanity. It is a rupture in the order of creation, a reminder of our fallen state. Every such act is a denial of the sacred gift of life bestowed by God.

This truth makes it all the more horrifying to see some respond to Kirk’s death with glee, as though his murder was deserved. This is not justice; it is the twisted logic that fuels neverending cycles of violence.

Charlie Kirk’s assassination is evil, no matter what he has said or done (and his regrettable last words only compound the tragedy). Human dignity is not earned, nor can it be lost. As Pope St. John Paul II wrote in Evangelium Vitae, “Not even a murderer loses his personal dignity, and God himself pledges to guarantee this. And it is precisely here that the paradoxical mystery of the merciful justice of God is shown forth.”

Kirk’s life journey was cut short by someone who had no right to end it. As the young father of a young family, decades of life experiences and lessons and heartache were stolen from him. Where there is life, there is hope — hope for conversion, repentance, inspiration, accomplishments, love, learning, and maturation. All of that potential was taken from him by a lone gunman

Charlie Kirk bore God’s Image (September 11, 2025) Where Peter Is

There are so many better and terrible things that can be said about Charlie. But I think that Woodeene and Mike say what is necessary in a reasonable and charitable way. I was also not that familiar with Charlie before this whole thing happen. While I might not agree with everything he might have said, I also don’t find him as bad as some people have made him out to be.

Here is a sample of what he was like.

Who could have imagined that I would need police protection to talk about freedom on a university campus? A university, of all places, whose very essence is the freedom to pursue knowledge and wisdom, no matter where it takes us. Yet here I was, needing eight private security agents and thirty police officers to secure my safety at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign so I could deliver another of my “Smashing Socialism” lectures.

As I climbed onto the stage, the wild screaming got louder and louder: “Charlie Kirk is a jerk! Charlie Kirk is a jerk!” Nice alliteration, that, but I’ve been called worse. Like the other chant rising up from the crowd, “Hey hey, ho ho, this Nazi has got to go.”
-Charlie Kirk Campus Battlefield: How Conservatives Can WIN the Battle on Campus and Why It Matters (2018).

Politics and Religion

Uncategorized

current events

public discourse

Previous Post

September 12, 2025

Catholic Bard's Guide to Saints 1890 - 1959

Next Post

September 26, 2025 A Meditative Commentary on St. Teresa's Bookmark

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1889 abortion adoption Advent After Life Angles apologetics Art Awards BCCT bible book review books business Carmelite Catechetics Catholic Actors catholic authors Catholic Bard Catholic Faith Catholic List Catholic Rigorous Vortex Christian Authors Christmas church teaching civil conversation coronavirus Current Events death Different Religions Divine Mercy Easter Education encouragment Entertainment Eucharist Evangelization Event faith Family Life famous people feast day food Fun Stuff Global Church God guest post Harry Potter healing Heck of a Ride Around the Sun history holiday Holy Family Holy Orders Holy Spirit Holy Week hope Humor Interview Ireland Jesus kindle unlimited reflections Last Things Lecto Divina with Kristin Lent Lent/Easter liturgy love marriage Mary Meet the Author Mission Month in Advance Movie Review Movies Movies of the Month Music Narrative Older Writings patheos authors personal Philosophy podcasts poetry political Politics pope prayer Private Revelation pro-life public domain Quotes racial relations racism reflection Religious Life Saints science Scriptural Meditation social justice Social Media spirituality suffering supernatural theology Topics Travel Trivia Tweeting to the Choir Uncategorized universal church Vatican virtue war Week in Review women world religions writing Writing Write Now

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I am a period of seven years times seven, followed by a year of liberty and restoration. What am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A holy year The Year of Jubilee A year of rest The Sabbath year

Books by This Author Books by Catholic Bard

See All Titles »