Photo courtesy of William Crawford.

To the Editor,

The recent article titled “Living in a post-Kirk America” radically misunderstands the context and gravity of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. This was more than just a political figure dying. In a culture that is more and more hostile towards the ideas of free speech, conservative values and open dialogue, this was an attack on a man who merely stood for these beliefs. The same beliefs are shared by many others in our country, like me. We were the target of this attack. To minimize or brush over this as another interchangeable tragedy is both factually wrong and negligent.

The article also severely misrepresents Kirk’s position on empathy. The full quote states, “I can’t stand the word empathy, actually. I think empathy is a made-up, New Age term that it does a lot of damage. But it is very effective when it comes to politics. Sympathy, I prefer more than empathy.”

Kirk was not rejecting kindness or understanding; he criticized the misuse of “empathy” as a political weapon that shuts down honest discourse. The distinction is important and ignored by the author’s selective reading.

In addition, painting Kirk as unworthy of empathy because of political disagreements is extremely wrong. Kirk’s life embodied commitment to principles that many in this great nation hold dear: liberty, personal responsibility and the freedom to worship Christ. To characterize his death as “faux-victimization” is intellectually lazy and morally disgusting.

Any political violence should be grieved in this nation, whether it’s from the left or the right. We must have true sympathy and human dignity for all people, even for the people we disagree with. To deny that truth would add fuel to the flames that divide us already.

I encourage people to keep talking, keep debating and keep standing for the truth. I’ll leave you with a message from Kirk’s own words:

“When people stop talking, really bad stuff starts. When marriages stop talking, divorce happens. When civilizations stop talking, civil war ensues,” Kirk said. “When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to want to commit violence against that group. What we as a culture have to get back to is being able to have reasonable disagreement—where violence is not an option.”

God bless you all!