The United States is in the center of a moral crisis, and the death of Charlie Kirk has proven it to me once again.
There are many reasons why so many people, including myself, are heartbroken over this case. However, I can only really speak for myself.
The horrific image of his last moments is burned into the mind of his wife for the rest of her life.
I can’t help but imagine the devastation his wife is facing right now, losing her best friend and the father of her children.
Every night, she will tuck them in without him there. She will have to explain to them over and over again that their dad isn’t coming home.
Selfishly, it makes me think of what I feel like in her position. I consider what it would be like to lose my best friend and the father of my child, and the thought of that is gut-wrenching to me.
The implications of this are larger than some realize. It scares me to raise children in a world where they might be murdered for being bold about what they believe.
It frightens me because Kirk was killed for doing the exact thing we tell so many children to do: to stand up for what they believe in.
Kirk’s political views are the least of my concerns in this entire situation. Everyone should be able to feel safe in sharing what they believe, as long as they are not physically harming another person.
It makes me sick to see the number of people justifying his murder, attacking his family on social media and celebrating his death.
I use the word evil very sparingly, but there are a few other words I feel are fitting enough to describe the celebration of another human’s death.
I am angry at those people. I’m not angry because some may have different political beliefs from mine. There are many people I love with very different beliefs. I am angry at people who rejoice in the fact that somebody was murdered.
There is a lot, other than the death of Kirk, that doesn’t sit right with me. It goes far beyond the death of a single man. It makes me wonder why people believe the way they do about social media and global issues.
There are so many people on social media asking, “Where were you when *insert tragedy* was going on?”
I was probably somewhere crying about that too. I don’t care any less about children starving in Gaza or the recent shootings that have taken place. These things break my heart, too.
Since when does it mean I don’t have permission to be upset about one tragedy if I wasn’t sitting behind a keyboard writing about another?
The truth is, I have way too much going on to sit online monitoring and writing about every tragedy that happens. Some things are mourned privately, but that doesn’t mean they are any less important to me.
Lastly, it bothers me to see people blaming each other. In this case, the victim was a conservative influencer. Because of this, I’ve heard countless people blaming “The Democrats.”
I have family and friends who are Democrats who are just as devastated over this tragedy. It’s sad to me to see so many people target an entire political group over something that is a hate problem.
This goes far beyond politics. It steps into the territory of morality that I don’t believe politics touches as much as we think. People often have differing views on politics even though they have similar values.
This taps right into the heart of morals. It is not about sides anymore. It is about living in a world that makes it acceptable to condone death when it’s someone we disagree with.
It is about walking among people who mock those who believe differently and laugh in the faces of those who have lost someone important to them.
The United States is facing more than a political divide. We are tiptoeing toward a world that’s void of empathy, and that is the scariest part.