Turning Point USA: Charlie Kirk’s Assassination

Prayers For Charlie & Family

Editor’s note: Earlier today, we published statements and condolences from local and national politicians, all of whom believe that violence has no place in political discourse.  

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By now, we’re sure that you’ve heard the news: Conservative Gen-Z influencer  Charlie Kirk was murdered at one of his university question-and-answer events.

We’d like to express our condolences to Charlie’s wife and two children, as well as his extended family and close friends and co-workers.

It’s our assertion that this event is, indeed, a Turning Point for the USA. What concerns us is where we’ll turn from here.

Will we somehow use this tragedy as a springboard to a better America?

Or, will this be (yet another) event chronicling our slow and steady societal decline, a sad spiral into utter chaos?

 

Charlie Was Loved and Hated

Many people had never heard of Charlie Kirk, we’re hearing, but the ones who had expressed strong feelings about him.

Some loved him. Others hated him. This is what we’re hearing.

In the end, one individual person let hate win out and ended the 31-year-old man’s life, making any future attempts at mutual understanding impossible.

American Freedom and The American Way

At the Staten Islander, we’ve always felt that discussion is best.

We WANT our readers to have different ideas from each other.

A comment section where everyone’s in agreement about everything is the epitome of boredom.

Conversely, a comment section where ad hominem attacks and vile vitriol predominates is likewise a waste of everyone’s time and energy.

Murdering someone because they disagree on some issue, or even the fundamentals, is not the American Way.

In our estimation, our disagreements are an American strength, and not a weakness.

Through this crucible of debate, we’ve learned and grown as a Nation over the centuries. There were missteps. Corrections followed.

This process is only possible when dialogue is happening, otherwise stagnation sets in.

 

Americans Get Along. Mostly.

The Freedoms we have here provide us with a unique opportunity to live differently from one another, and from any other people on the Earth.

We have different faiths, different political ideologies, different philosophies, different ways of doing things and getting things done.

That’s the U.S.A.

We mostly get along and have great mutual respect for one another’s different cultural and ethnic background.

We coexist, not in some liberal or conservative dream utopia, but in real life, every single day of the year, in our imperfect world.

And, when we don’t, it makes headlines across the world.

 

The Shooter Wore An American Flag-Motif Shirt

The shooter wore a shirt bearing the image of the American Flag as part of its design.

How disgusting was that?

People hiding behind the flag to harm the very principles the flag represents are cowardly.

The shooter wasn’t “defending American values” or any values, for that matter.

He was doing precisely the opposite, in actual fact: attacking our National Values, making this act all the more despicable by wearing a flag-design on his shirt while he committed this horrendous crime.

 

Mutual Respect Yields Greater Insight for All

When we come together in mutual respect and understanding, it’s impossible not to walk away with greater insight.

We learn from everyone we encounter…hopefully.

Someone, a fellow American, may live differently and subscribe to a different set of beliefs than you.

Does that make them a commie? Or, for that matter, a fascist?

It’s impossible to miss that American people on social media throw these terms around way too liberally.

Yes; both Republicans and Democrats must speak more judiciously, more conservatively, and when employing the use of such language, reserve these terms for true cases that meet the actual criteria, if they’re going to speak that way. for real.

Calling an elected official Hitler or Stalin really disrespects the historical memory of those that suffered under severe political systems.

It’s a horrendous exaggeration to call someone a name like this when all they’ve done is vote on a bill that you don’t like.

And, it’s dehumanizing.

 

Conversation, Not Violence

Whether you liked or disliked Charlie Kirk, or didn’t know Charlie Kirk from a stranger,  we must admit he was giving university students a forum to discuss politics and its intersection with faith.

He shared his ideas and perspectives with students freely, and listened when they did the same.

Whether you agree with his ideas or not, that’s not even the point.

How do you have a discussion when there’s violence involved?

Blowing away the “other side” is ludicrous. That is the absolute end to all future discussion!

Instead, blow them away with reason, intuition, creativity, expressiveness, wit, and charm!

 

 

Objectifying People As a Group Is Dangerous

That’s the hazard of “othering” people for any reason, and considering them as a “lesser” group.

Once a person is objectified, and their humanity no longer recognized, anything goes.

History shows this can happen, and has happened.

And, this is a hazard for people of any political or philosophical persuasion, a pitfall that must be avoided at all costs.

You can be a Democrat, Republican, Greenie, Conservative, Christian Right, Leftist, Marxist, Moderate, Capitalist, Anarchist, or anything else, and make this same error.

Those who don’t think like you are still people.

Most likely, they include some of your  neighbors and family members. They’re your fellow Americans and fellow human beings.

Keep this all in perspective.

 

 

What Did the Shooter Care About, If Anything?

Realize that we’re headed down a very divisive path as a nation and civil society, with the destination being a future where civility is a lost concept.

Charlie Kirk was a person with a wife and two kids. The shooter didn’t care.

Charlie was only 31. The shooter didn’t care.

Charlie Kirk was providing a chance for young people to debate his ideas, publicly. The shooter didn’t care.

What did the shooter care about? Charlie’s views and deeply held beliefs apparently were of issue, if news reports shed any light upon the matter.

The shooter didn’t care that Charlie had a right to his own beliefs. The shooter, apparently, held vastly different beliefs. There’s no question.

They only wanted to make sure to stop Charlie from exercising his own rights, including his right to person-hood, his right to exist.

And, if we need to tell you, you need some help no one can offer:

That’s not the way we do things in the U.S.

Not. At. All.

 

The Shooter’s Other Options Not Exhausted. Not By Far

The shooter could have approached the podium, instead of resorting to heinous violence, and asked Charlie anything, said anything, but certainly couldn’t just do anything.

There are limits to our freedoms, but those only begin when we transgress others’ boundaries.

The shooter could have recited a poem, sung a song, done a pantomime, relied on argumentation or debating skill.

They could have asked questions.

Really, there’s a lot.

The shooter could have shared their views and ideas from their own point of view.

Instead, they chose the finality of a bullet. It’s insensible. And, frankly, quite lame.

 

 

This. Is. NOT. War.

Do some really want a world where dissent is quashed and no one can express anything, anymore?

Let’s be honest, many people we all know hate “the other side,” whether the other side is Red or Blue.

Am I right? Be honest, now!

We need to get over this.

The few pundits who seemed to suggest, or even proclaim, “This is war!” after Charlie’s murder are misled and misleading their viewers, and a real danger to the stability of our society.

No one needs violence enacted in revenge for Charlie’s killing, not  against “the libbies,” or “the transes,” or any other group.

Sure; these same news sources  claim they are not advocating violence, but there are viewers some out there who will interpret such “news” as an invitation to invoke mayhem by force.

We don’t need this.

 

Staten Island Unity

The Editorial Board at the Staten Island News would like you, the reader, to consider how we can make Staten Island a less divisive place.

Let’s start right here and be the leaders in this, like we are in all things.

Your sister whom you haven’t spoken with in five years is still a person, even though one of you is Red, the other Blue.

You’re never going to agree on gay marriage. You’re never going to agree on free health care. Or, the vaccine. Or, very much, for that matter. There’s just no way possible.

But what can you agree on? There has to be something!  Let’s begin there.

You care about one another, and each other’s kids.  You care about your kids’ grand-parents, your own parents. You care about your family. Right?

That’s a start.

Keep this in mind going forward, and build on the positive so we can have a society that is safe for everyone to express their views without fear of violent reprisal.

 

Banner Image: Charlie Kirk. Image Credit – Turning Point USA Image Processing – Staten Island News