What Should We Pray For In This Moment?
Before we can wrap our heads around the tragedy of Charlie Kirk’s assassination,
before we can pray for his family, or imagine the harrowing ache in each of their hearts,
before we can ground ourselves in our sorrow for their personal loss, or reckon with the reality that another heinous act of hatred has further soiled the soul of America,
before we can hope for a call for unity, or call for a nationwide vigil against the scourge of rising political violence,
before we can ask for God’s wisdom,
a tide of accusatory words, seeding and justifying violent action against half of Americans, otherwise labeled as The Left, is flowing into the hearts and minds of MAGA warriors and evangelical Christians across America today.
If this isn’t a come to Jesus moment for America, nothing is.
But what should we pray for in this moment? What would Jesus do? What would he say today?
I’m pretty sure he’d be calming the waters instead of inciting violence.
He’d be asking us not to judge others, reminding us the measure we use against others will be used against us.
He would encourage us to reflect on our own faults before pointing to the faults of others.
He’d ask us to forgive others. But we don’t.
Too many evangelicals raise their hands and bibles to the Lord and pridefully stand in judgment of those who don’t think, act, live, or steep themselves in the traditions they do.
Jesus might say to them he understands their struggles with others, but he would gently remind them again and again to “love thy neighbor as thyself.”
He would ask us all to pray for peace…and for Charlie.
May the Lord have mercy on him.
Charlie Kirk was not a minister, but he was a preacher of traditional values who sought to reclaim them for America. His book Right Wing Revolution, published last year, was his call to action. He sowed dissent, political, religious, cultural.
He had a right to do that. No one had a right to take his life.
Slipstream
Thank you for this moving piece. You are right, agree with him or not, no one had the right to do what they tragically did.
Evangel
Thanks for your comment. It feels to me like we're living in the old wild west where you can gun anyone down you disagree with. On both sides of the aisle, Americans have become unhinged. It's our collective responsibility to stop listening to the fearmongers who profit from riling us up.
Wonderland
Thank you for writing this. I have checked Youtropolis many times today, hoping for a message. You definitely delivered. Charlie Kirk loved a good debate. So many people disagreed with him, and that’s ok. We are all individuals with our own thoughts and beliefs.Cancel culture has taken over our society. Instead of disagreeing, we end friendships, hate each other, or in extreme cases like this one, kill. May Lord have mercy on all of us.
Evangel
Thanks for your very thoughtful and honest assessment. I fully agree. Lately, I've felt like I have nothing left to say...like the truth has slipped away from us all. In this void, I feel we're in the middle of a reckoning where it's better to take note and keep silent. And yet, I couldn't let today pass without expressing my personal heartache for them, for us, for our country. Thanks for checking in. I'm happy to know I delivered. ❤️❤️❤️
Sanatana
I'm thinking that people who disagreed with him didn't agree with his hateful rhetoric. He planted so much hate against the marginalized. Him saying that homosexuals should be stoned ... that's not just an opinion, that's hatred against a group of people. That's more than, let's agree to disagree, especially if you are on the other end of his vile words.
He died by the very thing he defended: gun violence. As he said, (I'm paraphrasing), if a few people have to die in order to have guns, then so be it.
Then so be it.
Wonderland
I do not believe he said homosexuals should be stoned. Stephen King just apologized for giving out that false information.
Faithville
Every life has equal value…whether or not we agree with them. Violence accomplishes what? It’s so easy to use one’s own perspective at this time rather than say Lord, help me see this through your eyes. If we did, I think we’d be weeping for how far we have fallen.
Evangel
You're right. It's sad and maddening at the same time. I see this "war" through the lens of an upbringing in the foreign service, and an understanding of how America profited by undermining democracies overseas. We used the media to do so. We enabled brutality as well. This feels like payback, and Putin is pulling all the strings.
Faithville
Yes he is and it’s feeling like in every way. He’s the puppeteer and the US has become his puppet. Karma is a ***** we all must live with.
Sanatana
Excellent piece. Thank you!
Homeless Valley
Thank you for your refreshing perspective. But, honestly, I’m bemused at all the fanfare. I don’t get why flags should be flying at half-mast for this influencer, or why he was flown home on Air Force 2 on taxpayers’ money or gets a medal of freedom. Looks like political theatre to me. And how un-American to propose legislation to punish anyone who talks against him. What the hell? And why, oh why lionize a man who distinguished himself by repeatedly insulting transgenders, gays, women, and immigrants? Will that not teach other youngsters to do the same? Do we really want to keep diminishing important segments of our society with cruelty? If so, please tell me why?
Can we instead please pray for the two youngsters who remain in critical condition after being shot at Evergreen school in Colorado on the same day Kirk was killed? No one can blame the left for that shooting since the shooter frequently reposted anti-Semitic videos depicting people in Nazi uniforms. Can we also please stop looking at one side of the political spectrum as American saviors and the other side as evil? Wake up people. We are killing each other. It’s up to each of us to live a moral life and teach our children to do the same. God knows our leaders who protest too much about the immorality of others have no clue how to be moral themselves.
Wonderland
I can tell you are a good person by your post. Yes, let’s pray very hard for the students shot in Colorado. I also continue to pray for the students at the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minnesota. There are so many horrific tragedies, it doesn’t seem like there are enough prayers to go around. To address your confusion about the Charlie Kirk assasination, you need to understand why so many people are affected. He was not “just an influencer”. He was a 31 year old Christian who wanted to make a difference in the world. He engaged with young students in controversial dialogue. He may have beliefs that differ from ours, but he was willing to debate and tell us why he believed as he did. He may have been wrong, but I truly believe it was honest intent. Charlie Kirk has basically died a martyr. He is getting more recognition than most murdered people because he was well known. Young people throughout our nation not only knew him, but were excited to be the one to make him see their view. He received half staffed flag status and a ride in the presidential plane because he was like a son to President Trump. Maybe that’s wrong, but maybe it is also a perk of being President. I just know I am very sad for his parents, his wife, and his two young children. I also can’t imagine that there is legislation calling for punishment for anyone who speaks against him. His entire platform was free speech.
Wonderland
I can tell you are a good person by your post. Yes, let’s pray very hard for the students shot in Colorado. I also continue to pray for the students at the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minnesota. There are so many horrific tragedies, it doesn’t seem like there are enough prayers to go around. To address your confusion about the Charlie Kirk assasination, you need to understand why so many people are affected. He was not “just an influencer”. He was a 31 year old Christian who wanted to make a difference in the world. He engaged with young students in controversial dialogue. He may have beliefs that differ from ours, but he was willing to debate and tell us why he believed as he did. He may have been wrong, but I truly believe it was honest intent. Charlie Kirk has basically died a martyr. He is getting more recognition than most murdered people because he was well known. Young people throughout our nation not only knew him, but were excited to be the one to make him see their view. He received half staffed flag status and a ride in the presidential plane because he was like a son to President Trump. Maybe that’s wrong, but maybe it is also a perk of being President. I just know I am very sad for his parents, his wife, and his two young children. I also can’t imagine that there is legislation calling for punishment for anyone who speaks against him. His entire platform was free speech.
Homeless Valley
I like your city name, Wonderland. Thank you for your detailed comment. I agree that there don’t seem to be enough prayers to go around. But oh how endless are the tears from the families of all the children who die from gun violence in our country every year. You did explain nicely the political reasons Charlie Kirk is getting such special treatment, thank you. He did not deserve his fate. Like you, I was shocked and saddened and put myself in his family’s shoes, imagining what they were feeling. This criminal act sadly opens the door to so much more violence.
As a Christian, I lean into the teachings of how we must treat others. Personally, I have never known anyone of faith who could bring themselves to say the degrading, un-Christianlike things Charlie Kirk has said publicly and often. Cruel things. In politics, yes, mean awful things are said every day. But I don’t believe a genuine man of faith could bring himself to say such dark things about others. And yet I strongly believe in free speech.
To your disbelief about the legislation I mentioned, here’s what Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins said in his post on X yesterday: “I’m going to use Congressional authority and every influence with big tech platforms to mandate immediate ban for life of every post or commenter that belittled the assassination of Charlie Kirk,” Here’s a link to the article: https://www.wafb.com/2025/09/11/clay-higgins-calls-lifetime-bans-social-...