Lessons From Charlie

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Today is Charlie Kirk’s funeral. Hundreds of thousands have peacefully gathered to grieve with his family and to celebrate a man who has impacted more than anyone can fathom. Here I humbly offer just a few lessons Charlie has taught us all.

You CAN make a difference in your life and the lives around you. As I’ve watched many videos and snippets of conversations Charlie had with students, professors, and people from all walks of life, several things stood out for me. 

One: He was incredibly well-read. When he talked about the economy and economists, he had facts and information right there. History, the same thing. Legislation, the same and the list goes on. 

Two: He was respectful. I have yet to see any video of Charlie treating anyone he talked to as less than. He was never dismissive of anyone about their beliefs, their belligerence (because some were definitely on the angry side), their race/nationality, being gay, autistic, and so on. 

Three: He was adamant about his faith in God. Charlie is on record a multitude of times stating bluntly that becoming a Christian saved him. He definitely walked his faith. Which, in today’s climate, really isn’t an easy thing to do. Especially when engaging in debating with those who loudly, bluntly, and oftentimes hatefully let you know they not only dislike, they HATE you personally and what you stand for. 

Four: You CAN debate and argue each other. Does that mean at the end of the day that you’ll “win” as it were? No. Yet, the debate and critical thinking is crucial for us all. Charlie wanted everyone to THINK things through. He wanted people to ask questions. Not just take everything at face value

Five: It’s very ok to talk politics and ideology. And it’s equally ok to disagree. 

What is NOT ok is shutting someone down, sometimes at the top of their lungs, or disrupting classes or business meetings because you disagree with them. 

Too many conservatives of all ages have stopped engaging because the reaction from the opposite side is so strident and yes, angry. This from Bill Bennett today. 

My younger son understood this belief. He called me after Kirk’s death and shared something that possibly captured our national descent. “Dad,” he said, “I used to be like Charlie Kirk— I used to think people could be persuaded with reason.”

My son learned otherwise during the 2016 election, while in graduate school. He started getting several calls a day from classmates wanting to understand how he could support someone they genuinely believed was the modern-day equivalent of Hitler. These graduate students—educated, intelligent people pursuing MBAs—literally thought Trump was on par with Hitler and were calling my son because they could not reconcile how someone like him could support such evil.

So, in good faith, he engaged everyone who contacted him. From his own account: “I came to business school to learn things like accounting, not to practice defending myself from being called a Nazi. I lost friends through this period, and it ended up being one of the hardest times of my life.”

And so, what he did is… he stopped talking. And the left thought they won. Which, in that instance sadly, they did. 

What the left refuses to understand is that we want to engage in debate and well-reasoned arguments. What we don’t want and we sure as hell don’t do is riot when things go badly. They currently are unable to fathom that there have been no George Floyd-style riots after Charlie’s assassination. 

Floyd’s death was used by the Left to justify five months of rioting, arson, murder, looting, and attacking police officers.

The postmortem respect for Kirk’s singular life was not characterized by $2 billion in property damage; the torching of a police precinct, a federal courthouse, and an iconic church; 35 deaths; and 1,500 injured law-enforcement officers.

Instead, thousands of people peacefully joined his Turning Point USA organization and promised to redirect their lives toward peaceful political engagement.

Two, after Kirk’s death, no prominent Republican or conservative is encouraging ongoing mass (and often violent) protests in the manner of high-profile leftists like former Vice President Kamala Harris.

As Victor Davis Hanson points out, George Floyd was a career felon who was under the influence of meth and fentanyl when he died in police custody. Charlie Kirk was peacefully talking with college students when he was murdered in front of the world. Yet the left is still breathlessly waiting for the right to engage in violence just so they can point fingers and say ‘SEE??!!! They are just like us!!’ 

No, we are not. We never will be. 

Another lesson from Charlie is his great abiding love for this Republic. He was not blind to its faults. But he knew that what we have here is a GIFT. One we should not only cherish, but we should honor and uphold.

The final and most important lesson from Charlie is FAITH and FAMILY. The two are intertwined for him. 

Bill Bennett states it well. 

Charlie Kirk is dead at 31, but the idea he represented—that Americans can argue their way to truth rather than shoot their way to silence—must not die with him. My son’s generation deserves better than the choice between silence and death. They deserve what Charlie Kirk tried to give them: a place at the table, a voice in the conversation, and the right to speak without being murdered for it. Our children and grandchildren deserve it.

Let us remember Charlie and pray for his family. We must pray for this Republic and all who live in it.

Remember this important lesson from Charlie.

Faith, Family, Country are worth arguing for. 

Feature Photo Credit: Original work by Victory Girls Darleen Click

The post Lessons From Charlie appeared first on Victory Girls Blog.



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