By Evelyn Harrington
The clamor was getting louder, drowning out the voice of the speaker as he prayed. Hundreds of heads turned, distracted by words that were indecipherable at first, before they morphed into obscenities and insults. They were a small group of protesters across the street from the Charlie Kirk Memorial prayer vigil. They wore masks and held up their signs. Aside from cursing us as we prayed, they dishonored our fallen hero, Charlie Kirk, claiming he was a homophobe in the same breath as crying, “Long live the Intifada!”
We tried closing our ears to their angry words and continued to pray. The speaker blessed the protesters in the name of Jesus, and we were reminded that, “If you are reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you; for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you: on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified” (1 Peter 4:14).
After the vigil, those insults still hang in my memory, and I can’t help but notice the conflicting nature of the protestors’ remarks. Self-professed, these individuals were in support of an Islamic conquest, while standing in solidarity with the LGBTQ movement. Anyone with any understanding of Islamic culture will recognize that there is no LGBTQ movement in Islamic nations. That’s because it’s against their law. That’s because people who choose that lifestyle are put to death.
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells the scribes, “If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but has an end” (chapter 3:24-26). The leftist kingdom is a kingdom of contradictions. They proudly fly pride flags, while posting “Free Palestine,” on social media. They claim to stand for women while cheering the end of women’s sports. They speak out against discrimination and claim to be devoted to tolerance, while canceling any viewpoint that differs from their own.
It’s a divided kingdom of chaos, and none of it makes sense. Charlie Kirk recognized that. He knew that our culture was one where confusion was running rampant. He recognized that the next generation was caught up in a whirlwind of arguments and opinions and ideologies, and the very dissonance of it all was destroying them.
When Charlie Kirk came to college campuses, he communicated truth with clarity and logic and respect. He created a space for people who didn’t share his beliefs to talk. He gave those who disagreed with him a platform to speak freely. Charlie fully followed the call of 1 Peter 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” He was always ready to be bold, and he was always gentle and gracious in doing so. And as he dialogued with those who opposed him, he broke logical fallacies apart, encouraged people to think critically, and shared the hope of the Gospel.
For young Americans, Charlie Kirk made sense, because the truth made sense. We saw women athletes losing their hard-earned medals to men, and we knew deep down it wasn’t right. We saw the vulgarity of pornographic material being fed to children in the school system, and our spirit burned with how disgusting it was. We saw alternative lifestyle agendas being forced on individuals through the media and how it started to ruin their lives, and we knew it wasn’t something to be praised. We saw young men being discouraged and shamed for who they were, and we knew that was unjust. Charlie was the voice of clarity Gen Z needed. He spoke out on issues other people were afraid to touch, going to places where other people were afraid to go, and he brought the light and the truth of the Gospel with him.
When his voice was silenced, we mourned. We still mourn. His murder is deeply wrong, deeply horrific, deeply unjust, because more than being an innocent and peaceful man, he stood for everything we knew was right. Nothing makes the loss lighter. But even though Charlie is no longer with us and no longer able to fight for the things we believe in, what he taught us lives on. He encouraged individuals to think for themselves, and they’re thinking. Charlie taught people to be courageous, and now, we stand up, knowing it’s our turn. And as we go forward, carrying the torch he handed us on September 10th, we rest in knowing the kingdom Charlie stood for—the kingdom we stand for—it’s not divided.
At that prayer vigil, we stood together, even while we were cursed. We bowed our heads together, even as we were reviled. We mourned together, even as our hero was dishonored. We worshiped together, even as the heathen raged. We stood strong, knowing our King, Jesus, reigns. And we will move forward, together, upholding the truth, knowing that this is just the beginning.
The Judson Mosaic 