America The Violent
A Reflection on the Murder of Charlie Kirk and America’s Violent History: Part 1
State briefly the ideas, ideals, or hopes,
the energy sources, the kinds of security;
for which you would kill a child.
Name, please, the children whom
you would be willing to kill.
“Questionnaire” by Wendell Berry from Leavings. © Counterpoint, 2010.
In the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, many Americans have responded in one of five ways. First, they have inquired, ”Who is Charlie Kirk, and why should we care about him? Second, this is part of an extreme, radical, antifa conspiracy. Unless we wipe out our enemies, they will destroy us. Third, while we don’t condone political violence, few men have so richly deserved it. As Malcolm X said about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, “The chickens have come home to roost.” Fourth is the rare example of calling for forgiveness and ending the cycle of hatred, violence, and retribution.
“That man, that young man … I forgive him.”
“I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do,” she said. “The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.” Finally, many have expressed the idea that such violence is inherently not American because we believe in nonviolence.
The last idea was expressed in a recent interview on NPR.
(SCOTT) SIMON: You and Charlie Kirk disagreed about a lot, but what were your thoughts when you heard about his shooting?
SYKES: Well, I was shocked and sickened because in this country, we do not use violence to counter ideas with which we disagree. And as you mentioned, you know, Charlie Kirk and I were on very opposite ends of the political spectrum, but he was a human being. https://www.npr.org/transcripts/nx-s1-5538053
And though Mrs. Kirk said she forgave her husband’s killer, Mr. Trump called him “a radicalized, cold-blooded monster.”
The president also aimed at Mr. Kirk’s critics and once again blamed liberal politics for his death. Mr. Kirk spent much of his time engaging with those who disagreed with him, as he sought to convert them. But Mr. Trump assailed those critics, saying that most of them were “paid agitators,” and he vowed that the Department of Justice was “investigating networks of radical-left maniacs who fund, organize, fuel, and perpetrate political violence.”
Since Mr. Kirk’s death, Mr. Trump and top administration officials have promised a broad crackdown on their political opponents, leveling a baseless argument that a diverse ecosystem of Democratic individuals and groups who violently oppose the Republican Party and its values.
“But law enforcement can only be the beginning of our response to Charlie’s murder,” he said.
So, which will it be, forgiveness or retribution? Is America a violent or peaceful country? Our history suggests that violence has been the most prevalent, but non-violence and peacemaking have been a constant counterpoint and provide a template for a more peaceful future.
