Republican Responsibility for Charlie Kirk’s Assassination | The American Spectator

President Trump’s joke about not forgiving his enemies at Charlie Kirk’s funeral remembrance contrasted with Erika Kirk’s, Charlie’s surviving wife, statement that she forgave the murderer of her husband. It’s important to consider the responsibilities Americans have regarding evil from a Christian and civil perspective. Erika Kirk’s responsibility is as a Christian only. President Trump has both a governing civil and a personal Christian responsibility in this circumstance.

Perhaps the defining feature of Christianity, when compared to every other philosophy or religion, is the concept of forgiveness. In the Old Testament, the response to being harmed was “an eye for an eye.” In the New Testament, the response was dual: on a personal level, we are to “bless those who curse you” and to “pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:28) (RELATED: Charlie Kirk and the Shame of the ‘However’ Progressives)

Oh man, is this difficult. Praying for enemies, doing as Jesus did, and asking God to forgive them “for they know not what they do” is, for this writer, one of the most challenging requirements of Christianity. (Luke 23:34) The urge for revenge is great, but we are to give a place for wrath and allow God to take vengeance. (Romans 12:19) In I Corinthians 13, the “love chapter” of the Bible, the Apostle Paul writes that love “keeps no record of wrongs.” So in addition to forgiveness, in addition to letting God take vengeance, we’re also not to keep a record of the wrongs that have been done either.

Christianity isn’t for the weak. It’s a constant slog of overcoming the primal, tribal urges to do violence, kill, and seek retribution. (RELATED: Charlie Kirk’s Assassination Is Evidence of Spiritual Warfare)

Jesus Christ himself, though, contrasted our responsibilities as individuals answering to God and the civil authorities. When confronted about paying taxes or tithes, Jesus shocked everyone by telling the Pharisees to do both — render to Caesar and to God.

Republican leadership has abdicated its civil responsibilities using faulty Christian theology — whether it’s misplaced Christian charity or a misunderstanding of what Christ meant when he said to “turn the other cheek.” Republicans substituted cowardice for Christianity. They’ve forgotten warnings to kings, priests (teachers), and judges throughout the Bible. In a Republic, Congressmen and Senators count as modern-day leaders, kings, governing authorities. They have responsibilities both as Christians and as civil leaders. This wisdom should be noted: “When the wicked rule, the people groan.” (Proverbs 29:2) The people are groaning.

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, talks about the responsibilities of both Christians and the civil leaders who rule them in Romans 13:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

All this preamble is for context and understanding. There is an abundance of misinformation and ignorance around the Christian view of justice. The prevailing notion is that Christianity is mushy, conformist, toothless, and passive. It is not. It isn’t on an individual level, and it’s certainly not when it comes to understanding the role of civil authorities. (RELATED: What Charlie Kirk’s Murder Really Means)

While the Christians’ ultimate citizenship is in Heaven with God as Judge, Christians are also in this earthly world and have responsibilities in it, too.

These responsibilities cannot be ignored, especially for elected officials who claim to be Christian. They must govern according to Godly principles, and that means seeking justice, especially for the weak and powerless.

When Steve Scalise, for example, was maimed and nearly murdered by a crazed Bernie Bro who had a list of the members of the House Freedom Caucus, the Republican reaction was muted. And Steve Scalise is one of the powerful, by Biblical standards. The media wanted the story gone, too. Senator Rand Paul was attacked by his leftist neighbor. Then, he and his wife were surrounded in D.C. and threatened during the Trump inauguration celebrations. Senator Ted Cruz was harassed at a D.C. restaurant.

The responses from the right were brief spasms of outrage. And then nothing.

When hundreds of innocent January 6-ers were accused of the most outrageous crimes and, after spending thousands of dollars in their defense, were forced to take plea deals because there’s no justice in the D.C. court system for anyone right of center, Republicans couldn’t even mount a rhetorical argument. Most hid rather than say the truth: that these people are innocent and that the Biden White House misapplied the law. I would remind them of this scripture:

Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, nor does the cause of the widow come before them” (Isaiah 1:23).

I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy. (v. 25)

As churches have been burned across the United States and Canada, and in particular, Catholic churches, the response has been muted, if anything was said at all. Then, murderers came into churches and church schools and schools and killed the innocent, but there was no discussion about dealing with the communications networks and media turning American minds into murderous goo.

When people lost their jobs for saying something obviously true, “men and women have different brains and that’s why there are more male engineers,” there was a lot of talk about private companies having the right to do what they wanted. When the government used media companies to surveil Americans and filter speech, there was more talk about the right of private companies — even though the filtration went one way and the Left continued to brainwash its minions online. When the FBI went into school board meetings to police dissidents and sat in Catholic churches, the political version of shoulder shrugs occurred.

Republicans had leadership during Trump’s first administration and spent their time thwarting the president rather than addressing any of the civil liberties issues facing conservatives. Now, they have power. What will they do?

Turning up and speaking at Charlie Kirk’s memorial and putting out statements on X is not enough. Civil authorities have a responsibility to their citizens to care for and protect them. Charlie Kirk isn’t the first assassination, and he won’t be the last. Twice, Leftist assassins tried to kill President Trump.

Republicans have gone in and out of power, seemingly confused about their role and responsibilities. The Left and Democrats do not operate in this confusion. They view the state as god and so use all power at their disposal to constrain their enemies, burn out their businesses, sue them, defame them, incite violence against them, and, if possible, kill them. They feel utterly justified in doing this evil because they believe their political enemies are heinous people who have committed the crime of not agreeing with their correct position.

Millions of people took joy in Charlie Kirk’s death. This is a mind virus. It is a soul sickness. But it is also a set of political policies, concrete actions, broken laws, and media reinforcement that Republicans simply ignored or tried to placate the public with pointless hearings and snippets of outrage on social media. (RELATED: The Trigger on Charlie Kirk’s Slow-Motion Assassination Was Pulled Before His Birth)

Do you know the number one group to cheer Kirk’s murder? Teachers and college professors. These are the folks teaching American children, and they can be defunded federally and at the state level. Have Republicans at the state and national levels considered doing this?

Republicans need to find their righteous indignation, as Andrew Breitbart wrote, and do something. They are the civil authorities, and it is their responsibility to create a justice system that is just and to pass laws and enact policies that benefit the law-abiding instead of the criminals.

Why did it take Charlie Kirk’s cold-blooded public assassination to finally wake Republicans up to the dangers anyone center-right faces? Why were they okay with the creeping bigotry in education and industry, where no one felt safe to express their opinion if it wasn’t in line with the Maoist left? Why did they tolerate consistent abuses by the IRS, FBI, and a myriad other government agencies against conservative citizens?

Why couldn’t they defend their voters who were peacefully protesting a botched election? Why didn’t they, when they had power, put in place an investigation into the election and bring lawsuits so Americans could have restored faith in their elections? Why would they have been okay with American citizens being in prison, wrongfully? The only reason people have their lives back is because Donald Trump pardoned them. Why haven’t they provided oversight and, even better, simply cut the funding of agencies plagued by prejudice and tyrannical, biased enforcement of laws?

Why are they okay with American jobs being taken via abused visas and illegal immigrants? Why do they fund leftist projects that foment violence when they have power?

We have been governed by cowards unwilling to take their Christian duties seriously. They have ignored the injustices at every turn and sold out their voters for a fancy bowl of D.C. bean soup. Do they not realize that they will have to give an account for the evil they aided and abetted?

Meanwhile, the state of California just passed a law to prevent law enforcement from wearing masks. Now, why would they do that? Why do they want to see their faces? Could it be to dox them, ruin their lives, and more likely, kill them? This is the same state where masks were mandated during COVID and where there’s been violence against Federal agents. This is Democrats not passively encouraging violence but actively, and with the force of law, doing so. (RELATED: The Meaning Behind ICE Agents’ Masks)

A prominent, peaceful, free-speech-focused man should not have had to be murdered for Republican politicians to wake up. It’s sickening that children are going to be raised without their father because of cowardice. It’s evil that Catholic school children are dead. It’s evil that a Ukrainian refugee was murdered. It’s evil that people lost their jobs because they refused to get vaccinated. It’s evil that the use and abuse of the justice system has been focused in one direction.

It’s evil when supposedly good men do nothing.

It’s even more evil to make a show of being concerned, gathering thousands together, giving inspiring speeches, and then doing nothing. Performative politics, empty words, vain platitudes, and saying “peace, peace” when there is no peace is vile and a dereliction of duty.

Do the men of the West, do Republicans, have the courage of their convictions?

Because the Left does. Utterly brainwashed and convinced they’re fighting “hate,” every action they take, they justify — even assassination. No limiting principles. Communists, these Maoists, are one of mind and spirit; they’ve dehumanized their fellow Americans to the point of celebrating death. They must be stopped.

Republicans need to take their Christian and civil social compact more seriously. Being Christian is an active thing. Pray, yes. Forgive, yes. AND when Christians have power as elected officials, they have a God-given responsibility to use that power for good, for justice, and for the well-being of all Americans, regardless of political persuasion.

Maybe Charlie Kirk wouldn’t have had to die if Republicans had taken the violence extant for the decade previously seriously. It’s a disgusting, crying shame that the price paid to be free of delusions has been an innocent man’s life. It will be an even more perilous shame if elected Republicans remain deluded from behind the $88 million in extra security they just funded. They sure as hell are ensuring their own safety and peace. What do these governing authorities plan to do to ensure justice and peace for their fellow Americans?

READ MORE from Melissa Mackenzie:

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The Spectacle Ep. 271: Why No One Wants to Talk About the Murder of a White Woman