The Charlie Kirk Non-Obituary

I used to faithfully listen to paleoMAGA talk show host Rush Limbaugh; while I began as somebody who bought into a lot of what he was saying, over time I eventually became to realize how unChristian and ignorant much of his commentary was.  When he eventually died, I struggled to figure out how I ought to think about him and other people who I thought were destructive to society, even as they were loved by many people.  I eventually come up with the sentiment that goes something like, 'We do not dance on the graves of evil people, but neither do we silently wash over the wickedness that they produced.'  I've tried keeping to this mantra in my thinking ever since.

Yesterday right-wing advocate Charlie Kirk was assassinated on a college campus in Utah.  I confess that I haven't really ever read much from him, but he was a very popular speaker and debater in the current Trump/MAGA echo chamber.  I have seen several tributes on Facebook from people whom I otherwise respect and who almost never post political material (if they did, I would unfollow them).  Even some kids on my school bus this morning were talking about this, how their parents were crying that Kirk was dead.  

Were I to ever read much of his material or listen to his speeches, I might have liked some of the things he was saying, even as I probably would have found distasteful many other parts because it seems that often the only thing that appeals to many in MAGAland is hateful denunciations of wokeness or demands to get rid of aliens and strangers or angry screeds about liberals.  And so I don't feel entitled to really say anything terrible or praiseworthy about him.  He was a husband and a father and a son.  Lots of people loved this man, much as they loved Limbaugh.  We should respect their grief.  

But there's one quote that I keep seeing, which boils down to Kirk saying that the death of some due to gun violence is absolutely necessary in order for us to be a free country.  This has been posted by many of his opponents who are dancing on his grave this morning.  Karma, they will tell us.  A man who fought gun control on college campuses was killed by a gun on a college campus.  Will yesterday change any thinking on this?  I keep wondering how much longer the earnest question of 'Don't we surround ourselves with guns and threaten violence so as to keep in check the tyranny of the wicked'? will continue to be spewed out.    

Nevertheless, Charlie Kirk will become a modern-day martyr for the MAGA crowd.  But let's not turn him into a hero.  People like Charlie Kirk have helped create a world in which political violence is now the norm.  Conservatives will whine and moan about the violent rhetoric of the left, but they are just as much a part of the problem as those they decry, led by a President who seems to take seriously his role as Insulter-In-Chief.  Even as we condemn yesterday's violence, we cannot wash over the wickedness that evil people produce, regardless of ideology.  Whether or not he was wicked or righteous is in the hands of God now, but we can see the fruits of hateful ideology all around us, even if it is wrongly supported by many people who call themselves Christian.

I do find it interesting that in the wake of yesterday's violence, there were many liberal stalwarts who posted nearly identical 'thoughts and prayers' comments on social media.  I don't think they were trolling, but rather they really meant this...but when this is all we have rather than intentions to make this world a better place, it really does seem like satire.  

The Entitled Age

The school district for which I drive is a state football power, one of the largest schools with historically one of the best teams in the state.  Last year I drove the team to a road game against a school in a lower classification and watched my school win something like 45-6.  Over the course of the year I probably watched them play 3-4 other times, usually smashing other schools, and it quickly became apparent to me just how expected this was...at one game I was listening to fans, parents or maybe alumni, gripe about mistakes they were making even as they were up by 40 points.  When we would score, there was no joy; when the other team might get a first down, there was frustration, almost anger.  At another game we were up again by 30 points or so, and I was sitting behind the student section.  Most of the game they weren't paying attention, but at another point a chant started up.  "This is boring! (clap clap clap clap clap).  This is boring!  (clap clap clap clap clap)"  Ultimately they lost in the state semifinals.  People were not happy.

I mention this because last night in the home opener our school lost 22-21 to the same team they had beaten 45-6 last season on the road.  I'm guessing that people around here are gonna be ticked off today.  I'm sure over the next few weeks I will be overhearing conversations about how bad the coach is or the players or lazy or whatever...but it strikes me that the great problem is simply that people feel entitled.  When there is continued success, people think that somehow they deserve it and have every right to bitch and moan when they no longer get it.  

We are entitled in this generation in so many ways.  The lady sitting in the Wal-Mart parking lot waiting for a low-paid worker to load up her car from her online order, moaning about how long it takes.  The 65 year old man I know who got evicted from his apartment but won't get a job in order to pay for a new one as he awaits another woman to come into his life and take care of him.  The parents who expect their kids to eat both breakfast and lunch at school for free even as they drive around in a $75K SUV.  

In many ways we have been blessed for so long, and in so many ways, that we won't know how handle a little bit of adversity as it comes upon us.  As our idiot president continues to tank the economy and alienate us from all of our allies, things are gonna start getting much worse in the coming months.  People are going to really be in a world of hurt if they think they can keep eating out all the time, spending hundreds of dollars on sports tickets, and drive around gas-guzzlers that are far more vehicle than they need.  I'll be curious to see how people will adapt...but my instinct is that things are not going to go well.