A Vital Insight

     Quite soon it will be a year since Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk was murdered in the open air in Utah. The anniversary date, September 10, will surely bring a number of reflections on Charlie’s life, the brutal tragedy of his murder, and the consequences for political discourse in these United States. No doubt those who were glad to see him taken from us will have their own little celebrations.

     Charlie was a phenomenon. He seemed to have “come out of nowhere.” He demonstrated a talent for verbal engagement that’s become rare among political and para-political figures. Given his youth, it seemed to have been innate. Many have lamented the loss of that skill quite as deeply as the loss of the man himself.

     Yet beneath Charlie’s facility was a simple fact that anyone imbued with sincerity and good will could employ. The difficulty in making use of it isn’t intellectual. It’s quite easy to understand why and how it facilitates outreach. But putting it to work demands humility and benevolence of its employer.

     The fact is as simple to state as Henry Hazlitt’s “lesson:”

Outreach is not warfare.
The activist isn’t there to defeat an enemy.
He’s there to make a convert—a friend.

     It’s been reported that when a woman asked him why he did not destroy his Confederate enemies, Abraham Lincoln replied thus:

     When an old woman rebuked him for his conciliatory attitude toward the South, which she felt should be “destroyed” after the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln replied, “Madam, do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”

     That attitude colored Lincoln’s interpersonal relations. It was that attitude that moved Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, as he looked down upon the dying Lincoln, to say: “There lies the most perfect ruler of men the world has ever seen. Now he belongs to the ages.”

     Charlie had internalized that sentiment. He treated those who came to debate him as potential allies in the quest for freedom and the renewal of Christian society. If some were unconvinced and hostile, more were struck by his sincerity and benevolence. He was a “warrior for Christ” who regarded even one who approached with drawn sword as a potential friend and ally.

     What did Jesus say to those who gathered to hear Him?

     “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30]

     Christ didn’t “defeat” the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and so on. He simply preached a better message: an easier yoke and a lighter burden. When a Scribe responded positively to His message, Jesus complimented him:

     And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
     And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
     And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
     And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

     [Mark 12:28-34]

     The effective evangelist, whether his message is religious, secular, or other, is there to liberate: to offer his listeners something that would make them freer and better off. Defeating them is nowhere in his thoughts. By contrast, most political polemicists – and, sad to say, no few Christian preachers – treat the holder of opposed views as an enemy to be brought down, even subjugated or destroyed.

     I’m no saint. I’ve made that mistake many times. Sometimes it was out of frustration at “not being able to make them see.” Sometimes it was out of an unadmitted conviction of superior wisdom. Whatever the case, it’s always a mistake even when you “win.”

     Charlie Kirk was effective because he knew better. He treated his “opponents” as potential friends and allies. And he won quite a few of them to his side. It was probably the principal reason for his murder. Why bother to kill an ineffective evangelist?

     On the anniversary of Charlie’s death, let’s celebrate that aspect of his outreach along with the rest of his life. Let’s urge it onto others who would take up his cause. There seems to be a shortage.