by Markus Langemann //
Events need to be categorized.
Charlie Kirk, co-founder and director of the Turning Point USA organization, was fatally shot by a sniper at a university event in the state of Utah.
As a podcaster and activist, Kirk campaigned for conservative values - and for President Donald Trump. His influence on young people in the United States was considerable. Trump himself paid tribute to him in an address to the nation last night with the words:
"He fought for freedom, democracy, justice and the American people. He is a martyr for truth and freedom, and there has never been anyone so respected by the youth." - A flag of mourning was ordered.
A few hours earlier, I had sent a chapter to my editor for my book that will be published this year - the text about a recource that seems to be disappearing in our time, with the title:
Courage - a disappearing resource.
Charlie Kirk was only 31 years old. A young father whose two small children will only keep him as a distant memory. A young wife, now a widow.
Kirk was a courageous figure in a deeply divided America. He sought publicity as a debater and podcaster - peaceful, argumentative, unwavering. Not a man of hate speech, but a man who polarized. At least in the eyes of those who did not share his views.
In my book, I deal with the quiet disappearance of that very courage.
Here is an excerpt that sounds unintentionally prophetic:
"Courage once meant not choosing the safe side. It meant accepting risks, taking losses into account, confessing your own vulnerability. Courage requires the willingness to harm yourself. Anyone who only calculates how to get through unscathed is already in retreat.
Our present day has a different vocabulary. There is talk of "canceling", a word that sounds like a technical command and yet is a deeply anti-cultural act. There is no discussion, there is a shutdown. Artists, authors and scientists are not disappearing because of their work, but because of contact guilt: they have spoken to the wrong people, appeared in the wrong places, asked the wrong questions. This is how an atmosphere grows in which the word is no longer risked, but silence becomes life insurance."
Charlie Kirk paid for his courage to stand by his Christian convictions, his conservative values, with his life.
It is events like this that can spark wildfires. May prudence and confidence guide people - regardless of political views and religious convictions. May courage remain an attitude that never leaves us. We need it more urgently than ever.
May the cowardly murder of Charlie Kirk not become a beacon - in the sense of a fatal "turning point".
Donald Trump - Speech, Oval Office 9/11 2025 - Transcript "My fellow Americans, I am filled with sadness and anger over the heinous murder of Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah. Charlie inspired millions, and tonight all who knew and loved him are united in shock and horror. Charlie was a patriot who dedicated his life to the cause of open debate and to the country he loved so dearly, the United States of America. He fought for freedom, democracy, justice and the American people. He is a martyr for truth and freedom, and there has never been anyone so respected by the youth. Charlie was also a man of deep, deep faith, and it comforts us to know that he is now at peace with God in heaven. Our prayers go out to his wife Erica, his two beloved young children and his entire family, whom he loved more than anything in the world. We ask God to watch over them in this terrible hour of grief and pain. This is a dark moment for America. Charlie Kirk traveled the country, joyfully engaging with anyone interested in a good faith debate. His mission was to engage young people in the political process, which he did better than anyone before, to share his love of country and spread the simple words of common sense. On campuses across the country, he advocated his ideas with courage, logic, humor and grace. It is long past time for all Americans and the media to face the fact that violence and murder are the tragic result of demonizing those with whom you disagree in the most hateful and despicable way day after day, year after year. For years, radical leftists have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism we are experiencing in our country today, and it must stop immediately. My administration will find every single person who contributed to this atrocity and other political violence, including the organizations that fund and support them, as well as those who persecute our judges, law enforcement officials, and everyone else who keeps order in our country. From the attempt on my life in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year that took the life of a husband and father, to the attacks on ICE officers, to the brutal murder of a health care executive on the streets of New York, to the shooting of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and three others, radical left-wing political violence has harmed too many innocent people and cost too many lives. Tonight, I ask all Americans to commit to the American values that Charlie Kirk lived and died for. The values of free speech, citizenship, the rule of law, and patriotic devotion and love of God. Charlie was the best America had to offer, and the monster that attacked him attacked our entire country. An assassin tried to silence him with a bullet, but he failed, because together we will ensure that his voice, his message and his legacy will live on for countless generations to come. Because of this heinous act, Charlie's voice is bigger and more powerful today than ever before, and by far. May God bless his memory, may God watch over his family, and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you." |
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6 Responses
Der Mörder muß doch aus einem anderen politischen Lager kommen als dem von Charly Kirk.
Das Umfeld dieses Mörders müßte doch eingehenst durchleuchtet werden.
Was bringt einen Menschen dazu, einen anderen Menschen umzubringen, nur weil er eine klare andere politische Meinung vertritt.
Ist das Umfeld des Mörders eine bösartige Gegenbewegung, ist das die mörderische Spitze einer politischen Gegenbewegung ? Oder ist das ein verirrter, verwirrter Einzelltäter ?
Alles deutet darauf hin, dass diese Tat aus politischen Motiven begangen wurde, die gegen die Trumpbewegung agiert.
Sollte das so sein, dann können wir uns auf gewalttätige Auseinander-setzungen gefaßt machen.
Darf linker Hass in einen Bürgerkrieg ausarten ?
Die Linken Anführer müßten ihre Leute zur Räson rufen. Oder sollte man sie alle wegsperren, diese Feinde der Freiheit.
LG Heli Sp.
Austria
Just as President Donald Trump stood in front of the victims Charlie Kirk and shortly before Iryna Zarutska in his speeches with crystal-clear words and actions, I would expect our Federal Chancellor or Federal President to do the same in Germany, for example after the recent death of the 16-year-old Ukrainian girl Liana K., who was pushed in front of a train.
But while our Federal President and our Federal Chancellor, for example, publicly intervened "with great indignation" because of the Sylt video, which was not even a criminal offense, only silence was heard in the case of Liana K., who was killed.
I feel that these "representatives of the people" neither perceive nor represent me, let alone protect me. They are only needed to pay taxes and collect broadcasting fees.
Anyone who is prepared to speak openly, who never argues abusively but clearly and directly - deserves respect, even from their opponents. If such a person is killed, only one thing remains: unreserved contempt for this act. Nothing, absolutely nothing about Charlie Kirk even remotely justifies murder. Anyone who sees it differently is outside of Western and Christian civilization.
What leaves me stunned is that there were "people" there who cheered on the spot and publicly immediately after the attack... Words fail me.
Charlie Kirk will not have been the last victim. A project as big as that of the "left" does not go down without leaving a trail of blood. History moves on in the rhythm of thesis, antithesis and new synthesis. This three-step process is never bloodless. Empires fall into ruins and new ones emerge. Patterns of thought emerge and are blown up, also bloodily, what else? Blood, not gold, is the only currency that constantly creates change and wins out in the end. The new requires sacrifices, bloody sacrifices, in order to emerge. Those who are prepared to enter this battle are the true heroes of history. Everyone else is just a spectator. In this sense, Charlie Kirk is a hero. He sacrificed himself for his convictions and made history.