Rick Holtz
Over the weekend I took my family to the zoo in Omaha. It was a break from the day-today grind, and I was looking forward to getting away and enjoying my day.
My parents drove out from Indiana to see us. We purchased a new vehicle, and my mom and dad were driving it to us.
Penny and Charlie were excited to ride in the new van. They rode home from the zoo with me.
What started as playful banter in the backseat quickly devolved into a sibling versus sibling war. Someone was hit. Someone was crying.
All I could think was that it was the perfect analogy for the week we had.
Last Wednesday, Charlie Kirk — a conservative Christian pundit — was murdered when an assassin’s bullet struck him while he was speaking outside at Utah Valley University. Kirk, a 31-year-old father of two, routinely would visit college campuses all over the nation and speak to anyone who stepped up to the microphone.
Was he killed because he was a conservative? Or was it because he was a Christian? Truthfully, we probably will never know for sure.
The problem is that Charlie Kirk’s conservative values are intricately intertwined with his Christian faith. He boldly spoke from a Christian worldview, something that routinely put him at odds with people who disagreed with his beliefs.
When news broke last week that he had been shot, Christians began to pray. When it was announced that he died, people began to cry.
And some people cheered. The reaction by many on the other side was telling. They celebrated the death of a man because they did not like the words he spoke.
The reaction from conservatives was also telling. There was no looting. There were no riots. The Utah campus did not burn to the ground.
Contrast that to the reaction of the Left when President Donald Trump tries to enforce immigration policies or take men out of women’s sports. People criticize him for waking up in the morning.
I’ll admit, my initial reaction to Charlie Kirk’s murder was not the best. I wanted vengeance. I wanted a pound of flesh.
I’m sure I was not the only one.
The people celebrating his death are wrong too.
The Charlie Kirk assassination is not a Left versus Right thing. It’s not us versus them. It’s right versus wrong.
But the thing is, under any true bible-believing Christian beliefs, if the person who shot Charlie Kirk comes to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, he will go to Heaven. And one of the first people to embrace him when he gets there is Charlie Kirk.
And that should be our response too: Pray that the shooter comes to a saving faith — even if he does not see a need for a savior today.
Rick Holtz is one of the co-owners of the Nance County Journal. Read his column each week in the newspaper and on the website.