"The Lesson of Charlie Kirk"

 This has been put together quickly, so I am sure there are errors and omissions. Nevertheless, this is my say.  In certain respects, I feel an interloper in that I did not know much about Charlie Kirk before his assassination. But he was obviously an extraordinary young man. He has been compared to a youthful William Buckley, but Buckley had the advantage of wealth, a prestigious family and a Yale education. Kirk, without those advantages, reached out to young people, to high school and college students, to get them to think about politics and their beliefs. Like Buckley, he eschewed violence. And he was enormously successful in what he did. And he died far too early, a young husband and father, at age 31. 

 

Sydney M. Williams

 

Thought of the Day

“The Lesson of Charlie Kirk”

September 13, 2025

 

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible

will make violent revolution inevitable.”

                                                                                                                President John F. Kennedy

                                                                                                                Alliance for Progress

                                                                                                                March 13, 1962

 

Until his assassination last Wednesday, I never knew much about Charlie Kirk. But from what I have read, I believe his life and message provided a roadmap for a better Country. He loved to debate ideas and was a passionate believer in free speech. Sadly, he was killed exercising that freedom. 

 

Most everyone agrees that our Country has become divided, that extremism, on both the left and the right, has voided those things most of us have in common – a belief in a nation of infinite possibilities, a belief in the wisdom of our founders and the Constitution they bequeathed us, a Judeo-Christian heritage and its traditions, our history, and an appreciation for the benefits the Enlightenment brought to a darkened world. 

 

Self-righteousness of the Left and Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) have, in my opinion, brought great harm: Political correctness, despite its claim for doing good, censors speech, and inhibits freedom of thought and expression by denigrating and denying opposing opinions. Some words may offend sensitive feelings, but they do not beget violence. Identity politics has divided us by race, religion, and gender. The long-standing motto of the United States, E pluribus unum, seems no longer to apply.

 

How to subdue the flames of partisanship that consume us? Charlie Kirk believed the way forward was through debate, not lectures and certainly not violence. On college campuses, he invited those who differed to express their opinions, to debate him. It was, he believed, a better substitute than anger and violence. Ironically, it was during such a forum he was shot and killed.

 

How do we dampen those flames. The most expedient way to address the intolerance that permeates our politics would be for political leaders to act like responsible adults – to stop vilifying their opponents, and then temperately and respectfully debate the issues, as Kimberley Strassel advised in Friday’s Wall Street Journal. It would be helpful, but probably even less likely than politicians assuming a measure of maturity, if the media, rather than sanctimoniously blaring opinions, focused on news. I don’t know about you, but I have pretty much stopped watching cable and network news.

 

In my opinion, the best long-term answer to the political division and hatred that runs amok and mars our politics is to focus on education. Besides all the critical STEM programs, children, from an early age, should be taught to read history – to know our history but also that of other countries, especially that of Rome and Greece, the world’s first attempts at democracy. For perspective, they should read classical fiction, to imbibe the works of Shakespeare, Milton, Austen, the Brontës, and others who have influenced generations of teachers, philosophers and politicians. They should be taught the history of wars, for sometimes wars must be fought – why they began, how they were conducted and how concluded. They should process all they have learned so that they can form and articulate independently-arrived opinions – with the understanding that a democracy can only function when a citizenry is informed.

 

Sadly, that is not happening. The nation’s report card, the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), yielded the worst fourth grade reading outcomes in twenty years, with 40% of students scoring below basic proficiency. For eighth graders, reading scores hit an historic low, with a third of the students performing below basic proficiency. In the meantime, chronic absenteeism was up, as were grade inflation and misbehavior. Teachers, administrators and their unions should be held accountable.

 

In high schools and colleges, students should be taught the rudiments of debate, and he encouraged them to debate issues respectfully and intelligently. When I was on a high school debate team, we were assigned topics and then told as to whether we would be arguing the affirmative or the negative. And we had to be able to debate both sides. Teachers and professors should leave their opinions in the cloak room, unless they are welcoming disagreement and debate. As Charlie Kirk would say, teachers should then ask: show me why I am wrong?

 

It is that which is the lesson of Charlie Kirk. Be passionate in your beliefs but don’t let passion morph into hatred and violence. Befriend those with whom you disagree. Be willing to listen to what they have to say and be comfortable debating your differences. I hope we never reach a point where we act like sheep, where we all accept, without debate, which policies are best. Neither the Right nor the Left has an exclusive on the correct way forward. But together, in discussion and debate, we should find the route most compatible to most people. Remember our motto; it still fits: Out of many, one.