Turning Point

This is adapted from a Facebook post I put up on September 15th. It got 30 responses, substantially more than I get when I post my blog pieces. I've put my new additions in bold.

 I really haven't posted or said much about the Charlie Kirk assassination. It's a horrible thing, and that it happens so often in this country makes me very upset, especially the mass shootings in schools, churches, shopping areas, and more. Everyone wants to blame the shooter as a leftist or a right-wing extremist. I don't know. Trying to look at it is like looking through a kaleidoscope - every time you twist it, you can come up with a different answer.

Presently, there is more coming out about a connection between the shooter and a transgender friend. Although the killer seems mostly apolitical, he may have been recently riled up about Charlie Kirk's extreme and hateful rhetoric against the lgbtq community, with special vitriol reserved for the transgender community. The killer was part of a gaming group, who, from the posts I've seen, are just kids, typical online gamers, like my son, Benjamin.

Still, don't jump to conclusions. The kaleidoscope is still twisting.

The same is true with Charlie Kirk. Is he an exemplary Christian, or is he a leading promoter of the heresy of Christian Nationalism? The quotes I see from him clearly identify him as racist, misogynistic, anti-LBGTQ, pro-Russian/anti-Ukraine, in favor of the Gaza genocide being perpetrated by Netanyahu, against children getting free school lunches, and more values that seem to me more anti-Christian than pro-Christian.

However, perhaps I'm only seeing things from those who share my views. There may be some quotes and positions that I'm missing. So, please, if you manage to break through the Facebook algorithms and see this, are there any quotes you know of that are pro-Christian and not representative of the push towards Christian Nationalism? I would appreciate it if you could point to any.

As far as the kaleidoscope goes, be aware that the dials that are twisting are now in the hands of a very partisan FBI and Department of Justice. Trump knows what he wants this to look like, and he won't stop pushing until he gets it.

So, the tragedy of this (the horrible, inexcusable loss of an American for speaking out) is going to be amplified, and taken in directions that will only increase the stain of hate and violence that has dominated this country, especially since the escalator ride more than a decade ago.

Charlie Kirk represented an organization known as Turning Point USA. The conservative movement was losing the youth vote significantly, and Charlie was meant to help stem the tide. He boldly went on to college campuses and challenged anyone to prove him wrong. His tactics may have been manipulative and full of false equivalencies; nevertheless, he was willing to engage in rhetorical battle. Although I can argue about his techniques, I can't be against the idea of the free exercise of speech. The turning point he was looking for was to turn as many young people as he could back to MAGA and Christian Nationalists' ideals. Not pleasant, but within the realms of our democracy.

This is not the turning point that Trump, Miller, and other extremeists are looking for. The turning point they are looking for is nothing less than stamping out all opposition, including eliminating the Democratic Party, and starting the dance of one-party rule.

The persecution of the lgbtq community will accelerate, with special venom saved for the transgendered. People who have dared to not canonize Kirk have lost their jobs. All incidents of right-wing violence have been edited out of existence. They will go after educators. They will threaten corporations and businesses that don't toe the line.

At some point, this may play itself out. Trump has little staying power on any topic. However, we can clearly see what they want and what they are hoping for.

They are looking for the turning point, the excuse to put out the dying embers of democracy.

We must resist for as long as we can.