Following the assassination of Charlie Kirk I listened to an edition of BBC Radio’s Americast which included a number of clips of Charlie Kirk in action. In one of these he was addressed by a young man who introduced himself as gay, but also conservative in his politics. My guess was that, despite his religious and conservative identification, he felt himself targeted by Kirk’s extreme right wing christian evangelism.
Kirk’s response was polite, even welcoming. However he went on to challenge the way in which the young man had identified himself by his sexuality. “You’re more than that” he assured him.The young man immediately seemed reconciled to this challenge to his self-presentation. Of course, he was more than his sexual identity.
And yet it was not hard to see something disingenuous in the welcome Charlie Kirk gave to this young gay man. His insistence that he should not allow himself to be defined by something so narrow as his sexual orientation was a way of silencing him. Be what you want to be, but don’t talk about it.
The reality is that people frequently identify themselves by some detail which seems particularly important to them but which in reality offers a very limited window on the person they are. When I walk down the street in Dumfries I often see young men dressed in Celtic or Rangers shirts. They’re not going to a game. It’s just the clothing they feel comfortable in. It does sometimes cross my mind that their projected identity diminishes them, but really, it’s none of my business.
On that campus in Utah, where he was to meet his end, Charlie Kirk was shown throwing out red MAGA baseball caps to the crowd. The intention was obvious. Put on a MAGA cap and identify yourself with what it represents – and set the messy complexity of your real identity to one side.
The contradiction between Charlie Kirk’s challenge to that young gay man and his seduction of the crowd with his slick rhetoric and his red MAGA baseball caps, is obvious. And someone, armed with a high powered rifle, was sufficiently angered by that contradiction to climb a roof, take aim, and fire the single shot which was to end Charlie Kirk’s life.
In the frenzy of media coverage there have been other glimpses of Charlie Kirk in action. There is no doubt that he had capability in setting out a case against abortion or in defence of a religiously framed politics. Where the latter was concerned he was immediately able to offer a barrage of biblical quotations to support his case, though notably absent “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”
Charlie Kirk’s method was neither that of the philosopher or the theologian. He did not wrestle with contradictions or make subtle distinctions. He was, I can easily imagine, the star of the school debating team, quick witted, an excellent memory, smart. Armed with this talent he became fluid in the arguments that fed the algorithm which made him rich, famous, notorious, a friend of a President.
But that algorithm almost certainly became his master, shaped him and ultimately was to place him in the cross-hairs of his nemesis, a young man, just 22 years old, Tyler Robinson. Tyler Robinson’s motivations and affiliations remain shrouded in mystery but it can be safely assumed he was a mess of contradictions in search of an identity. I say “was” because his identity has become a public property, something over which he no longer has any control.
The death of Charlie Kirk is a tragedy, not just for Kirk himself but also for his two young children and his wife. Yet many will also see tragedy in the story of Tyler Robinson and his family who find themselves in a place they could never have imagined or wished for.
These tragedies, however, pale into insignificance when set against the war in Ukraine and the ongoing and systematic destruction of Gaza. Meanwhile, an incompetent US President looks on, threatens much, but does nothing.
Endnotes
Title image cropped from this image. Creative Commons licence details available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Americast Charlie Kirk’s killing: A dangerous moment for America?
About Stephen Shellard
I am a retired College lecturer, having worked originally in supported programmes but latterly having taught social science subjects, Psychology and Politics, though my degree was in Sociology. I am from Newry in Northern Ireland, but now live in Dumfries in South West Scotland. https://carruchan.wordpress.com/about/
Carruchan
An American Tragedy
Following the assassination of Charlie Kirk I listened to an edition of BBC Radio’s Americast which included a number of clips of Charlie Kirk in action. In one of these he was addressed by a young man who introduced himself as gay, but also conservative in his politics. My guess was that, despite his religious and conservative identification, he felt himself targeted by Kirk’s extreme right wing christian evangelism.
Kirk’s response was polite, even welcoming. However he went on to challenge the way in which the young man had identified himself by his sexuality. “You’re more than that” he assured him.The young man immediately seemed reconciled to this challenge to his self-presentation. Of course, he was more than his sexual identity.
And yet it was not hard to see something disingenuous in the welcome Charlie Kirk gave to this young gay man. His insistence that he should not allow himself to be defined by something so narrow as his sexual orientation was a way of silencing him. Be what you want to be, but don’t talk about it.
The reality is that people frequently identify themselves by some detail which seems particularly important to them but which in reality offers a very limited window on the person they are. When I walk down the street in Dumfries I often see young men dressed in Celtic or Rangers shirts. They’re not going to a game. It’s just the clothing they feel comfortable in. It does sometimes cross my mind that their projected identity diminishes them, but really, it’s none of my business.
On that campus in Utah, where he was to meet his end, Charlie Kirk was shown throwing out red MAGA baseball caps to the crowd. The intention was obvious. Put on a MAGA cap and identify yourself with what it represents – and set the messy complexity of your real identity to one side.
The contradiction between Charlie Kirk’s challenge to that young gay man and his seduction of the crowd with his slick rhetoric and his red MAGA baseball caps, is obvious. And someone, armed with a high powered rifle, was sufficiently angered by that contradiction to climb a roof, take aim, and fire the single shot which was to end Charlie Kirk’s life.
In the frenzy of media coverage there have been other glimpses of Charlie Kirk in action. There is no doubt that he had capability in setting out a case against abortion or in defence of a religiously framed politics. Where the latter was concerned he was immediately able to offer a barrage of biblical quotations to support his case, though notably absent “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”
Charlie Kirk’s method was neither that of the philosopher or the theologian. He did not wrestle with contradictions or make subtle distinctions. He was, I can easily imagine, the star of the school debating team, quick witted, an excellent memory, smart. Armed with this talent he became fluid in the arguments that fed the algorithm which made him rich, famous, notorious, a friend of a President.
But that algorithm almost certainly became his master, shaped him and ultimately was to place him in the cross-hairs of his nemesis, a young man, just 22 years old, Tyler Robinson. Tyler Robinson’s motivations and affiliations remain shrouded in mystery but it can be safely assumed he was a mess of contradictions in search of an identity. I say “was” because his identity has become a public property, something over which he no longer has any control.
The death of Charlie Kirk is a tragedy, not just for Kirk himself but also for his two young children and his wife. Yet many will also see tragedy in the story of Tyler Robinson and his family who find themselves in a place they could never have imagined or wished for.
These tragedies, however, pale into insignificance when set against the war in Ukraine and the ongoing and systematic destruction of Gaza. Meanwhile, an incompetent US President looks on, threatens much, but does nothing.
Endnotes
Title image cropped from this image. Creative Commons licence details available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Americast Charlie Kirk’s killing: A dangerous moment for America?
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About Stephen Shellard
I am a retired College lecturer, having worked originally in supported programmes but latterly having taught social science subjects, Psychology and Politics, though my degree was in Sociology. I am from Newry in Northern Ireland, but now live in Dumfries in South West Scotland. https://carruchan.wordpress.com/about/