✝️ Forgiving Kirk's Killer: Grieving Widow, Trump Offer Differing Theologies 🔌
Weekend Plug-in 🔌
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PARIS — “I forgive him.”
Erika Kirk’s emotional words Sunday concerning her 31-year-old husband’s assassin reached all the way across the Atlantic Ocean.
I heard them in France — roughly 5,500 miles away — where I am on a reporting trip.
Nearly a week later, I’m still struck by what the grieving widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk said at his memorial service, which drew tens of thousands of mourners to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
“My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men just like the one who took his life,” declared Erika Kirk, 36, pausing as the crowd cheered.
“That young man,” the mother of two orphaned little children whispered, bowing her head before glancing toward heaven. “That young man.”
Tyler Robinson, 22, is charged with climbing onto a rooftop at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10 and fatally shooting Charlie Kirk from about 200 yards away. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty.
Regaining her composure, Erika Kirk recounted the crucifixion of Jesus.
“On the cross, our Savior said, ‘Father, forgive them for they not know what they do,’” noted Kirk, wearing a silver cross necklace and quoting Luke 23:34.
“That man, that young man, I forgive him,” she said, sobbing. “I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do.
“The answer to hate is not hate,” she added. “The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love — love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
A top podcaster and ally of President Donald Trump, Charlie Kirk was “an unabashed Christian conservative who often made provocative statements about gender, race and politics,” according to The Associated Press. Kirk “launched his organization, Turning Point USA, in 2012, targeting younger people and venturing onto liberal-leaning college campuses where many GOP activists were nervous to tread.”
Erika Kirk will succeed her late husband as Turning Point’s CEO.
A few days before the memorial service, in an interview with the New York Times, she said she’s a strong believer that Charlie Kirk’s death was a part of God’s plan.
“I’ve had so many people ask, ‘Do you feel anger toward this man? Like, do you want to seek the death penalty?’” she told the Times. “I’ll be honest. I told our lawyer, I want the government to decide this. I do not want that man’s blood on my ledger. Because when I get to heaven, and Jesus is like: ‘Uh, eye for an eye? Is that how we do it?’ And that keeps me from being in heaven, from being with Charlie?”
• • •
FORGIVENESS IS of course, at the heart of the Christian message.
But that doesn’t make the act any less profound, especially when it occurs under such difficult circumstances.
“Absolutely stunning” is how I described it in 2019 when 18-year-old Brandt Jean extended forgiveness to the Dallas police officer who killed his older brother, Botham, and even hugged her.
I’m reminded, too, of Roy and Jeanie Willmon, who came to forgive — and even share Jesus with — the two men who raped and murdered their 20-year-old daughter, Carla, in 1995.
Many still remember how the Amish expressed forgiveness in 2006, after a man stormed into a one-room schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, and shot 10 girls, killing five.
In his return to late-night TV on Tuesday, host Jimmy Kimmel praised Erika Kirk’s forgiveness of her husband’s killer.
"If you believe in the teachings of Jesus, as I do, there it was. That’s it. A selfless act of grace, forgiveness from a grieving widow,” Kimmel said, as reported by Fox News. “It touched me deeply, and I hope it touches many. And if there’s anything we should take from this tragedy to carry forward, I hope it can be that."
• • •
WHILE THE THEOLOGY of forgiveness marked Erika Kirk’s remarks, Trump — who spoke after her — offered a different perspective.
“He was a missionary with a noble spirit and a great, great purpose,” Trump said of Charlie Kirk. “He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie.
“I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them. I’m sorry,” the president said to laughter and cheers from the same crowd that applauded Erika Kirk. “I am sorry, Erika. But now Erika can talk to me, and the whole group, and maybe they can convince me that that’s not right. But I can’t stand my opponent.”
Trump chuckled as he kept talking.
“Charlie’s angry,” said the president, pointing toward the sky. “Looking down, he’s angry at me now. He wasn’t interested in demonizing anyone. He was interested in persuading everyone to the ideas and principles he believed were good, right and true.”
At the five-hour memorial — which mixed faith and politics — “Christian stars like Chris Tomlin led worship, and MAGA influencers and pastors talked about Jesus and conservatism,” as detailed by Christianity Today.
Asked Monday about the divergent messages between Erika Kirk and Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president was “authentically himself.”
“I think that’s why millions of Americans across the country love him and support him, including Erika Kirk, who you saw so beautifully, was onstage with the president in an unthinkable moment, in the midst of an unthinkable tragedy, and was leaning on the president for support during that time, and he was there to give it to her,” Leavitt said, as reported by the New York Times.
While Trump identifies as a Christian and counts White evangelicals among his strongest supporters, he’s not known for deep theological insight.
Last month, the president said he hoped to end the war between Ukraine and Russia to boost his chances of getting into heaven.
“I want to try and get to heaven if possible,” Trump said. “I’m hearing I’m not doing well. I am really at the bottom of the totem pole. But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.”
Those comments prompted Russell Moore, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, to write a column — more of a Bible study actually — offering advice for Trump on getting into heaven.
After the Kirk memorial service, the New York Post — among others — urged the president to reconsider his perspective.
“President Donald Trump should heed the bold, brave message of faith, hope and forgiveness Erika Kirk delivered Sunday,” the conservative-leaning tabloid proclaimed in an editorial.
Inside The Godbeat
Forgiveness is just one aspect of the Charlie Kirk story. Christians across the U.S. are grappling with Kirk’s complex legacy, according to The Christian Chronicle’s Erik Tryggestad.
Conservative evangelicals’ embrace of Charlie Kirk’s legacy “is forcing some Black Christians to reconcile the activist’s divisive comments on race with the Christian values of tolerance and empathy,” the Washington Post’s Kim Bellware, Michelle Boorstein and Rachel Hatzipanagos report.
Black church leaders “reject Charlie Kirk martyrdom and point to his race rhetoric, according to AP’s Aaron Morrison and Jaylen Green.
But for a generation of Black conservatives, Kirk “built more than politics — he built community,” ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson writes.
The Final Plug
Because of my travel, I did not produce a Weekend Plug-in column last week.
Plug-in’s absence prompted faithful reader Mike Clemens to email me.
“Hello Bobby,” he wrote. “I hope you are OK.”
“Thanks for noticing, Mike!” I replied as I told him about my trip to France. I was genuinely pleased that he took the time to write.
Bonjour, my friends! Enjoy the weekend.
Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for Religion Unplugged and serves as editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 20 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.