Don't Let Kirk's Death Spur a New McCarthy Era

by

Perspectives

Special to United Methodist Insight | Sept. 15, 2025

When an assassin’s bullet kills a young father, a devoted husband, an eloquent speaker, an American patriot, that is a profound tragedy. It is a tragedy for the person’s family and friends. It is a tragedy for the nation. From any angle, it is a tragedy.

I was in my senior year of high school when this cruel tragedy struck our nation. April 4, 1968 an assassin’s bullet took the life of a Christian pastor with young children, an eloquent spokesperson for Christianity and democracy. I remember well all the shock and horror. It was (and is) a tragedy.

Political assassinations have no place in our country. Everyone should reject political violence.

In 1968, we were lost in grief and fear and horror with the reality of the assassination of Dr. King. Everyone in my world knew that two things could be true at the same time: sadness/shock/ repudiation of political violence AND people could have questions about the person who had died. In families, schools, churches, workplaces, communities; in the media and among the talk of politicians, people felt the sadness about the murder. At the same time, all across the spectrum, people also had differing opinions of Dr. King. We did not have social media, but I can tell you that on every hand, people were not sure of his virtuous status. They openly talked about his rumored infidelities, his supposed connections to the Communist party, his methods in leading the Civil Rights movement which many in the white, conservative world considered “rabble-rousing”. And they talked about their questions and, in some cases, dislike without reservation because in our country, we are guaranteed to be able to speak freely.

It would never have occurred to us – even in the wake of a nation-shaping tragedy-- to fire teachers or nurses for not having full admiration for Dr. King. It would never have occurred to us that the Secretary of Defense publicly announce retribution against any member of the military who did not think Dr. King was a saint. We didn’t have social media, but it would have been considered McCarthy-like terrorism for there to be a “hit list” of people made public for people to demand to be fired because they were not in agreement with sainthood for Dr. King. This demand that everyone have the same exalted opinion of Charlie Kirk or face retribution does not represent American values and ideals. And it is certainly the opposite of Christian.

I was in the seventh grade when President John F. Kennedy was murdered by an assassin’s bullet. A young father, an eloquent speaker, an American patriot whose life was suddenly, violently ended by sniper fire. What I also remember was the reaction of people. There was a wave of grief that engulfed our nation. But grief was not the only response. There were also parties of celebration-- especially across the South-- at his murder. Open parties of celebration. And yet, I never heard of anyone losing their jobs or being publicly reprimanded or humiliated in the evening news. We understood that, even though it was reprehensible for people to party at the death of our President, the bigger principle was we are part of a great nation built on principles of freedom of speech and, specifically the freedom to disagree.

Charlie Kirk’s death is a tragedy – for him, for his followers, for the nation. But the tragedy is compounded unnecessarily by using this terrible tragedy as an excuse to cancel freedom of speech and the freedom to dissent. That undermines our nation at its core integrity. And, the odd thing to me is that Charlie Kirk thrived on freedom of speech. And he delighted when people disagreed with him.

To me, this vengeance and retribution drive compounds the tragedy. When differences of opinion lead to people demanding retribution against other citizens, Charlie Kirk is not honored. And the core principles of American life are being exchanged for the poison of partisan discord. We have already witnessed how the political violence escalates with heightened rhetoric. When you add official retribution from the government to the flurry of heightened rhetoric and the demand for action against anyone who disagrees, the tragedy of this murder deepens into a violation of our most cherished American principles. This damage to the heart and soul of our nation is not coming from the man who pulled the trigger. That’s coming from the avid followers of Charlie Kirk, the partisan forces that benefitted from him and the political pundits who fuel outrage for their own ratings.

When an assassin’s bullet kills a young father, eloquent speaker, an American patriot, that is a real tragedy. That is a tragedy that we cannot undo.

When the reaction to that murder is to gaslight, humiliate and demand action against anyone who doesn’t have the same opinion, a bigger tragedy is taking place – one that CAN be avoided. And followers of Charlie Kirk – if true to his path—would be steadfast and ardent defenders of free speech and dissent.

Just as our nation has dealt with the horrors of an assassin’s bullet before, it is still true that two things can be true at the same time: people can be sad and repulsed by the violent murder AND not be unanimous in their support of the person who was killed. We have no say in the murder that took place last week. However, we all have a role in not compounding the tragedy by turning us into a McCarthy-like frenzy. May God help us.

The Rev. Dr. Mary John Dye is a retired clergy member of the Western North Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. This post is republished with permission from her Facebook page.