HONORS to Charlie Kirk continue to roll in.
Grave doubts remain as to the official account of his alleged murder. Normal medical treatment at the scene, serious blood loss, an autopsy or coroner’s report, a crime scene investigation as is usually required, burial — all these and more were missing, leaving the strange behavior of his wife and the absence of his parents to further confirm suspicions. Some, including me, believe Charlie was in all probability not killed on September 10th and may be, as the FBI director said, in “Valhalla,” or the federal witness protection program. Perhaps he is at a distant resort or maybe he is walking among us. We hope he is still alive.
But even if Kirk was not killed, the most serious deception surrounding the story of his life does not concern the reported crime or its aftermath. The most serious misconception involves his faith.
The real hoax was that Kirk was not a Christian during his public life and could not possibly have been a martyr.
No, Kirk was not a modern-day St. Paul, as that outrageous heretic in New York City, “Cardinal” Timothy Dolan, said. He was not a Christian missionary or a faithful evangelist of the gospel. He wasn’t even Christian, no matter how many statues are erected of him at “Catholic” universities that also have abandoned the truth.
Kirk said his religious beliefs were the most important thing in his life, and maybe they were, but that does not make them true or acceptable to God. People can be deceived, but God? No, He never can be.
Kirk believed — and said so repeatedly — that all one needed to earn eternal salvation was acceptance of Jesus as personal Savior. As he liked to tell his audiences, one is not judged by a “moral scorecard.” A person can sin and sin again, as Martin Luther said; never seek absolution, and still get to heaven.
These claims are unbiblical, as pointed out here,** since Christ Himself rejected them:
Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:21-23)
Yet again:
And behold one came and said to him: Good master, what good shall I do that I may have life everlasting?
Who said to him: Why asketh thou me concerning good? One is good, God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. (Matthew 19:16-17)
St. Paul said the moral law was essential:
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, 20 Idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects,
Envies, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. Of the which I foretell you, as I have foretold to you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God. (Galatians: 5:19-21)
Kirk’s listeners may have been positively affected by his belief in Christ’s divinity and his defense of virtue. Some may have been positively affected by those parts of Revelation he clearly accepted and been motivated to read the Bible for the first time. But Kirk affirmed millions in false beliefs.
We live in a sea of error and many are poorly catechized through no fault of their own. It is not for us to judge their sincerity, their goodness or their ultimate disposition before God. It is not for us to deny that some live truly exemplary lives. Many Protestants with the grace of God have perhaps turned to the truth at the last moments before death, especially those who have faithfully observed the natural law. We sincerely hope many have, and many will, including Charlie someday. We can say, however, that “faith without works” does not lead to heaven in the end.
It’s not as if Kirk was never exposed to the truth. He had books on theology at home and he knew the doctrines of the Catholic Church well enough to publicly discuss them. He denied several Catholic dogmas and said so two months before the event at Utah Valley. He rejected the papacy. He rejected the sinlessness of Mary. He rejected Transubstantiation. All these doctrines, he said, were wrong. He spoke approvingly of the Calvinist John MacArthur and of Martin Luther. There is no evidence he changed his mind. His wife in the aftermath of his “death” urged their followers to join “biblical” churches.
Kirk’s claim that people don’t need to keep a “moral scorecard” essentially removed the foundation from his arguments — and they were often very good arguments — for rejecting sexual liberation. If one can get to heaven just by a sincere embrace of Jesus, then virtue is pragmatic and optional. Following the commandments of God may make for a happier life and produce more future Republicans, but they are just personal preferences. Kirk’s praise for virtuous marriage was not biblically sound either. He openly defended (here too) the normalization of homosexual relations.
Given the encomiums that poured in from those Modernists connected with the Vatican II Church such as Anthony Dolan, and from those striving to be Catholic in this time of unprecedented confusion, deception and apostasy, it wouldn’t be surprising if Charlie Kirk was “canonized,” the first “saint” who publicly rejected Catholicism. Why not? Another step forward for the One World Religion.
J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio, both nominal Catholics, praised Charlie’s faith at the political rally/rock concert that was Kirk’s “funeral.” People thought nothing of it. Doctrine is not important. What matters is political beliefs and good feelings. George Washington once wrote that the new nation happily would not see the religious wars of Europe. Little did he foresee that political conflict might take their place and be just as acrimonious. When politics is a religion, heresy is a deadly serious game.
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were pleased that America was free in its founding documents from the insufferable “superstitions” of “papist” Europe. Charlie Kirk, who wore the word “freedom” emblazoned on his shirt in Utah, the very word the Founders associated with religious revolution, was in this sense a true American. But he was not a true Christian.
We hold out hopes that he will be one someday.
[**Not a blanket endorsement of this source]
— Comments —
Ann writes:
Been reading your excellent blog for some while, and though initially dubious about the Charlie Kirk controversy, I am now of the mind based on your copious notes, and various and sundry I’ve come upon elsewhere, that TPUSA is a diabolically crooked organization run by crooked people, and as well that the “assassination” may very well have been staged. One of the reasons I seldom listened to Kirk’s debates was due to his false Christianity. I truly believe heretics are the most dangerous enemy to the Faith, and especially to true but naive Christians.
This is just a thank you for presenting much food for thought.
Laura writes:
Thank you very much for your encouragement — from one religious fanatic to another. : – )
