WHITE ANGLO-SAXON PROTESTANT (WASP) SEEKING CONVERSATIONS
Dr. Gary Cass | 9-17-2025
Now that I’ve had a little time for the fog to clear after feeling like I was concussed by a hand grenade at the news of Charlie Kirk’s death, here’s what I see.
My friends, family members, and people I know who love the Lord have taken up sides—myself included. We name Jesus as Lord, and yet we are tempted to think the hardest thoughts imaginable against people of good faith who disagree and are wrestling with the implications of their faith.
One of the things I believe makes a HUGE difference in this situation is how you were introduced to Charlie Kirk.
I am a conservative Christian who saw Charlie grow up. At first, I had reservations about Turning Point USA because Kirk was fraternizing with the Libertarian wing of the Republican Party. They are much more liberal on social issues than I could tolerate.
As Charlie matured, he became more conservative and more in line with what the Bible teaches on matters of marriage, sexuality/gender, and abortion. Maybe part of that came from getting married and having children. I do know he had some good pastors mentoring him. I have talked with Charlie and been in meetings with him, and over time my opinion changed.
If you were introduced to Charlie via the internet—through curated click-bait clips and bad-faith misrepresentations—then you will have an entirely different opinion of him. Admittedly, this kind of thing happens all the time from all sides. Then there are the trolls and bad actors who thrive on pitting Americans against one another.
Even if you disagreed with Charlie—who was so verbally skilled and well-studied he could hold his own against the brightest from the most elite institutions—you should at least have respected him as a fellow human being. We know he was universally liked by those who worked with him. Even those who later became progressives admit he was a great guy. Watch one of Charlie’s college events and see how patiently he treated those who disagreed. He would even rebuke the crowd if they were disrespectful.
His ideological opponents reduced his ideas to “hate speech” so they could defame him as a racist Nazi. Once dehumanized, they could justify hating him—from which comes murder. We see their dark hearts revealed at work and online when they mock Charlie in his death. Even if you vehemently disagreed with him, did he deserve to die for the expression of ideas that at least half the country believes? Who else deserves to die?
Theologian Os Guinness called the season we are living in a “civilizational moment.” Are we going to return to God and His Word as the basis of truth and justice? “The Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” are what we were founded on, albeit imperfectly. Of course, that’s all we expect from mere mortals, even as we try to form a more perfect union. Sadly, it resulted in a Civil War.
Do we just burn America down and replace it? But with what? We’ve seen that murderous reality repeatedly in the twentieth century, and it always ends in totalitarianism.
What does God want the future to look like for our grandchildren? That’s a fair and necessary debate to have. I have very deep convictions, and so do you. How can we test them against God’s Word if we can’t have good-faith conversations?
1 Corinthians 11:19 (Berean Literal Bible): “For also it behooves there to be factions among you, so that also the approved should become evident among you.”
Factions form because people are convinced they’re right, but the process of contending for the truth is necessary. Have a friendly conversation this week with someone you disagree with. First, ask the Lord to give you His heart for them. Then ask how they came to their positions (often there’s a painful story). Who knows—you might learn something, or make or keep a friend. And even better, perhaps they might become a brother or sister in Christ.