The Ideology that Radicalized Charlie Kirk’s Killer
Leftism is a great evil, and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise.
My latest piece for Center for Baptist Leadership.
Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, was raised in a conservative, Mormon family. Facebook photos indicate a normal, all-American family. One photo showed Tyler as a young kid with a new computer. Another showed him and his brother dressed up in Halloween costumes. His father, a 27-year veteran of law enforcement, is a MAGA Republican, along with the rest of his family. Everyone, that is, except for Tyler Robinson.
According to FBI reports, Tyler had gotten increasingly political recently. The shell casings found on the rifle Tyler used had Antifa propagandist slogans engraved on them. Utah governor Spencer Cox said, “It’s very clear to investigators that this man was deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology.”
At a recent family dinner, one family member mentioned Charlie Kirk’s upcoming appearance at a nearby event. Tyler responded that Charlie Kirk was “spreading hate” with his message.
For leftists, “hate speech” is anything that acknowledges reality. In the most twisted of ironies, Tyler Robinson’s worldview convinced him that speaking words he disagreed with was “hate,” but shooting a man in the throat isn’t. No doubt, Tyler’s violent rage probably felt righteous. He was convinced he was doing something good. Apparently, his online community sucked him into sexual perversions and radicalized him into leftist ideology.
Leftism is a Religious Cult
Leftist ideology functions like a religious cult, and the “religion” of leftism is secular atheism. Romans 1:28-32 shows how this happens. This text isn’t about ideological systems, but it does expose the thought patterns that have been systematized into leftist ideology.
Let me show you what I mean. In Romans 1, Paul is laying the groundwork for his exposition of the gospel by demonstrating the depths of human depravity. Verse 28 says, “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.”
Notice the word “since.” This word indicates cause and effect. Failure to acknowledge God is a “cause,” and being given over to a debased mind is the “effect.” In other words, the descent into moral chaos Paul describes happens because people live as though God does not exist. Their moral insanity is a sign of God’s judgment. Any society that rejects God will go insane.
Further, those who fail to acknowledge God must set up an alternative god, an idol, to occupy the place of ultimacy in their souls. God made man for worship; he can do no other. Such idolatry is under God’s judgment, for God will give them up to a “debased mind” to do what ought not to be done.
In the verses that follow, Paul describes a devastating cascade of wickedness: unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, gossip, slander, hatred of God, insolence, haughtiness, boastfulness, inventing evil, disobedience to parents, foolishness, faithlessness, heartlessness, and ruthlessness (Rom 1:29-31).
These verses are not about political ideologies or parties. Rather, they describe the long abandonment of reality, the debasing of a mind that is sinking deeper into moral darkness. This can consume any man or woman who rejects God and lives by their own rules. Leftism is the ideology of this moral abyss at scale. It explicitly seeks to eliminate God from society and sets itself up in God’s place. As pastor Doug Wilson has said, “If there is no God above the state, the state becomes your god.” In other words, the state becomes an idol.
Some leftists are avowed atheists; they deny God outright. Other leftists clothe their unbelief in the garb of progressive Christianity, twisting the symbols and religious practices of Christianity to serve leftist political goals.
When man does not acknowledge God, man becomes the measure of all things. When man becomes the measure of all things, man puts himself in the place of God and makes up his own rules. When man makes up his own rules, he enforces them with violence. This is the way the Left works.
As a result, an alternate moral reality gets cemented into people’s hearts. While Christians look to God’s word for moral guidance, a standard that exists outside of ourselves, leftists reckon moral goodness in terms of victims and oppressors. Everyone is either one or the other. In other words, leftism is the politics of envy. Leftism has no God to absolve its sins. There’s no grace, no forgiveness, no redemption. With no God above them, the highest power they can appeal to is the state, which is why leftists politicize everything.
Christians, however, believe in a holy God who commands us to repent of our sins, receive forgiveness and grace, and consequently order our lives according to his word. Leftists believe in the ultimacy of the state, and by the power of the vote, they can impose their preferred morality on everyone else.
This is why leftism’s #1 tactic is political revolution. The history of leftism is marked by violence. Leftism lusts for power, which is why leftists are most dangerous when they’re losing.
Both Sides-ism
Someone might object, saying, “There’s violence on both sides! There’s corruption on both sides!” The “both sides” argument is a tactic the Left uses to obscure its own evils while projecting its wicked schemes onto its enemies. But in truth, the Left has a near monopoly on political violence. Their worldview demands it.
Now, I do not deny that there are some instances of political violence on the Right, but these are rare. And the conservative Christian worldview has the internal tools to evaluate, critique, and reform itself by a divine standard outside of ourselves. We believe in God, the Bible, and Christian morality. If someone on the Right commits an act of political violence, you will find that act being universally condemned on the Right. Our worldview requires us to do so.
It’s the opposite with the Left, because they have no standard outside of themselves. There’s no heaven above, no hell below, no God, no devil. It’s just us. Might makes right. The Left has abandoned any external standard they might use to police their own ranks. There are no brakes on their movement other than what they deem politically expedient. This is why political violence is an almost exclusively leftist phenomenon.
Christians need to recognize the simple fact that the Left doesn’t want the same thing we want. We sometimes naively believe that they do—a free, just, and prosperous society where all can thrive and peacefully coexist — but simply prefer a different path to achieve this goal. Nonsense.
We must come to terms with the fact that the Left doesn’t want to peacefully coexist with us. They aren’t playing by the same rules. They aren’t even playing the same game. They have a fundamentally different and irreconcilable worldview.
So, anyone who tries a “both sides” argument simply doesn’t know what time it is. And the practical effect is that we end up ignoring or appeasing the clear and present danger right in front of us. The Left isn’t interested in good-faith dialogue. They aren’t interested in hearing diverse points of view. They aren’t interested in listening and learning from others. If anyone modeled those things better than anyone, it was Charlie Kirk. How did that work out for him?
The Violence of Leftism
One of the biggest myths in our country is that the Left is peaceable, open-minded, and tolerant. Don’t believe me? Consider this:
Leftism is the ideology of sixty million aborted babies.
Leftism is the radical ideology pushing transgenderism.
Leftism is the ideology promoting lawlessness, putting criminals on the streets, treating them as victims, and refusing to hold them accountable.
Leftism is the ideology turning our cities into sewers of violence and all manner of disorder.
Leftism is the ideology that’s taxing people into oblivion, stealing our income to fund leftist projects.
Leftism is the ideology that’s inciting violence under the guise of protest, saying things like, “rioting is the cry of the marginalized.”
And yes, consider also what we’ve seen from conservatives in the wake of Kirk’s assassination. Have we seen hordes of MAGA-hat-wearing thugs roaming the streets, burning buildings, rioting, looting, and attacking people at random? No. But we have seen prayer vigils. We’ve seen people posting prayers and Scriptures online. This past Sunday, we experienced a surge in church attendance, with many people attending for the first time in their lives.
Generally, conservatives are normal people. They just want to be left alone. They want to go to ballgames and cookouts. They want to get jobs, start families, and go to church. Charlie Kirk promoted these things. But these days, every honest, ordinary, conservative, law-abiding citizen who wants to live an ordinary life will be branded a Nazi or fascist.
And the Left does these things while hypocritically draping themselves in the condescending smugness of “love.” I’m sure all the people who gleefully celebrated Charlie Kirk’s death have “No Hate” bumper stickers on their cars. The Left will not debate ideas because logic and rational thought are regarded as tools of oppression and injustice.
So, make no mistake: violence is a feature, not a bug, of leftism. The Left has a penchant for egging on and justifying violence on the one hand, while denouncing it on the other.
In a prophetically chilling post on X, Charlie Kirk himself said this:
“Assassination culture is spreading on the left. Forty-eight percent of liberals say it would be at least somewhat justified to murder Elon Musk. Fifty-five percent said the same about Donald J. Trump. The left is being whipped into a violent frenzy. Any setback, whether losing an election or losing a court case, justifies a maximally violent response. This is the natural outgrowth of left-wing protest culture, tolerating violence and mayhem for years on end. The cowardice of local prosecutors and school officials have turned the left into a ticking time bomb.”
This is what leftism does to your brain. It makes people crazy while simultaneously making them feel righteous. And leftism is still the ideology that dominates many American institutions, especially the public education system, which teaches the next generation of young people. And Charlie Kirk’s message was resonating with that very audience. His appeal with Gen Z was massive.
Silence in the Face of Evil is a Functional Affirmation of it
In Romans 1:32, Paul says, “Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” There are two ways to “give approval” to evil. The first one is obvious: you openly support and affirm it. The second is more subtle: you refuse to oppose it.
This is the way of cowards. Many Christian leaders are in a position to speak out on the great moral evils of our day, but refuse to do so. They say they are opposed to the wickedness being promoted by the Left, but they refuse to use their voice to say so. Why? Because they don’t want to “rock the boat.” In other words, opposing the Left could prove costly, so they remain silent. Their silence allows the Left’s agenda to advance unopposed.
For pastors and Christian leaders, there is no excuse. Our calling requires us to speak out on behalf of those being harmed and indoctrinated by leftist ideology. Our calling requires us to give voice to faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who know something is going wrong and need those in leadership to help them identify, expose, and oppose it.
Their silence is complicity, and frankly, they should be ashamed. Their unwillingness to oppose evil is the functional equivalent of affirming it.
Conclusion
Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. I’m using the word leftist to describe an evil ideology. Leftism is a wicked ideology, and the modern political home of leftism is the Democrat party. I am not saying every Democrat is an ideological leftist. I am saying the Democrat Party promotes it. Also, I am not saying the Republican Party is righteous and made up of God fearing Christians. I am saying that the Republican Party is better than the Democrat Party. And clearly, the Republican Party is not the party actively trying to destroy our beliefs and way of life.
A cheeky way to put it: God may not be a Republican, but the Devil sure is a Democrat.
Yes, there is corruption on the Left and the Right. But they are not the same. The Left is much worse. Period. It’s obvious now: leftists do not want to peacefully coexist with us. They don’t want the same things. The Left and the Right are two distinct groups that view the world in fundamentally different and opposing ways. Clearly, something’s got to give. It isn’t sustainable. One side will ultimately prevail, while the other will inevitably lose.
My prayer is that the Left will be utterly defeated and driven from society through both the appropriate use of political power by our elected officials, including President Trump, and by mass conversions to Jesus Christ.
The alternative is too frightening to fathom.
One of the best articles you’ve written.
Well said. Praying for our country.