Preserving American Values

In the texts cited by the prosecutors in charging Tyler Robinson for the murder of Charlie Kirk, while he clearly did the deed, which in itself is a radical act, there was nothing in the texts that showed he was motivated by radical, progressive, or leftist thinking.

Instead, I would call his thinking very Christian, spiritual.  His words sound like something Jesus would have said.  Listen to his words: “I had enough of his hatred.  Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

When his mother said that in the last year he had become “more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented,” that too is something Jesus would have been.  He put his arm around all those who were rejected by society, whether they were lepers or prostitutes.  Surely he would have done the same for gay and trans individuals.

The sad irony here is that this apparently loving, sensitive, and accepting Christian young man is being nailed to the cross (metaphor intended) by a far-right Christianity-based movement.  

He certainly made a terrible moral judgment mistake in “taking out” Charlie Kirk.  But it is clear to me from his messages, including that the case shell writings were just a big meme with no meaning at all, that he is just a boy at heart who was immersed in the unreality of video games.  His murder of Charlie Kirk was done in the spirit of those games;

He took the casual—no big deal—attitude of killing someone in a video game, and applied that to real life.  But the rules of video games cannot be applied to real life.

He should be held accountable for his murder of Kirk, of taking another person’s life.  But he is not some radical leftist.  Misguided, yes, but not a radical.