Reverend Marco Ste-Marie

Yesterday, Charlie Kirk was shot while in the middle of a speaking engagement. In the shock of such a moment, grief often gives way to anger, and many voices are now calling for vengeance. Yet history and faith remind us that answering violence with violence only deepens the wound. Vengeance is a deceiver—it whispers that you are strong, that you are in control, that you have made your point unmistakably. But anger is also a deceiver, feeding only on destruction.

The truth is simple and devastating: a man was killed in front of his wife and children. No words can erase that memory, no retaliation can restore what has been lost. A family is left without a father. That is the tragedy at the heart of this moment.

I will admit, I seldom agreed with Mr. Kirk’s views, and many others also opposed him. But that is not the point. Murder is never the answer. When anger takes hold, it blinds us to compassion. It tempts us into action that requires no thought, no empathy—just raw negativity released into the world. And what has ever been healed by hatred and retribution? Almost nothing. Anger escalates; it does not reconcile.

Jesus confronted this very human instinct for retaliation. In Matthew 5:38-39 He said: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evil person.” These words are not passive; they are a call to resist the cycle of hate by refusing to play its game. Later, when Peter struck with a sword during His arrest, Jesus replied in Matthew 26:52: “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” Even in the moment of betrayal and danger, He taught peace.

As Christians, as followers of Christ, we are called to reject the spiral of vengeance. We are called not to escalate but to de-escalate, not to harden but to soften, not to hate but to love. Active peace is not easy—it demands courage, restraint, and imagination. But it is the only path that leads toward healing.

If we wish to honor Charlie Kirk’s life, let it not be through more violence, but through a renewed commitment to finding common ground. Let us channel our grief and anger into building communities where differences can be faced without hatred, and where the dignity of every human life is safeguarded. This is the work of peacemaking, and it is the work Christ has given us to do.