Martyrdom and Charlie Kirk: Why Words Matter
In the days since Charlie Kirk’s assassination, I’ve watched the language that has emerged in churches and online. Many have reached for the word martyr to describe him. Out of grief, that word feels natural. But the more I’ve thought about it, and after reading Justin Winter’s reflections, I’ve come to believe that calling Charlie Kirk a martyr is a serious mistake.
Martyrdom has a sacred meaning in the Christian tradition. From Stephen in Acts to the Coptic Christians beheaded on a Libyan beach, martyrs are those who die because they refuse to deny Christ. Their blood bears witness to their faith. Their deaths are confessions in blood.
Charlie Kirk’s death was tragic, violent, and wrong. But he was not assassinated because he refused to renounce Jesus. He was killed because of his politics and public presence. To call him a martyr confuses categories and cheapens the testimony of those who truly gave their lives for Christ alone.
Justin Winter helped me see the danger more clearly: when we apply “martyr” to someone simply because he was on our side, we risk turning theology into tribalism. If Joe Biden, who often speaks of his Catholic faith, were assassinated, would conservative churches flood social media with martyr language? Almost certainly not. And that asymmetry reveals the problem — it isn’t about faith, it’s about faction.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is rightly remembered as a martyr because his ministry was inseparable from his Christian witness. He was assassinated while standing with sanitation workers in Memphis, acting as a pastor and prophet. His blood was the seed of justice born of the gospel. That is not the same as Kirk’s situation, however much he spoke of his personal faith.
Grief is real, and we should mourn Charlie Kirk’s death without hesitation. Political violence in any form is an attack on human dignity and democracy. But grief does not give us permission to distort sacred words. To call Kirk a martyr is not only a theological error, it is a pastoral failure. It misleads the flock into confusing political loyalty with Christian witness.
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Let us reserve that holy word for those who die for Christ, and let us refuse to let partisan factions co-opt it for their own gain.
Thank you, Justin Winter, for helping me see this distinction more clearly. Words matter. Let’s use them with care, truth, and reverence.