This week marks the anniversary of two harrowing acts of evil in America’s not-so-distant past: the 9/11 terrorist attack a quarter of a century ago and the assassination of Charlie Kirk just last year. These events differed in scope and casualty counts, of course, but perhaps not as much in reach. Ask any American of a certain age where they were on Sept. 11, 2001, and they’ll recall it in vivid detail. Ask anyone of the next generation where they were the day Charlie Kirk was murdered, and you’ll get the same result.
It seems unfathomable to many Americans how, just 25 years after the Islamic terror attack that killed nearly 3,000 people, a Muslim is now mayor of the city where the Twin Towers crumbled. Just one generation ago, a group of ordinary men and women bravely stormed a cockpit to wrestle their plane from jihadist hijackers, sacrificing their own lives to save untold masses of strangers on the ground. Today, Muslim populations are taking over American cities and elected offices, Democrats have opened America’s borders to new terrorists, leftists openly declare that this country “deserved 9/11,” and a sitting member of Congress gets away with describing the attack as “some people did something.” How?
While “never forget” means something to those who hold the memory of 9/11 in their collective conscience like it was yesterday, a growing percentage of Americans couldn’t remember it if they wanted to — not literally anyway. Almost 4 in 10 were too young on 9/11 to do any remembering, including the over 31 percent of the population that wasn’t even born yet.
The moment that shocked this new generation to its core wasn’t the murder of thousands, but of one. It wasn’t the collapse of a building, but a statesman. It wasn’t footage of scores of men jumping from skyscraper windows to their deaths to avoid being burned alive, but the video of one man, here one moment and gone the next, for the crime of saying true things. The instant a murderous leftist took out 31-year-old civilian Charlie Kirk with a single bullet is the moment we’ll never forget. Much like everyone seemingly had some connection to 9/11 or its many victims, many Americans today felt a strong connection to Charlie Kirk. He gave us the language to realize our convictions, the courage to say them out loud, and the political infrastructure to see many of them realized on a national scale.
Our “never forget” moment didn’t transcend partisanship to rally Americans around a common enemy, as 9/11 did. On the contrary, it revealed the demonic underbelly of the modern left, a startling number of whom identified with the shooter and celebrated the assassination while Kirk’s body was still warm. A year later, they’re still cheering.
Sept. 11, 2001, generated enough momentum to fuel a multi-decade war on the other side of the world, foolish and futile though it was. But just one year later, too much of the Charlie Kirk momentum has already fizzled, fueled by ghouls who care more about GOP gatekeeping and clicks than the Kirks. America is back at war in the Middle East, Republicans in Congress are more intent on defeating the J.D. Vance faction of the party than beating Democrats, and too many self-important right-wing “thought leaders” are too busy owning each other to “own the libs.” For its part, Turning Point USA is still faithfully carrying the torch and stacking up wins in Kirk’s stead, haters be damned. But where unity, indignation, and impulse following the assassination should have fueled the right to certain victory, conspiracy theories and opportunism infected what movement there was and paralyzed it.
It wasn’t just politics, either. Just as spiritual revival took root, so did deranged widow hatred and innuendo. The blood of martyrs like Charlie Kirk is indeed the seed of the church. But the demons hate it — and it’s shown.
Twenty-four years from now, a new generation will have no personal memories of the day Charlie Kirk died. How can we do a better job of “never forgetting” than the torchbearers of 9/11 remembrance?
Charlie gave us the answer, and it starts in your own heart and home. Repent of your sins and believe the Gospel. Then share that Gospel with everyone you know. Go to church. Then get married and have babies and take them to church. Read your Bible. Pray. Log off social media and anything else that fills your mind with lies and rage and dissension, and instead meditate on Truth. Then be courageous and speak truth, even when it’s unpopular. Touch grass. Read good books. Work hard. Love God and your neighbor.
We’ve got a lot of work to do. May the 25th anniversary of our “never forget” moment find us with something true, good, and beautiful to show for it.
