It is only when mass killings break new records, seem directed at particular groups, or involve large numbers of children, that they persist for long in the collective consciousness. But when they do there is (almost) unanimous empathy for the victims – even from (most of) those who may feel that the victims have misunderstood either the motives of the shooter or the relevance of firearms to their suffering.
Perhaps it is natural for the widely reported killing of a single individual to attract more attention than the daily slaughter of large numbers of unknowns. And in such cases perhaps it is also natural that the character of the victim is sometimes called into question by some and unduly elevated by others. This has happened in the cases of both George Floyd and Charlie Kirk.
What particularly disturbs me about reactions to the recent murder of Charlie Kirk though, is the extent to which no-one seems able to comment on any aspect of the horrible situation without trying to make political points. This includes the case of Jimmy Kimmel’s comments on the MAGA reaction (which came dangerously close to mirroring Kirk’s own deplorable comments about the attack on Paul Pelosi), but it also applies to an otherwise excellent piece on Forgiveness by Auguste Meyrat in ‘Crisis’ magazine which, by referring to “the leftists celebrating Kirk’s death and the leftist ideologies that fuel this evil”, conveys the false impression that anything but a fringe of “leftists” are celebrating and that “leftist ideologies” fuel this evil any more than rightist ideologies have fueled many corresponding evils such as (most recently) the murders of Melissa Hortman and her husband (and shootings of John and Yvette Hoffman).
Source: What It Means to Forgive Our Enemies and What It Doesn’t – Crisis Magazine