Professor Roman Sheremeta

Sept 11, 2025

“Grief is the only response.”

A sobering message from Pastor Benjamin Cremer:

Today, Charlie Kirk was shot while speaking at one of his rallies, and he has died from his injuries.

My heart is heavy. Violence is never the answer. It does not heal, it does not restore, it only multiplies grief and perpetuates violence. Tonight, Charlie’s wife and children will face a table with an empty chair. His community will feel the shockwaves of his death. We should grieve this loss, because every human life bears the image of God, and whenever a life is taken, the whole world is made a little more fragile.

This is not a simple grief for many. Charlie’s rhetoric was grievous in itself. As a pastor, I watched first hand as it perpetuated nationalism, racism, disinformation, dehumanizing rhetoric, and caused harm to many, especially marginalized people. We must be honest about this and understand that all will not be grieving this moment in the same way.

We must also be honest about what our faith calls us to: not to celebrate harm, not to become numb to death, not to gloat when someone we disagree with falls. Jesus wept over the city that rejected Him. He healed the ear of the man who came to arrest Him. He prayed for those who crucified Him. To follow Jesus is to refuse the logic of revenge, spite, or indifference.

Our reality is, multiple acts of gun violence took place across our country today, including multiple school shootings. More families, like Charlie’s, will go to bed tonight missing someone they loved. More lives were ended by a uniquely American epidemic that has become all too tragically normal.

We are not called to approve of harmful ideas or remain silent about the systems that perpetuate this violence. We must name the truth about our culture’s idolatry of guns and its endless cycles of hate and fear that is being repackaged as “Christian” and “truly American.” But we are also called to lament.

We grieve for Charlie Kirk.
We grieve for his family.
We grieve for every person harmed by his words.
We grieve for every victim of gun violence today.
We grieve for a nation so hardened that we argue about whose pain is “deserved” and “worthy” of our grief.

Grief is the right response, not bitterness, not gloating, not resignation. True grief opens us to the Spirit’s work of healing, justice, and peace. True grief keeps our hearts soft in a world that would rather grow hard. True grief keeps us human.

So today, I lament. I lament the death of Charlie Kirk. I lament the systems that make gun violence inevitable. I lament the hate and division that run so deep in our country. And I pray: Lord, have mercy. Teach us to mourn with those who mourn. Teach us to hunger for justice without losing compassion. Teach us to walk in the way of peace.