Until American right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated, I had no idea who he was, but I certainly do now. His over five-hour memorial service, attended by 60,000 in person and millions online, dominated just about every news media space we have. Even Canadian MPs stood up to show their support during a session of parliament. But if you had criticisms or questions of Kirk’s record, as Canadian journalist Rachel Gilmore does, then you opened yourself up to threats of rape and death.
What exactly are we dealing with, when vigils for this man are held across our own country and around the world?
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It means that we are facing a theocracy, with Trump as its leader and the tragically murdered Kirk as its sacrificial lamb. In his speech at the funeral, Trump called Kirk “the greatest evangelist for American liberty… a martyr now for American freedom.” He added, Kirk’s “name will live forever in the eternal chronicle of America’s greatest patriots. He will live forever.” We thought theocracies existed only in places like Iran, but we are seeing one emerging in the United States in real time.
We shouldn’t be surprised. Fascism, this time draped in a cross, is the logical outcome of neoliberal economics. This system outsourced and offshored well-paying manufacturing jobs, disenfranchising millions of people, leaving them to fend for themselves in the new gig economy. At the same time, obscene amounts of wealth were delivered into the hands of the few and a new aristocracy was created.
As has happened in other times in history, the extreme right swooped in and offered enemies to blame. And as in those other times, the centre-left seemed tone-deaf to ordinary people’s plights and incapable of addressing their legitimate fears and concerns.
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Nor should we comfort ourselves that we are safe up here in Canada. The “Maple MAGA” movement is alive and well, and gaining strength as it exerts its influence in all levels of political and cultural life.
I recently interviewed American theologian and writer Danté Stewart about his Sept. 15 Substack article, “Notes from a Concerned American.” In the piece, he writes:
“And yet, I wrestle this morning with the question Fady Joudah, the poet, has asked: what do the slain teach?
That America will declare a war on everything and everyone except white supremacy.
That America has a kind of selective outrage and empathy. That the country wants you to mourn a racist but not children being bombed in Gaza. That the country wants you to be angry when Charlie Kirk is killed but wants you to feel or say nothing when Rep. Melissa Hortman and husband are slain.”
We cannot pretend any longer that the world will somehow snap back to what we knew as normal. We are living in a new historic moment, and it is happening at a speed that is almost paralyzing.
But we are not powerless. We can act and resist. That means speaking out, taking risks as things get worse and accepting the enormity of the challenge.
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Rev. Christopher White is a United Church minister in Hamilton.
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