By BEN CARPENTER

I remember exactly where I was on the morning of the September 11 attacks. I was in college in Utah, watching the second plane hit the World Trade Center. The air was thick with shock, fear, and uncertainty—but what came next was unity. We rallied. We chose to stand together.

This week, I watched the assassination of Charlie Kirk unfold in real time. The shock felt familiar, but the national reaction did not. Instead of unity, I saw division and even celebration from some corners of the internet. This was not just the killing of a man. It was the moment many Americans confronted real, naked evil for the first time. And unlike 9/11, it has left us fractured, not united.

The First Real Encounter With Evil

For older generations, national trauma—political assassinations, civil unrest, terrorist attacks—is horrific but familiar. They remember the killings of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. My generation, Gen X, watched 9/11 and went to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But for many Millennials and Gen Z Americans, the most “traumatic” collective event until now was the COVID-19 pandemic—fearful, but not violent. They had never seen evil strike in real time, in public view, aimed at someone they admired.

The footage of Charlie Kirk’s assassination was not just shocking—it was visceral and morally offensive. It forced millions to watch the extinguishing of a human life up close. It shattered assumptions about the safety of public discourse and the sanctity of life.

Charlie Kirk was their contemporary. To watch him cut down on screen was, for many, their first visceral taste of real evil. And that matters. As C.S. Lewis observed, every choice shapes who we become. How this generation responds to its first confrontation with evil will shape not just its future, but its soul.

The Rise of an “Assassination Culture”

Months before his death, Kirk warned of what he called an “assassination culture.” He cited data from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), which tracks ideologically motivated threats.

NCRI found rising glorification of political violence, growing tolerance for assassination attempts, and a disturbing normalization of violent rhetoric. One of their studies showed that 48% of self-identified liberals justified violence against Elon Musk and 55% against Donald Trump. After the assassination of a healthcare CEO earlier this year, online searches for “assassination tools” spiked 300%.

After Kirk’s death, NCRI’s director Joel Finkelstein told Newsweek that the killing reflected the exact warning signs they had identified—and that what was once taboo has become acceptable.

That is chilling. A culture that tolerates assassination is not just sick—it is on the verge of collapse.

The Real Crisis Is Moral Decay

But political violence is not the root problem. It is a symptom.

The deeper crisis is moral decay—a collapse of the spiritual foundation that once held our culture together. We live in a time when vengeance is celebrated, self-gratification trumps self-sacrifice, and too many Americans see politics as warfare rather than stewardship.

Our founders understood this danger. In 1798, John Adams wrote, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” He was right.

No law, no executive order, no regulation, and no police force can hold together our nation that has abandoned God. The collapse we are witnessing is cultural, not legal or regulatory—and it will not be fixed by legal or regulatory means.

The only path back is to once again become a moral and religious people: to fear God, to obey God, and to place Him first in our homes and in our hearts.

Rejecting Evil, Choosing Virtue

That means the responsibility is ours—personally and collectively.

We must lead our families and communities in reverence for God. We must teach our children His commandments and model what it means to live under His authority. We must put the needs of others ahead of our own and choose the narrow path of obedience when the world tempts us toward vengeance or self-interest.

Do not look to Washington, D.C. or your state legislature to heal this country. They can’t. Only God can. And He will—if we repent and return to Him.

Otherwise, the alternative is unthinkable: a future where might makes right, where those with the most guns or the loudest mobs rule, where our children inherit a country defined by vengeance instead of virtue.

A Rallying Cry for a Generation

Charlie Kirk was right to name his organization Turning Point USA. Because this truly is a turning point.

We can either descend further into moral chaos—or we can honor Kirk’s legacy by rejecting violence and embracing virtue. We can choose to fight evil not with more evil, but with faith, with courage, and with selfless leadership.

If this generation can make that choice, if it can rise to this moment, then Charlie Kirk’s death will not be the spark of collapse. It will be the spark of renewal.

Let this be our turning point, let it be toward courage, not chaos—and toward morality, not murder.

Ben Carpenter is a former Alaska state legislator, combat veteran, small business owner, and host of the Must Read Alaska Show.