In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing, our nation confronts a familiar crisis: the temptation to dehumanise those with whom we disagree. Christian apologist Abdu Murray argues that the way forward requires integrating truth and compassion - recognising that facts and feelings are not enemies, but part of what it means to be fully human.
The Danger of Dehumanising the “Other”
As our nation reels and processes the death of Charlie Kirk and all it entails, we once again have to confront our biggest societal sin: hating the “other.” The vitriol I have seen on social media over the last few weeks has exponentially amplified the sickness I felt over the original act of violence.
When will we learn to focus our value judgments on positions and ideas instead of on the people who hold those positions and ideas? If we don’t, I fear our society and our very reality will collapse.
Not all ideas have equal value, but the people who hold them do. Our culture’s obsession with self-invention and over-reliance on technology to promote ourselves and cancel others may tell you otherwise, but as someone who believes every one of us is made in God’s image, I also believe that everyone deserves the same dignity and compassion.
Facts and Feelings Belong Together
No matter how much we might wish otherwise, biological realities, physical laws, propositional truths and human nature resist our attempts to redefine them. In that sense, it’s true that “facts don’t care about our feelings.” But if we cling too woodenly to that retort to post-truth thinking, we miss a profoundly important, even spiritually transcendent, reality that applies to conservative and liberal, spiritual and secular: Facts influence our feelings.
Feelings are facts about what we’re experiencing. And our feelings influence how we interpret facts. Our emotional responses to reality are not separate from reality—they are part of it. When we ignore this vital truth, we slip into black and white thinking. We overlook and possibly even punish nuance. We neglect the image of God uniquely expressed in each individual. And people suffer—sometimes irrevocably.
The Limits of Self-Invention and Technology
Understanding this concept provides a way forward through our contemporary confusion. Neither self-invention nor technological advancement can deliver the transcendence they promise because both fail to reckon with the fullness of human nature. We are neither autonomous gods who can define reality according to our preferences, nor are we mere machines whose consciousness can be uploaded to silicon. We are embodied souls—physical and spiritual beings created in the image of God. Our bodies matter. Our feelings matter. Truth matters. And the integration of all these aspects of our humanity matters profoundly.
The Hunger for Meaning and the God-Shaped Hole
In The Anxious Generation, atheist Jonathan Haidt suggests that one solution to our technology-induced anxiety is spirituality. He acknowledges a “God-shaped hole” in all of us and laments that our obsession with technology has brought about a spiritual decline. Yet his conception of spirituality remains reductionistic, equating religious expression with emotional experiences like singing hymns together or attending sporting events. He recognizes our spiritual need but reduces it to a social construct we can manufacture.
As a Christian, I believe this desire for connection to the transcendent makes perfect sense because we were created for communion with God.
The Cross: Where Facts and Feelings Meet
The biblical narrative begins in a garden of harmony and ends with restoration. Between these bookends stands the cross—the place where facts and feelings converge in cosmic significance. As the ground of all being, God is the original Fact. All other facts derive from his verity and authenticity. The Bible describes this original Fact as personal and interactive—not an abstract principle, but a relational being.
Even more remarkable is that the Christian message—unique among spiritual claims—centers on God’s incarnate interaction with us through Jesus Christ.
The crucifixion narrative is awash in both truth and emotion. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus asks as he hangs by nails dying. He was immersed in feeling while simultaneously fulfilling prophecy. In this pivotal moment, feelings and facts found their convergence.
Moving Forward with Truth and Compassion
When we accept this integrated view of human nature, we can approach our current cultural questions—including gun violence, gender dysphoria, rapid technological change, and free speech—with wisdom and compassion.
Regardless of one’s opinions about Charlie Kirk’s politics, watching his videos shows that he was motivated by compassion.
The way forward is not to collapse reality but to embrace it in all its complexity. Let us speak truth in love rather than wield truth as a weapon.
An Ancient Wisdom for a Fractured Age
In the end, the antidote to reality collapse is not to be found in new ideologies or technologies, but in an ancient wisdom that has weathered the storms of centuries: Love God, and love your neighbour as yourself.
If we remember what it means to be human, we can contribute to the fortification rather than the collapse of our shared reality.
Abdu Murray is a speaker, author, and attorney who specializes in addressing issues where religious faith and emerging cultural trends intersect and collide. Since founding Embrace the Truth in 2004, Abdu has spent decades analyzing how the major religious and non-religious thought traditions have attempted to address emerging cultural issues.
