MARTYRDOM

 

Martyrdom usually elevates the martyred to a higher place in history than they may or may not deserve. For example it is easy to forget that Abraham Lincoln, prior to Donald Trump was the most hated president in American history. If he had lived the Reconstruction era was a political minefield that he would have had to negotiate. Personally, I think Lincoln was a political genius and the best person suited to handle Reconstruction. Even so, if he had lived would we have the same reverence for him as we do today? Whenever I heard someone wishing death on Bill or Hillary Clinton, Obama and Biden I would tell them that we shouldn't wish death on anybody but you should pray for their good health and for them to repent. The last thing that you want to see is some rogue elevated to the status of a martyr. This is a lesson that Tyler Robinson failed to learn before he assassinated Charlie Kirk. I am not implying that Charlie was a rogue but obviously this monster thought he was.

The same holds true for John F. Kennedy. We forget that in spite of the mythical Camelot image of Kennedy created after his death he barely won the 1960 election over Nixon. Kennedy only won by 119. 000 votes and we know now that if he had not had the help of the Mafia in Illinois harvesting votes from both the living and dead voters, or LBJ's illegal vote harvesting in Texas he would have lost. Because of his stance on civil rights his reelection in 1964 was not assured. This was one reason that he was in Dallas on November 22, 1963. He was trying to shore up his Southern Democrat support for 1964. His tragic death elevated him to mythical levels in the eyes of the American people. So much so that Barry Goldwater didn't have a dogs chance in hell of winning in 1964 against the monster Lyndon Baines Johnson. We still keep Kennedy on a pretty high pedestal in spite of his moral shortcomings. If Kennedy had lived it is highly probable that the 1964 and 65 Civil Rights Acts would not have been passed. Also, there are medical doctors who have said that he might have died anyway from his Addison's disease. Otherwise, I believe the country would have been better off if he had lived because the war in Vietnam would not have escalated and the War on Poverty would not have happened. There would have been no manufactured crisis to justify the rise of the radical left. At the very least they would have been stymied for a greater length of time.

By the time of Martin Luther King's death his movement had accomplished it's major goals. There was a civil rights bill and a voting rights bill. School desegregation was in full swing. Although racism was still rampant and minds had to be changed there was no legal basis for segregation anymore. Like many activists in history he was compelled to latch on to another cause. He decided to join the anti Vietnam war movement. King was a socialist and his socialist views took a backseat during the civil rights fight. Now, he was being more open about it. In my view his anti war stance was more divisive and he probably lost many people who had supported him on civil rights because of his anti war stance. I supported his civil rights activism but he lost me on Vietnam. If Martin Luther King had not been shot in Memphis on April 4, 1968 and lived to be an old man I doubt we would be observing an MLK holiday today or driving down that many MLK boulevards in America. Like Kennedy, we found out later that MLK was not as moral as we expect a pastor to be but like Kennedy we place him on a pedestal that he would not occupy otherwise. MLK was a so called Christian pastor who didn't believe in the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, or the resurrection. He thought these things were myths. King believed in the social gospel which is social justice with a Christian spin.

If Robert Kennedy had been elected in 1968, which I believe that he would have been, it would be primarily due to the vaunted status of his brother. This is not to say that RFK wasn't a talented politician and great orator but the death of his brother elevated RFK to mythical status. We all know the impact of the Kennedy name in American politics. On the other hand if JFK had lived RFK's future might have been closely tied to his brother's success or failure. His chances for success in 1968 might have been greatly diminished. If RFK had been elected he had the War in Vietnam to contend with. Like LBJ the war might have led to his downfall or he might have reverted back to his brother's Vietnamization plan that Nixon successfully employed and ended his presidency popular with the American people. Because of his early death we just don't know.

Charlie Kirk will be placed on a well deserved pedestal in my opinion just like those political martyrs that preceded him. His future looked bright. Maybe even the presidency was in his future. Again, if Charlie had lived we just can't say for sure how things would have gone. Who knows, he might have become involved in some kind of scandal or allowed fame and fortune to change him. The Communists might have regained power at some point and his power and influence could have been reduced by various legal restrictions, internment or even death. As we all know anything can happen in life. His martyrdom has trumped all of that now. Who knows, we might have a Charlie Kirk holiday in our future, Charlie Kirk Boulevards and definitely Charlie Kirk statues. As Secretary of War Stanton uterred at the death of Lincoln "Now he belongs to the Angels" Somehow that turned into "Now he belongs to the ages". Charlie belongs to both the angels and the ages. I will settle for either one.