One Lit a Torch For Many to Pick Up
Preface For a New Substack
For much of my life I have had a tendency to let tasks fall by the wayside, intentional to keep every promise and commitment made but finding it convenient to put them off if they were not urgent. I am not what I consider a voracious writer: like exercise, it is something that I know benefits but I still have to consciously make myself get up and do it. But ultimately in all things, I belong to and serve God first, and whatever may result from whatever words I contribute to the internet will not be due to my own assets but to His.
After having maintained for more than 3 years a personal blog (at 75 posts as of this writing), more than once I contemplated separating my hobby interests from my visitations to the sociopolitical realm where I would engage, in my own small way, with matters of the real-life human condition. I am not involved in social media (yes, another conscious choice I made years ago), and whatever presence I do put out there online is behind the anonymity of a virtual identity I crafted for myself way back in my gaming days of the early 2000s. Part security-consciousness and part response to my disillusionment of what the internet has become in the 21st century, I consider it a tailored approach to my online impact which started with the aforementioned blog, grew to an account at RealClearPolitics (I lurked for years before deciding to join in commenting), and now encompasses Substack.
In case it was not clear from the post picture, it is on a somber note that I chose this time to take this next step. Emotions are still a whirlwind, speculations are running rampant, but of the objective facts this much is certain: today, the 11th of September in the Year of Our Lord 2025, is a day of loss. Today I will not engage in any of that, because I strive for objectivity when it comes to the facts and am unable to offer a more fitting tribute for Charlie Kirk than so much of the rest of the country already has. But I will at least mention my own fond memory of having had the opportunity to dialogue with Charlie once when he visited my church, First Baptist Dallas, where I asked his perspective on how to reconcile the ungodliness perpetrated by the Biden administration with the directive of Romans 13:1 [which my American Revolutionary ancestors certainly interpreted a particular way, a way that Charlie agreed with].
Instead I will make an introduction in the context of the reflection of what this day means. As part of the Millennial generation I remember where I was on 9/11/2001, and ever since then the Twin Towers have exhibited in my life the concept that too often we only truly learn to appreciate something after it is gone. While the tangible repercussions are yet to be perceived, the sudden loss of Charlie Kirk has brought into greater perspective, on both ends of our political spectrum, the impact he made on the country and legacy he leaves [or not leave now that Turning Point USA has been rendered leaderless for the time being].
But I heard from his peers in the Salem Radio Network who expect that the legacy of a great influencer like Kirk does not die with him, but grows. I consider comparison to MLK Jr accurate if controversial (what sociopolitical perspective is NOT controversial these days?) and concur with the assertion that with Charlie Kirk’s passing a million more will rise up in his place. Though I lack his special talent for reaching people (and am several years his senior), there was a time years ago I contemplated following the same path he happened to, thus today I resolve to be one of those million who step up to carry that torch.
Sometimes I can be too clever for my own good, but please bear with me. A requiem is a mass for the dead, a classic term I find fitting though neither myself nor Charlie Kirk are Catholic (part of my family is, for whatever that may be worth). Carl is not my name, and while it fits as a variant of Charlie it is more meaningful to me as the name of my late grandfather from whom I inherited many personality traits as well as a sense of vigilance for whatever may come in the future. Naturally I expect this Substack to expand over a variety of subject matter, but may its name stand as tribute to reflect the legacy of my grandfather Carl and America’s Charlie!
As for me, I do not consider myself that individually important but one voice among many reflecting the times we live in. My virtual identity started in good fun from a simpler time in my life, but now it encompasses the aspects of a fictional character created in the 1990s who mirrors significant aspects of my own philosophy. Soontir Fel’s loyalty was always to honor, his perspective a bigger picture than what side he fought for: started with the Galactic Empire, defected to the New Republic for a time, re-defected to an offshoot of the Empire where ultimately his son become progenitor of a successor to the Galactic Empire that eschewed the Dark Side and was benevolent for it.
In the end it is not the form of government that matters, though the U.S. Constitution has been proven by the test of time (and my oath to support and defend it stands so long as it remains in place). It is also not a matter of there being only certain right ways to accomplish good for the nation, though some means and ideas certainly are wrong…but for that which is not morally or practically wrong, the shrinking number of sane Democrats [who have not already turned Republican] are worth listening to lest we fall into the trap of our own echo chamber. Ultimately we are all imperfect human beings who are ultimately incapable of solving our own problems, which is why we will remain lost unless we learn to rely on God as Charlie Kirk did.