OPINION:
“The love of many will grow cold.”
This was Jesus’ warning in Matthew 24:12 while describing signs of the end times.
It’s hard not to look out at the landscape in America right now and conclude that the love of many is absent, evaporated and essentially nonexistent. Selfishness abounds, speech is haphazard and actions do not align with a reverence or fear of a Higher Power.
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And while I’m not suggesting to know how close we are to eschatological calamity, I can say without a doubt that we’ve reached a horrific climax in terms of our human condition.
In the wake of the blue wave that eviscerated conservative and Republican strongholds across the U.S., two key moments involving slain conservative and Christian activist Charlie Kirk forced me to do a double take and lament.
First, “I’ve Had It” podcast co-hosts Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan exhibited a repulsive display when they recently attempted to hold in laughter after reading a vile social media post on air. The text of it read, “We’re digging up Charlie Kirk and doing it again.”
It’s no secret that Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was just 31 years old when he was assassinated on the campus of Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025, leaving behind a wife, two kids — and a legacy.
The tragedy rocked the political world and sent shockwaves throughout culture.
While Mr. Kirk’s social impact was monumental, the killing of a young husband and father on a college campus in a nation that supposedly reveres free speech only added to the dismay so many felt. And yet, for some reason, Ms. Welch and Ms. Sullivan, who apologized once their show’s advertisers fled, found humor in such a grotesque joke.
“It was an insensitive joke, and we should not have laughed,” the duo said in a statement. “We regret it, and we apologize.”
We all make mistakes and err, but how one can laugh at a joke about murder is beyond me and at a level so sub-sane I can barely comprehend it.
But it wasn’t only Ms. Welch and Ms. Sullivan. Comedian Dave Chappelle has also been in the headlines for a joke he made Nov. 7 during a Madison Square Garden show in New York
“Ever since that guy Charlie Kirk got murdered — and I shouldn’t say this publicly, but I feel better,” Mr. Chappelle said, sparking laughter. “I know I shouldn’t say that, but it’s just a feeling. I didn’t ask to feel this way.
“I just be driving around like, ‘Why am I in such a good mood? Oh,’” he continued.
Mr. Chappelle’s comments drew widespread rebuke, especially among conservatives. While some called for him not to be canceled, there was an overarching sense — and rightfully so — that such comments cross the line and are beyond the pale.
Kirk’s widow, Erika, was among those who decried these diabolical statements and actions.
“To see leftist podcasters, comedians and commentators laugh about political assassination as though it’s entertainment and the destruction of a human life is a punchline, is beyond disgusting,” she wrote. “My husband, Charlie Kirk, was killed in an act of political violence, something our two children and I will live with every day for the rest of our lives.”
Ms. Kirk went on to offer additional words that should cut us all to the core, expressing dismay at the “moral decay” present in a society that “laughs at assassination.” She warned that such devilish acts erode the nation’s foundation, and she offered a message pushing unity.
Her point? You don’t need to agree with a person’s politics to value his or her life. The fact this needs to be said is almost unimaginable, yet here we are.
I don’t know the hearts of Ms. Welch, Ms. Sullivan or Mr. Chappelle, but here’s what I do know: At some point, we’re given over to whatever it is we consume.
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting,” Romans 1:28 (NKJV) reads.
That’s a terrifying verse, and while I’m not sure if it explains what we’ve seen from these podcasters and comedians, I do know that our culture is, in many ways, debased and given over to evil.
Ultimately, good and decent people should not be laughing at the tragic assassination of an innocent man. We’ve so degraded our ideological opponents — and we’ve so elevated the self — that we struggle to do, say and live out what’s good, true, honorable and right.
And it’s unsustainable, evil and a recipe for disaster.
• Billy Hallowell is a digital TV host and interviewer for Faithwire and CBN News and the co-host of CBN’s “Quick Start Podcast.” Mr. Hallowell also is the author of four books.
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