A few days ago, the death of Charlie Kirk made headlines, and the aftermath of it has had, it feels like, normal people and newscasters talking for days.

First off, death by such violence cannot be acceptable. Just like the deaths of other public figures for political reasons, like those of Melissa Hortman (Minnesota state representative) a few months ago, and her husband, are not acceptable. For Kirk’s wife and young children, and for other family and friends who knew him personally, this is a tragic and life-altering loss, and my heart goes out to them, as it does every time there is such violence.

Let me say that, before this week, I personally had not heard of Charlie Kirk, though, as some of his past comments were re-broadcast, I realized I’d heard them before. I did not know him by name and did not know what his life had been about. But I would have had to have lived under a rock to miss the very strong opinions that people have of him. At one end, people were calling him a champion for Christianity and a martyr. On the other end, people were re-publishing statements he’d made against entire groups of people.

Social media was very loud this week, and I found myself getting quieter and sadder. I needed time to process everything I was hearing, and also to process my own reactions to it. I had a lot of thoughts: is a life like his what true Christianity looks like? Why do so many think so and what am I missing? Can someone actually say this and still be a Christian? Oh my word, are these the things some people really think but are too afraid to say? Are these things in line with Christ’s teachings?

This is one of those times where wisdom and discernment are called for. There are a lot of voices out there. Not every voice speaks with authority or knowledge, and not every voice should be given equal weight. We must all ask ourselves: is what I am seeing and hearing actually true? Can I verify it? And when it comes to faith, is what I am hearing in line with Christian teachings?

We as a society have been behaving like we’re all campaigning to be right, and that whoever has the most popular viewpoint wins the day.

Except that isn’t what’s happening. A man died. A man reached that moment that every person will reach: death and what comes next. That moment where each of us will come before our Creator and answer for the life we have lived. It’s a terrifying and very real moment.

About this particular death–and any other death, actually–nobody can truly know God’s mind, because only God knows what is in the most secret corners of any of our hearts. So no. No one has the authority to say how God found Charlie Kirk or what will happen to his soul, me least of all.

I think we all must think about these existential questions from time to time, no matter our beliefs, and there’s nothing like someone’s death to bring them up. But in the face of all the noise, all the calls for vengeance, and the finger-pointing, the question remains: what do we do now, as a society? Of course, one of the calls I’ve seen is for others to rise up and continue Kirk’s mission. It sounded familiar, and I’d realized I’d heard it other times that a leader, particularly a political or religious, had been killed. And I have no doubt that his views will continue to be advocated by some and condemned by others for some time. The vitriol is a sad fact of the country we have become.

Still, how do we move on from this? Because we must step forward, otherwise we risk a downward spiral of more vengeance, more anger, more hatred, more violence, and more death. As if the world wasn’t already on fire.

From public officials, there are calls both condemning violence and pleading for peace, and calls for vengeance. From the highest public official, of course, it’s a mixed message: violence is unacceptable and we have to stop demonizing each other, but also the people who don’t agree with me are demons.

But the question that I am asking myself, and I would urge you to ask yourselves, is this: are my words and actions contributing to the fire? Is there anything I can do to bring down the temperature? What would Christ do if he were walking among us today?

I have no neat ribbon to tie this up, to be honest. If there was, someone smarter than me would have tied it up already. I am sad that we are so divided, but not surprised. And for myself and for all of us, I pray.