Throughout the day, I did pray with students and discuss what they were feeling and thinking about Kirk's murder as well as the critical wounding of two kids by a 16-year-old gunman at Evergreen High School in Colorado. 

Admittedly, I had only been vaguely aware of Charlie Kirk and his views. So, I did not anticipate the reaction having his name on our altar would generate in my students, the vast majority of whom are black and brown youth. Of those who spoke, all decried the killing as wrong; they said no one should die like that. They also shared that many of the things Charlie Kirk stood for and espoused were harmful to them and their loved ones, so they did not think his name should be on our altar or in our space. I listened deeply to their points of view that are rooted in the experiences of being young people of color in 2025 America. Then I researched Charlie’s work.

I am for inviting diverse cultures and cultural expressions to inform and even transform my own humanity. I am for acknowledging that I need you and your perspectives, for I am only one among countless creatures inhabiting this planet.

I am for listening to my sisters, brothers, and siblings with deep compassion and a genuine desire to understand. And when they tell me they are hurting, I am for believing them and committing to do my part to eliminate the causes of their suffering. 

I am for Black Lives Matter, and for Father Bryan Massingale's response to the backlash around that cry for being treated as complete human beings: "People want to say all lives matter. Well, yeah, I believe that, too. But all lives won't matter until black lives matter."

I am for religious liberty for all. I am for accepting with love, curiosity, and welcome all Jews and Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, Buddhists and Taoists, Christians and Wiccans, atheists and agnostics, the religious and the spiritual but not religious, and every other person on a path that seeks to understand what it means to be human in lifegiving relationship with each other, oneself, the Earth, the rest of Creation, and the Divine Mysterious Source of it all.

I am for assuring that each person has what they need to become their best selves so they can fulfill their purpose in service to their communities and the world. If that means one person who cannot walk gets a wheelchair ramp so they can leave home to work while another who can walk does not, I support that. That isn’t equal, but it is equitable, and it’s good for all of us.

I am for healthcare as a basic human right, and I am for government-funded universal health care for all Americans.

I am for the Second Amendment and reasonable gun control, such as mandatory universal background checks on each and every sale of a gun, making military-style weapons, bump stocks and the like available strictly for official military and law enforcement use, and weapon-free zones such as schools, universities, and houses of worship. 

I am for eliminating global poverty by harnessing the brilliance, will, finances, and power of individuals, communities, nonprofits, religious organizations, and governments. I am for changing systems and laws that perpetuate poverty anywhere.

I am for an overhaul of the U.S. immigration system that centers the humanity of people who migrate. I am for recognizing that most people who seek a life in the United States would prefer fruitful lives in their homeland, but they face conditions that make that choice untenable. I am for identifying the root causes of migration and addressing those issues rather than demonizing individuals who flee circumstances no human should have to endure.

I am for reparations to families of people who were formerly enslaved in the United States, of people whose generational wealth was squashed by red lining, by segregation, by the fears and ignorance of white Americans who could afford to flee cities for the suburbs.

I am for working with indigenous peoples to return land stolen from them long before any of us was born and for collaborating on meaningful ways to make amends for the attempted genocide of the first peoples of Turtle Island. 

I am for the unobstructed availability of clean water, plentiful and healthy food, adequate clothing, and clean, safe, and affordable housing for every individual on the planet.

I am for holding Hamas and other militant groups accountable for their horrific attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. 

I am for an immediate end to the war and war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide that have been devastating the civilian children and adults of Gaza and the West Bank for not only the past two years, but since before the 1948 founding of Israel. 

I am for a sovereign Palestinian state. 

I am for nonviolence in action, word, and thought.

I am for interrupting injustice and hatred wherever it arises, whether in an individual encounter, a collective action or failure to act, or in an institution or system. 

I am for treating others the way they want to be treated. 

I am for acknowledging and grappling with the complexities of all the issues that confound us and lead to painful and sometimes deadly divisions among us.

I am for the spirit of love, compassion, and mercy that radiates through and from the life, teachings, and Paschal Mystery of Jesus of Nazareth.

I am for, “whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me’” (Matthew 25:40).

I am for, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

Because of what I am for, I changed my mind and removed Charlie’s name from our altar and classroom. Because of what I am for, I also continue praying for Charlie and all who love him.