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Oct 14

Athy marks Charlie Kirk’s birthday, a medal of freedom, and a movement that will not fade

By Ryan “Dickie” Thompson

I will keep this simple. Charlie Kirk is gone, and people are not sitting down about it. Today would have been his 32nd birthday. At the White House, President Donald Trump awarded Charlie the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in America. Erika Kirk, his wife, accepted the medal. Whatever you think of Charlie, that tells you something about the impact he had on a lot of people in a short life. (opb)

Yes, Trump is the sitting president, and yes, the medal was given at the White House. Facts matter, even when the media noise gets loud. (The White House)

A loss felt far beyond U.S. politics

Charlie was shot and killed on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University. It happened during a campus event, the kind of forum he lived for, where ideas collide and the crowd decides. That moment took a husband, a son, a friend, and a fighter off the field. (ABC News)

The response has been massive. Thousands gathered in Dublin, Ohio for a candlelight vigil. In Arizona, tens of thousands filled State Farm Stadium for a public memorial. People prayed, sang, told stories, and cried. You could feel the wound and the will in the same breath. (WWHO)

And here in Ireland, folks showed up too. Small vigils, quiet circles, candles passed from hand to hand. In Cavan town, locals met to honor Charlie’s memory and to stand up for free expression without fear. Not everyone agreed with his views. That is not the point. The point is simple. In a free society, you argue back, you do not pull a trigger. (Facebook)

Why this hit home in Athy

We are a small town with a big sense of fairness. We argue in pubs, not back alleys. We prefer a straight talker to a smooth liar. When someone gets cut down for speaking, it sets off alarms in places like Athy. Silencing speech is like putting duct tape over a smoke alarm. The fire still burns, you just can’t hear the warning.

Charlie’s gift was not perfect rhetoric. It was nerve. He went where the arguments lived and he took the heat. You do not have to vote like Charlie to respect that. You only have to value the idea that truth is tested in daylight, not by intimidation.

The medal and what it means

The Medal of Freedom is not a sainthood certificate. It is a recognition that a person’s work moved the country. For young people, Charlie did that. He built a platform for students who felt like the only ones in the room who dared to question campus orthodoxy. The White House honor, given today, is a national statement that debate is not a crime and courage is not a vice. (opb)

You do not have to like every position he took to understand why this matters. If the culture punishes the loudest dissenter, the next dissenter goes quiet. That is how a free people forget how to be free.

A movement grows after the funeral

Here is the other thing the cameras sometimes miss. After the vigils, students got to work. Turning Point USA has seen a surge in interest since Charlie’s death, with thousands of students asking how to start chapters. New chapters are popping up, from small towns to big universities. People are organizing because they want free debate to outlive one man. (Education Week)

It is like the Fed playing Monopoly with real people’s lives. If the institutions inflate away courage and replace it with compliance, you wake up to a campus culture where everyone watches their words and no one says what they think. These new chapters are an answer to that. They are saying, we will not sit still and be told to hush.

If you want to see what the organization does, look at the official site. Then ask yourself a basic question. Are we more free when student groups are shut down, or when they are allowed to argue in the open? I will take the open argument every time. (Inside Higher Ed)

To my neighbors in Kildare

Ireland has its own fights over speech, faith, and family. You can feel it in the pubs and parish halls. You can see it online when a hot take becomes a pile-on in five minutes flat. We need thicker skin and thinner laws. We need more courage, not more censors. If you want a free country, you have to practice being free. That means hearing things you do not like and answering with better ideas, not bans.

Athy is good at this. We can hold a hard conversation and still split a bag of chips after. Keep that spirit. When you see a vigil, a talk, or a meeting you disagree with, go anyway. Ask a question. Shake a hand. Then make your case. That is how we keep the peace without losing our backbone.

What comes next

If you believe in peaceful debate, support the students who are building it. If you are a parent, encourage your kids to ask hard questions. If you are a teacher, make room for both sides in your classroom. If you run a venue, host the forum and trust your neighbors. Free speech is not a gift from government. It is a habit, like morning coffee. You keep it by using it.

Charlie’s life was short. The work is long. He got a medal today, and that is fine. What matters more is whether we learn the lesson. A free people do not outsource courage. They carry it.

You know what? Paying taxes is like handing the town drunk your wallet and hoping he buys groceries instead of whiskey. Do not let the same people tell you which opinions you are allowed to hear. They have not earned that right. You have.

If you want to see more conversations like this, we put our vlogs on Rumble. No algorithmic choke chain, just straight talk. Pull up a chair. Let’s keep it honest.

Sources

  • Associated Press coverage of the White House ceremony and Medal of Freedom for Charlie Kirk. (opb)
  • ABC News report confirming Charlie Kirk’s death on Sept. 10 and the posthumous Medal of Freedom ceremony. (ABC News)
  • Official White House site noting the current administration. (The White House)
  • WSYX Columbus coverage of the large Dublin, Ohio vigil. (WWHO)
  • The State Press report on the large Arizona memorial. (State Press)
  • Inside Higher Ed on new Turning Point chapters and growth after the killing. (Inside Higher Ed)
  • Education Week on the surge of interest in new chapters. (Education Week)
  • Local report of a new chapter launch example in New Bedford. (The New Bedford Light)
  • Community post noting a Cavan vigil. (Facebook)
  • TPUSA site for general reference. https://tpusa.com/

Rumble links:

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