The murder of the young conservative activist Charlie Kirk wasn’t just a horrifying crime. It wasn’t just a tragedy for his family, with a wife’s life shattered and two small children left fatherless. It was also a seismic moment for America and for a West that’s spinning out of control.

Kirk, 31, is being mourned as America’s most reasoned and articulate defender of the West, Christianity and Israel against those enemies of civilization who want to destroy them all.

The organization he founded, Turning Point USA, was all about promoting debate to settle political differences. This week, Kirk was destroyed by the evil he was trying to stem. At the very moment he was discussing political violence, someone shot him dead under a banner that read: “Prove me wrong.”