From the Death of Charlie Kirk: Who Has the Right to Judge?

Charlie Kirk - Ảnh 1. — Michael Jackson in MV Man in the mirror

In 1988, Michael Jackson released the MV Man in the mirror, a special MV because he almost did not appear in it, but the MV was completely made up of many film clips recording social events and historical events: from the famine in Africa, Adolf Hitler giving a speech to the democracy movement in Korea or Mother Teresa reaching out to the weak.

The image is purely about others but the lyrics of the song are aimed at himself: Michael Jackson does not condemn anyone, does not praise anyone, he just tells himself that if he wants the world to be better? Why not look in the mirror and change.

Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror

The King of Pop's music video also features footage of John Kennedy's coffin being carried away after his assassination, as well as footage of Martin Luther King, also a victim of gunfire.

In recent days, social networks from international to Vietnamese everywhere have been talking about the death of Charlie Kirk, a conservative political figure, who was shot dead while speaking at an American university.

He was born in 1993, not yet 32 years old. But when Kennedy or King passed away, everyone was filled with endless sorrow, and when Kirk passed away, many people ridiculed him and said: during his lifetime, he supported guns, he had extreme views against the weak, he compared abortion to genocide, so he deserved to be shot dead.

We wonder if Michael Jackson were alive, would he have included the story of Kirk - the hated criminal - as part of Man in the Mirror, alongside heroes like King or Kennedy?

If John Lennon were alive, would his wish, his imagination in the song Imagine about "all men living together in peace" or about "the brotherhood of man", would that all men, that brotherhood, include Kirk? Or would he be excluded because he believed in views that should not be believed?

It wasn’t until the Charlie Kirk tragedy that hate speech became a flood on social media. Kirk was a politically influential figure, of course, but even more ordinary people, like a YouTuber or a lifestyle influencer, who only made mistakes but didn’t do or say anything that was unacceptable, were constantly bombarded with the worst words. All with the excuse: whoever does wrong must pay the price.

But one cannot extinguish wrong, bad, and evil with other wrongs, bad, and evil.

In What's Going On?, the title track of Marvin Gaye's album of the same name, which was ranked number 1 by Rolling Stone magazine in its 2020 edition of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, although it is set in the context of a veteran returning home to witness an America shaken by violence and injustice, its observations are still timeless today:

"We don't have to escalate. You see, war is not the answer. Because only love conquers hate. You know, we have to find a way, to bring a little love here, now." And Marvin Gaye also asked the question: "Who has the right to judge us?"

Surely when people laugh at Kirk's death or insult KOLs who they think have made some mistakes, everyone believes they are doing the right thing, they are fighting for justice, for goodness, for the good, they are purifying this world to make it a better place.

But really, how do we make this world more beautiful? Perhaps Michael Jackson was right, and still is right: "I start with the person in the mirror."

Hien Trang

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tu-vu-tu-nan-cua-charlie-kirk-ai-co-quyen-phan-xet-20250914091232551.htm