R. Albert Mohler Jr.'s Blog

Friday, October 17, 2025

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Romans 12:1-2

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Thursday, October 16, 2025

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We have to talk about this: The transgender dimension of recent mass shootings

We have to talk about the trans issue. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox appeared on several leading Sunday morning news programs this past weekend, and we need to look closely at what he disclosed about Tyler Robinson, the young man arrested for the assassination of Charlie Kirk. After explaining that Robinson had been radicalized through online engagement through chat sites and gaming platforms, Cox added: “There clearly was a leftist ideology.” That makes perfect sense, given that the assassination of Charlie Kirk was clearly linked to the fact that he was a hero among American conservatives—especially young conservatives—and that he was engaged in public debate on a major college campus at the moment he was murdered.

Furthermore, early information released by law enforcement included engravings on ammunition that clearly reflected “a leftist ideology.” As is true in the vast majority of political assassinations, the assassin kills to send a political message. That was accentuated in the killing of Charlie Kirk because it happened in the context of a political event in which Kirk was doing what he did best—appearing among thousands of college students in order to contend for his beliefs. He sat under a tent that advertised with words the openness of his approach: “Prove me wrong.”

We need to take a closer look at the other major statement by Gov. Cox. With carefully calculated words, meant to reduce any possibility of misunderstanding, the governor stated that investigators were talking to Robinson’s roommate. “The roommate was a romantic partner, a male transitioning to female,” Cox said.

The transgender issue had been raised about 24 hours before the governor made that official statement. The words chosen by the governor left no room for misunderstanding. Tyler Robinson had a roommate, described by the governor as a romantic partner, “a male transitioning to female.” Suddenly and officially, the trans angle became part of the story. And Charlie Kirk had just answered a question about mass shootings by transgender individuals when he was assassinated.

It was immediately clear that the mainstream media wanted to stay as far away from that part of the story as possible. That’s exactly what happened with the shooter who killed and injured children at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. But, since in that case the transgender issue was relevant to the shooter himself, the issue was impossible to ignore. News reports and commentary after the gruesome shooting were a jumble of confusion—the confusion inevitable once the transgender ideology takes hold.

The killer in Minneapolis was Robert Westman, who had changed his name to “Robin” Westman with the cooperation of his mother. The New York Times referred to the transgender shooter as “Ms. Westman.” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic senator from Minnesota, told National Public Radio that the shooter acted out of hate, rightly referring to Westman as “he.” NPR quickly came back with this comment: “And just a point of clarification, Sen. Klobuchar referenced the shooter as ‘he.’ Although police have identified a suspect, it’s still unclear at this time what that person’s identity is or how they identify.” On PBS Newshour, David Brooks referred to Westman as female. Many others did the same, knowing that Westman was biologically male. Other media sources tried their best to avoid making any gender reference at all, referring only to “the shooter.”

Authorities in Minnesota later disclosed that Robert Westman had attended the school as a boy, but later identified as female, creating the ridiculous formulation that he attended the school as a boy but returned with murderous intention as a female. The powers that be told us all to move on—nothing to see here when it came to the transgender issue.

That same pattern appeared in the horrifying 2023 mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville. Eventually authorities identified Audrey Hale, the shooter, as transgender or non-binary. ABC News argued that the trans dimension of the story was not an issue: “Advocates say transgender people have historically and falsely been categorized as violent or dangerous—perpetuating anti-transgender sentiment and further ostracizing a vulnerable and small population.” ABC News went on to state: “Every study available shows that transgender and non-binary people are much more likely to be victims of violence, rather than the perpetrator of it, the Human Rights Campaign said in a statement following the shooting.”

It would certainly be wrong to argue that everyone with a transgender identity is a potential mass shooter. That would be flatly irresponsible. But it is insanity to argue that the transgender identity has nothing to do with these crimes. The pattern is now undeniable.

Most cultural authorities are running scared from any public acknowledgement of the pattern. They are so intimidated by the LGBTQ community and the cultural guardians of leftist gender ideologies that they simply want to move on—fast. They want us all to do the same.

But we can’t just move on. The ideologues and activists of the transgender revolution want to prevent any discussion of the fact that there is deep trouble here. What kind of intense inner turmoil is reflected in this pattern? By definition, the intense rejection of one’s given biological sex cannot be an insignificant matter.

I know this isn’t going to be easy, but the issue can’t be avoided. We have to talk about this.

This article originally appeared at WORLD Opinions on September 16, 2025.

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Wednesday, October 15, 2025

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Tuesday, October 14, 2025

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Monday, October 13, 2025

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1 Corinthians 13:1–13

Third Avenue Baptist Church

Louisville, KY

1 Corinthians 13:1–13

October 12, 2025

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A most tragic turning point: The assassination of Charlie Kirk and the call of a generation

Every generation has its own formative moments. In just a few generations, the prominent memories shifted from “Remember the Alamo” to “Remember Pearl Harbor.” For adults of a certain age, the assassinations of the 1960s were the experiences seared into memory. First, President John F. Kennedy, then Martin Luther King, Jr., then, so suddenly, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. I was in elementary school as the 1960s came to an end, but I was old enough to wonder: Is this who we are? Is this how arguments are won and lost? Is this normal in America?

That same generation saw riots break out in American cities and on college campuses and the National Guard sent into the chaos to restore order. Those memories fade very slowly, if at all.

Then came Sept. 11, 2001, exactly 24 years ago today. No one who experienced that day can forget it. It is seared into our collective memory. Towers and bodies fell after airliners were deliberately crashed into skyscrapers and the Pentagon. Who could forget that? Among those who watched the images unfold, who could possibly just forget and move on?

Yesterday is now one of those days, and for today’s young adults, and especially for young Christians, and even more specifically for Christian and conservative young men, it is a day that will also be seared into generational memory. The assassination of Charlie Kirk, right at the heart of a major American university, even as he sat under the banner, “Prove Me Wrong,” is a generation shaping event.

I can see liberal eyerolling even now. Most would have the sense not to say out loud what a few on the left have rushed to say. MSNBC had to issue a statement apologizing for statements by one of its own, Matthew Dowd, acknowledging that the words he spoke were “inappropriate, insensitive, and unacceptable.” The network later announced that he had been fired.

Charlie Kirk was not an American president, nor was he running for office. Instead, he was a remarkable young man who set out to rally a generation of American young people to conservative ideas and policies. He co-founded Turning Point USA when he was only 18 years old. In political terms, he was unquestionably a prodigy. He was also a natural provocateur and debater. He would have been a great courtroom lawyer, but he had aspirations to change history by changing minds—and to do so on a civilizational scale. He had prodigious gifts and seemingly boundless energy.

Kirk and his organization deserve tremendous credit for winning the hearts and minds of so many young people to conservative beliefs and conservative politics. He was astoundingly successful in reaching and invigorating teenage boys and young men and making them care about something massively bigger than video games and fantasy football. He saw civilization at stake and he gladly entered the arena of action. Throngs of young people followed him, inspired to action by his arguments and example.

I first met Charlie Kirk several years ago when we were both addressing a major conference of conservatives. Backstage, I was impressed by his gifts but turned off by his demeanor. That was during Charlie’s years of bare-fisted libertarianism and personal assertion. Back then, he saw Christianity as a huge drag on conservative progress. He was pretty clear in calling for a new young conservatism of liberty and resistance. At the time, he didn’t have a lot of use for conservative Christians, and he wasn’t subtle.

Not long thereafter, Charlie embraced two things that had been missing from his earlier approach. He openly and boldly claimed the gospel of Christ and courageously identified himself as a Christian believer. He also began to argue with consistency that a recovery of Christian truth was essential for a lasting conservatism. He was right.

Furthermore, his private sphere changed along with his public arguments. He got married to Erika and they were blessed with two children, still very young. As we all know, and as God intended, that brings maturity and deeper meaning to a man’s life, and all that was evident in Charlie’s life.

All that was cut short with the horrifying violence that unfolded on the campus of Utah Valley University. The violence shocked the entire nation. As with Cain’s murder of Abel, Charlie Kirk’s blood cries out from the ground.

He was a man who knew he had enemies and a man who loved confrontation. But he was animated by ideas and driven by passion. He was doing what he did so well, arguing for his beliefs, when the assassin aimed his weapon. He was still so young. No one knows what he might have done over decades ahead. But the political loss disappears into the mist in comparison to the unspeakable loss that is now experienced by his widow and young children, now fatherless.

Now is the time for us to pray for Erika Kirk and her precious children. That comes first. But this is also a time for justice and a renewed determination to hold to honored convictions, even in the face of unspeakable violence. This generation of Christian young adults, and especially young men, is about to grow up a bit faster than they thought. The assassination of Charlie Kirk is not going to be forgotten, and the cries for justice are righteous and right.

This article originally appeared at WORLD Opinions on September 11, 2025.

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Friday, October 10, 2025

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