True Peacemakers: Why the Dalai Lama and Gandhi stand apart from Charlie Kirk

By Nick Gier | FaVS News Columnist

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
—Jesus, Matthew 5:7

I always pray for them (Chinese Communists).
—The Dalai Lama

At Charlie Kirk’s memorial, his widow Erika Kirk said: “I forgive him (the killer). The answer to hate is not hate. The answer from the gospel is love and always love.” Here Erika Kirk is a true Christian peacemaker, but how can she preserve her husband’s legacy, which contains many instances of hate speech?

On X, May 2, 2024, Charlie Kirk defended the use of derogatory terms: “Hate speech does not exist legally in America. There’s ugly speech. There’s gross speech. There’s evil speech. And all of it is protected by the First Amendment.”

In a July 24, 2024, podcast, Charlie Kirk said this about former president Joe Biden: “He is a corrupt tyrant who should honestly be put in prison and/or given the death penalty for his crimes against America.” Charlie Kirk was not a peacemaker.

Several AI-generated videos have been produced depicting Kirk being embraced by Jesus and one has him laughing together with Martin Luther King Jr. In December 2023, Kirk declared that the Civil Rights Act was a “huge mistake” and that “MLK was awful. He was not a good person.” Verified by Snopes.com. 

Gandhi and the Dalai Lama: A different path

This year, we are celebrating the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday, and on Oct. 2, Mahatma (Great Soul) Gandhi would have been 156 years old. If Jesus had come back today, he would have blessed them both as peacemakers.

In 1956, at the age of 20, the Dalai Lama visited the site of Gandhi’s assassination by a militant Hindu. He wrote: “Standing there I felt I had come in close touch with him. I determined more strongly than ever that I could never associate myself with acts of violence.”

The Dalai Lama said that Mahatma Gandhi symbolized non-violence and compassion. He experienced “great joy at the magnificent example of (Gandhi’s) life” and the way he “consistently maintained respect for all great spiritual traditions.” When he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, the Dalai Lama dedicated his speech to Gandhi.

The Dalai Lama tells us that his religion is “loving kindness.” Many people who have the chance to meet with him ask how they could convert to Buddhism. His wise and gracious answer was that people should remain in their own faith traditions because all the major religions embody the imperative of loving others.

The history of Tibetan Buddhism was filled with violence among the monasteries and between the Yellow Hat and Red Hat sects. Historian Hugh Richardson reports that each of the monasteries had a “private army commanded often by a reliable family member of the original religious founder.” In the 17th century, the Fifth Dalai Lama’s Yellow Hats and Bhutanese Red Hats warred with one another at least nine times. For more see my article online here. 

The Dalai Lama’s naivete about China

During World War I, the 13th Dalai Lama offered to perform “war magic” to aid the British in their war efforts. I suspect that it is because of this violent history that the current 14th Dalai Lama believes that the Tibetan people are being karmically tested by the Chinese government.

Recent comments by the Dalai Lama about relations with China, which now occupies Tibet illegally, shows that he is naïve about the future of his religious office. He wrongly thinks that “things are changing. I think within one or two years, there is a possibility of me visiting China.”

In 1995 the Dalai Lama recognized a small child named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama. This monk was destined to be the Dalai Lama’s right-hand man, and one of his duties would be to start the process of identifying the new Dalai Lama when the current one dies.

Soon after this announcement, agents of the Chinese government kidnapped the young Nyima, and he has not been seen since. Using a method long rejected by Tibetans in exile, the Chinese recognized a child named Gyaincain Norbu as the “true” Panchen Lama.

The Chinese now hold all the cards. Upon the death of the current Dalai Lama, the Chinese, using their own Panchen Lama, will appoint the 15th Dalai Lama, and they will install him in the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. They will continue their ruthless suppression of Buddhist culture, and the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala (India) will stand by in horror.

The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. FāVS News values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on matters of faith and spirituality.

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