The Shot Heard Around the World: Finding Faith When Evil Wins the Day

Maren Crowley [00:00:08]: Welcome to my podcast where if you know, you know. And if you don’t, well, you’re about to. In each episode, we’re seeking truth and getting real, helping you discover your strength and voice to make the best informed choices on your terms in accordance to his will. This week has been the heaviest week I have personally had in a very long time, and I know that the entire world was feeling it too.

On Wednesday, September 10, 2025, Charlie James Kirk was assassinated at 12:23pm local time at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. At this point, I’m sure you know who Charlie Kirk was, if you didn’t already, but he is a Christian conservative activist who created a movement with Turning Point USA.

Turning Point is an organization that goes around the country to different campuses and its mission is to identify, educate, train and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets and limited government.

Charlie would engage with students in open debate and always have civil public discussions.

Maren Crowley [00:01:24]: Never name calling, always asking the audience to be respectful of the person talking, even if they didn’t agree, and created a connection to the youth that this country has not and perhaps will not ever see again.

But more than any of that, he was rooted in his faith. He was a husband, a father, a son, a mentor to many. And that first and foremost is who Charlie Kirk was. When the truth social notification came up on my phone while I was at the mall with both of my girls and my best friend, my heart immediately sank.

I went into just typical Maren mode and was seeking whatever information I could find and I dropped to my knees and just started to pray. Literally. I was in Lululemon.

My IG is running lives just for updates to have all any information I could have. And I grabbed my toddler and I held her hand and I said baby, can you come pray with mama? And we were in the dressing room and we just stopped to pray.

Praying for the doctors, praying for him, praying for his family, everything right? And for for me, this moment in time is the equivalent of remembering where I was when 911 happened. And I’m sure for people like my parents, this moment in time was the equivalent of when JFK was shot Within 20 minutes, it could have even been less, I don’t even know the video was circulating. Truth be told, I didn’t want to see it, but I did. It only took one time and I only have seen it one time.

But that visual was imprinted in my mind forever.

And as soon as I saw it, I lost hope and I felt that he was gone because I knew that wasn’t something that you can recover from. The rest of the day, it was just a complete and utter blur, literally and figuratively.

I mean, tears, texts between my family and friends, FaceTiming, my parents crying. I mean, I literally just cried myself to sleep. And throughout the day, my toddler kept asking mama, why are you crying?

And having to explain good versus evil to my three and a half year old. It’s just not something I thought I would have to explain so soon in her life. But in the last year, I’ve been having to have those difficult conversations.

Maren Crowley [00:04:06]: Last year it was her seeing Trump who, she knows who he is. She understands that he’s the President of the United States. She recognizes his voice, his face. She saw him being shot at live on television. And now this.

Plus all of the other tragedies we have seen unfold, including in just the last week before Charlie’s assassination, where a young 23 year old Ukrainian refugee woman, Irina Zaruska, she was stabbed on a Charlotte train.

No one helped her, not a single person. And our children hear these conversations that we have, whether you have the news on or not, whether they overhear social media clips having, you know, pop up on your phone, conversations that you may be having with your spouse or your parents or your friends, or worse, if you have older children, they are opening up their own phones and seeing these tragedies on social media with their own two eyes.

The state of our country is absolutely sick.

And for the first time, I’m truly worried for this Alpha generation. Everything from who is teaching them in the classrooms or treating them in the hospitals. I mean, have you seen some of these teachers and hospital employees with the comments, the evil, downright evil and demonic comments they are making on Charlie’s death.

Like being, imagine, like seriously, imagine being so insane, you’re lunatic and you cheer on someone’s death just because you don’t agree with their political views. And I know that you’re going to be pressed with this question because my own husband even asked me, you know, and I’ve seen this circulating online too, which I’m going to get to about the, the verbiage, the mind control verbiage that’s going on, but the question of, well, would you be this upset if it was someone from, well, let’s just use in this situation, the left, right?

And my answer is, I don’t believe anyone should be murdered for their political views. And the difference of opinions doesn’t matter, right? Left in between, it doesn’t matter. I mean, that is evil on all levels.

Maren Crowley [00:06:46]: But when you see people so upset about this death of Charlie Kirk, understand, and versus, like, like I said, maybe it’s someone they’re not as familiar with or someone who didn’t have a personal impact on their life, it’s not because they aren’t empathetic to the situation.

It’s more so the more connected you are to someone and, and what they believe and what they’ve done for you on a personal level, which so many people do have that connection with him, you’re naturally going to be upset.

You know, it’s apples and oranges. It’s trying to say, like, you know, all deaths the same. I mean, obviously, when you lose, let’s just use an example. A child versus your, let’s just say grandmother, who you knew was, you know, 90 years old. Like, yes, it’s sad. It’s, it’s, it’s, it’s hurtful and whatnot.

It’s just different, right? Closeness is, is different. So it doesn’t take away from this happening to someone on the other side. And as if you would be not as sad because you don’t care about the left or you don’t care about the right.

It’s more so the impact that that person had on your life. And no matter what side it is, murder is murder. Assassination is assassination, and it’s evil and it’s wrong. And you should never be posting and feeling this way. There’s truly something wrong with you.

Maren Crowley [00:08:46]: I mean, think about witnessing that poor woman getting stabbed to death. It literally happened in front of people. She was just sitting there, mind her own business. She’s on her phone. She was a refugee who escaped the Ukraine.

She was, you know, coming here to work hard, make money, and then you see people do nothing. Can you imagine doing nothing? Can you imagine seeing that happen to someone in front of you and not helping? This is the world we’re living in.

But I truly believe we’ve got to this point, this apex, because of the machine, okay? The puppeteer pulling the strings, if you will.

Maren Crowley [00:09:29]: If you know, you know, okay, we are fed a loop of fringe people. So these people who are cheering it on, right, constantly to the point where we think that every Republican is a racist, white supremacist bigot.

We think every Democrat is Looney Tunes and believes that all kids can, you know, castrate themselves to become whatever gender they choose. Like, that’s where we’ve gotten. We’ve. We polarize the sides, but the reality is we’re more alike than we are different.

But the Algorithm, the machine, the powers that be, they want us divided. When we act with common sense, we can see that we’re more alike than different.

Maren Crowley [00:10:17]: And that’s what Charlie Kirk did. That’s what he represented. He was actually fair in having a dialogue with conflicting views despite. Despite all of the. It’s just misinformation straight up that’s circulating about him.

I’m seeing quotes being pulled from every which way, from people who probably most definitely, I would imagine, have never even listened to him. They just get fed this rhetoric that he’s a racist, he’s a bigot, he’s a misogynistic person. He’s all the things he’s.

Maren Crowley [00:10:47]: I mean, people were calling him a Nazi, Hitler, like, all of these things. They never actually listened to full clips. They never actually have seen him speak. And they’re misquoting him. They are. They’re pulling snippets out and then they’re resharing it like. Like rabid little animals.

If you actually listen to him and watched and consumed his content regularly in long form, you would see Charlie acted with class, he spoke facts, he never raised his voice, let alone promote violence.

He was showing everyone, particularly the youth who are constantly being targeted by the machine, that we aren’t so different from one another because he knew if we could come together, we are stronger and we cannot be divided.

If you listen to him, his messaging was always about peace, talking, not yelling, talking out our differences, and most importantly, as a Christ follower, acting like Jesus would. Unity.

And the fact that I’m seeing people celebrating his assassination is sickening and shameful. People are sharing the videos of his death left and right. And I just. To that, I say, like, how have we become so desensitized to the value of life?

I know the answer is because that’s what’s being fed to us. Social media, the news, video games. Right? I mean, this week alone, I began to see how entrapped I was with this whole story.

Maren Crowley [00:12:31]: There are theories upon theories, and I began to go deep down the rabbit hole like I did in 2020, 2021. The difference is, back then, I didn’t have children. This time, I saw it affecting me and my family. And I will never allow that, ever.

On Sundays, your iPhone, if you have one, if you have an Android, bless your heart, even my husband converted. So there’s hope for anyone in your family that’s an Android user, but your iPhone will give you an update telling you, like, how much time you’ve spent on average per day on your Phone and my iPhone. Okay. Told me that I more than doubled my screen time that week.

More than double. That is unacceptable. My Explore page on Instagram is. You open up. It’s just full of this loop, the messages that are being sent to me. It’s not, you know, questions about my UGC course or funny memes like usual. It’s this theory, that theory this video about this one, you know, Charlie this, Israel that, the FBI this, white hats that. I mean, everything.

The algorithm is at work, folks. And even when I put up my post about how I was feeling on that day. So I posted the day that he was assassinated because I, I had to just get my feelings out there.

I wasn’t on social like face to camera. I took a break from that. I just couldn’t do it because I wasn’t very composed, quite frankly. And writing for me is very therapeutic. Just like this podcast.

Like, yes. Do I go off on tangents here and there when I’m speaking to you for sure. Which is sometimes why the podcast ends up being a little longer than usual. My husband always says before I go into record, how long is this one going to be? I’m like 30ish, but for the most part, I like to stay on task and really write out my thoughts. I really feel as though that is the better way for me to personally do it.

Because while I’m definitely getting my thoughts and feelings out there, I’m not spiraling, I’m not going off on a tangent. So when I put that post up, it was a post of Charlie and his wife and his two children. And then I coupled it with a photo of my two girls hugging just, you know, from the day before.

Because I really believe he’s made such an impact for the future for our children.

Within minutes, minutes, I saw what the machine was doing and how my engagement just was going bonkers. You know, I’m a heavily shadow banned account because of the way I speak and my thoughts and opinions on things, you know, and I believe that you usually get silence when you’re so close to the target.

And I have been for years. Have been for years. And when you have a shadow band account, a photo that I would put up of just say my family or business, you know, it’s going to get maybe on average 2,500, you know, impressions on a photo, not necessarily a reels, because I’ve had viral reels, but I’m talking about just a simple photo within minutes of me putting that up, boom.

Like over 25,000 impressions. So, you know, now that I’m the Susie Homemaker, Sourdough Baker that I am, I view this algorithm like a starter.

You just keep feeding it and feeding it, it will grow and grow.

And what I need you to know, we, the people, we are in control and we need to stop feeding it, we need to stop feeding the algorithm, we need to stop, stop essentially handing our wrists over to what is the machine, the powers that be, because they’re handcuffing us.

And yes, I’m painfully aware of all the theories out there, okay, And I, I don’t know what to believe anymore. I really don’t. I, I know what I want to believe, but I also see what signs and symbols are being thrown in my face.

Some can be justified. For example, many, including myself, okay, thought the reaction of Erica, Charlie’s wife, you know, she put up their final goodbyes on social media and she put up photos and, and a video like someone was videotaping her saying goodbye, like, I’ll be real. I.

That was a little off putting for me at first, but everyone grieves differently. And at the end of the day, she’s also angry.

And she really wants the world to see what they did to her husband. She’s not gonna just go into hiding. She wants them to remember him for who he was and not that vivid, violent image that we have all seen and we can’t erase. She’s trying to give all of us closure and peace.

And I get it, and I’m more understanding to that than I was initially, full disclosure, but I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t scream at the television when I’m watching the director of the FBI give his speech and say how amazing it was that this manhunt came to an end in 36 hours. And then he adjusts it by saying, well, actually, 33 to be exact.

Maren Crowley [00:18:23]: I literally almost threw my remote at the television. You know, if you know, you know, you understand what the numerology means, you understand the symbolism. If you’ve been down those rabbit holes and if you haven’t, because I have many people messaging me like, what does it mean?

It doesn’t feel right to me, but I keep seeing this over and over again. To you, I say, listen, for me, who’s been down these rabbit holes for years now for if I don’t know what to believe anymore, and I’m confused and I’m all of these emotions, and I think that I’m a pretty level headed person who has really lifted the veil on a lot of things.

If I feel muddled, I know it’s going to be overwhelming for you, and I encourage you to just sit with it, pray on it, and just ask God for clarity.

Don’t go crazy with researching these theories. I’d also be lying to you if I said that the math doesn’t matter for me on the rifle situation. It. It just.

It doesn’t. There’s a lot of things that you can justify, but, like, the whole. The whole thing just. It just doesn’t. Doesn’t add up. And now they’re saying that, oh, well, there could be someone else involved. Okay, you know, sure. Like, I don’t know, dismantling it, putting it back together, putting it.

No, like, it just. It doesn’t make sense. And there are 100 holes in the story, but we’re never going to know the truth. Only God knows the truth. And that is why I’ve had to take a step back from all of this on social media. It literally was drowning me this week.

You know, I believe God gives us discernment, and so many of us, probably you, if you’re listening to this podcast, you’ve had the veil lifted in the last few years. But where’s the line? Where’s the line between discernment and the enemy distracting you?

I am forever grateful for the people I’ve met on social media, who have educated me, supported me, you know, all of it.

You know, my husband teases me and calls them my Internet friends, but truly, I talk to some of you more than I do people that I’ve known for years, like, and actually know in real life. Right. Can, like, you know, go visit them if I wanted to write this second, you know, but when I get messages like, I love your perspective, I’m sad you’re not gonna be sharing as much.

Or, no, don’t go. Or I understand that you have to do this, but I don’t want you to sign off. Like, I have to take pause in that because I know as nice as those messages are and they’re meaningful and they’re coming from people who have been, quote, unquote, following me for a long time. Right.

Maren Crowley [00:21:22]: There’s a piece of me that feels like the enemy is trying to entice me and my ego and try to get me to stay on the platform, just dinking around, wasting time when that time could be better spent with my two little girls, my husband, and yes, even, like, working on getting UGC jobs that are just piling up done, or the thank you notes that have been sitting on my counter, which is not like me, okay? Over a month late.

Like, what purpose does it serve me writing a comment on a fellow truth seekers account, arguing with strangers? I did that this past week and I. I regret it. The notifications, they just kept coming in over and over again.

My husband is like, why are you looking at your phone? Why do you keep touching your phone? You know, some people were agreeing with me. Some people were disagreeing with me. They were name calling. Some of them were saying, like, how could you even say this? You know? You know, getting mad at me for asking questions.

I mean, this is with strangers, no less. Okay? And my husband and I had a conversation and he’s like, Maren, like, we can’t do this again. Like, we have babies and I cannot have someone showing up at our door because of an Internet fight, because I know it will happen.

I’m going to go to jail. And he’s right. Like, why keep digging and digging? What purpose does it serve just to stroke my ego so I can say, told you so? If it ever even comes to light, which most likely it will not.

One of my friends who I actually met on the Internet, she was actually a part of my Beachbody team. Like, she posted something and I reshared it.

You know, it’s not to say that this stuff won’t ever come to light. I mean, think about the JFK files, but think about how long that took. Think about how long that took, right? It’s like, how much time.

And time is the only resource you can’t get more of. How much time are we going to spend on these things? So I shared how my sentiment and how I was feeling on Instagram. And I received messages like, yes, I deleted Instagram last night.

And I came to the conclusion that I can have questions, but I don’t have to have all the answers. Like, what does knowing do for me, but truly for my own life? Setting this aside and protecting my peace matters more than knowing.

Maren Crowley [00:23:44]: Another follower messaged me to thank me for posting my sentiments on removing myself from social media and said, I have two babies now, too. And she told her husband that she was getting caught up in it all.

And she said, it’s nice to know this is a really common theme and in what I’m feeling. And I’m going to take a break too. God bless you.

Someone else said, I’m honestly scared to share anything online anymore. I know it’s operating out of fear to not share, and I struggle with that too. Is the enemy keeping me quiet? I get it.

I get It. I’ll say this. If there’s one thing we should not and cannot be quiet about is our faith. Truly, I don’t think Charlie’s faith is what took him out. I don’t.

I think there are a lot of people who think that, and I think that’s how his death is being used for a positive movement, because people are coming to God more. They’re wanting to learn more about the Bible.

Like the movement that’s going on right now, specifically on TikTok, there are more people being brought into faith, opening their Bibles for the first time.

Maren Crowley [00:24:59]: Influencers who never really shared their faith are stepping out. You have. I mean, I saw Forest Frank. He. He put up. Yes, he lost. I think it was something like 30,000 followers for sharing a video where Charlie Kirk had referenced him and the movement that Christian music has on on this demographic. And he lost a ton of followers.

Maren Crowley [00:25:25]: And he’s like, I’m not gonna be lukewarm anymore with my faith. Like, I’m gonna be bolder more than ever. Like, I believe that that is a positive outcome of all this.

We cannot be quiet about our faith. But I also don’t think that that’s, you know, why he’s not with us anymore. I will say, when it comes to sharing your faith and your values, that is the one thing that shook me initially.

You know, it’s one thing for us as Christ followers to know. You know, we’ve been told, we’ve read about it over and over again in the Bible, like we’re going to be crucified for our beliefs.

It’s another thing to see it played out in modern times.

John 15, 18-25.

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belong to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world. But I’ve chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. I saw what I’m about to share with you on social media.

Maren Crowley [00:26:36]: Former fellow Beachbody coach put it up. In fact, she was my upline. And I wanted to share it with you in this podcast because despite of all the other network marketing content she promotes that I clearly disagree with, this stood out, and I believe it should be shared with everyone.

She said that there are four Ds of the devil, Deception, distraction, discouragement, and division.

So in my opinion, right now, the enemy is working overtime, which means we as Christ followers, we need to double down.

So the first one she mentioned, deception, right? Like, think about what we’ve been talking about in this podcast, what really happened, who really did this, the lies being spewed about who Charlie was, the conspiracies. That’s your deception.

Distraction.

Countless hours spent on social media group, text messages going down rabbit holes. Was this a distraction to the public for something bigger?

Discouragement?

People feeling like they can’t share, not trusting what they see on tv, on social media anymore. Heck, not even trusting their own two freaking eyes. People are wondering, like, did I see that? Am I seeing something that I shouldn’t see? Is that AI? Is that like, people, you can’t even trust your own two freaking eyes and anymore.

People are questioning their gut instincts.

And finally, division. Left versus right, us versus them. You get the picture.

The only way through this is by putting on that armor of God.

Oh, and turning off social media.

Do I believe this was the shot heard around the world? Yeah, I do. But I’m done chasing the theories, the digging, the debating with strangers, spending hours on research, trying to figure out the truth from the matrix.

Red pill, blue pill. No matter the psyop, no matter the plan, white hats versus nwo, it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, Jesus is king. The truth, the way, the light.

And that is who we need to get loud for. This is a spiritual battle.

Ephesians 6:12.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Side note, if you needed any more reason to do so and take this time, like, away from social media, then pick up the book. While you have more free time on your hands, pick up the book, the Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.

I have been reading it and it will give you an even bigger confirmation to you that our smartphones and our social media are to the detriment of our lives. Specifically to the detriment of our children.

If there was one group Charlie was trying to bring together and save, it was the youth.

God bless Charlie Kirk for everything he has done for our generation. It will not be in vain. Please pray for the comfort of his wife, children, family and friends. Pray for the healing of this country and the world. It’s in your name we pray, Lord Jesus. Amen.