Please read the following partial speech, Shared by my daughter, Megan, given by Tulsi Gabbard from Charlie Kirk’s Memorial Service: “You know I’ve said many times, and every soldier lives this fact, this truth – I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death for your right to say it. (Charlie lived by this principle)
It is time for us every day in how we engage with others to choose to live aloha – love, respect. You know from my home state of Hawaii the reason why we greet each other with the word aloha is because of its deeply spiritual meaning. It doesn’t actually mean hello or goodbye. We greet each other with aloha because what we are really saying when we say aloha is I see you as a child of God and I respect you as such. It’s to recognize that God is all powerful, and God’s love is all powerful. Love is not weak. Respect for others is not weak. There is nothing more powerful than love. Living aloha. Living that love and respect. It doesn’t mean being a pacifist or rolling over when our ideas are challenged or when our freedoms are under attack. Actually, it’s the exact opposite. It means standing up, fueled by love to defeat hate, to defeat that evil and that darkness, and to speak the truth and defend our fundamental freedoms that are granted to us by God.
Those who are full of anger and hopelessness and hate right now (…) unfortunately they do not have the spiritual happiness that Charlie experienced. They are empty, and this is where their anger is coming from. It is their rejection of God. Their desire to be God and therefore they have made God their enemy. I have hope today that every one of us will do our best to shine the light of God’s love in our lives and in our work. That we will treat each other with aloha, respect, and stand strong and unshakeable in the defense of our God given rights and freedoms.”
1 Peter3:8 (ESV) Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Love Mel
