Why All the Killing?

Random and Targeted Acts of Violence

In the last three days, two young adults were killed while simply living their lives. Both tragic scenarios rocked the nation, creating calls for prayer, peace, and finger-pointing about legislation. A young woman, Iryna Zarutska, having escaped the murderous landscape and warzone of her country, Ukraine, moved to America to find refuge and safety in Charlotte, North Carolina. On a train heading home from her shift at a pizza place, she was stabbed to death at the hands of a total stranger.[1] Zarutska was unknown until her death, and some are donating money to create murals in her honor.[2] She was 23.

The second murder took place in front of thousands of college students at Utah Valley University. When engaging the audience and answering a question about transgender gun violence, a gunshot rang out, and Kirk fell back, wounded in the neck. He died shortly thereafter.[3] Kirk was 31. The question Kirk was answering was spurred on by the mass shooting at a Catholic School recently, where a man, transitioning to be a woman, shot into the religious mass service, wounding twenty-one people and killing two children before killing himself.[4]

The attack on the Ukrainian refugee, Iryna Zarutska, was random, and the man who killed her on video is in custody. Reportedly, while in jail, he speaks of not knowing the woman, and some of his family have talked about him responding to the “voices in his head.”[5] Zarutska was randomly targeted because a possibly demon-possessed man, who was released into the community after having struck out not once, not twice, but fourteen times.[6] Instead of incarcerating and getting this killer the brain help he needed, he was released on cashless bail, and his mental health issues were ignored.

Kirk was nationally recognized as a Christian conservative spokesperson, engaging in ideological debates on college campuses, and as the founder of his non-profit organization, Turning Point USA, which works with high school and college students to advocate for conservative values. Kirk was targeted for his Christian faith because his conservative values were biblically informed.

While Kirk’s and Zarutska’s stories and lives were very different, with Kirk being well-known and loved by family and many friends, and Zarutska not being known nationally, but still loved by family and friends, they came from different places and diverse backgrounds. They were tragically murdered in various ways; some common factors speak to our human condition and the atmosphere of our nation.

Why All the Killing?

Murder is nothing new in this life and world. The first recorded murder is found in the historical narrative of the first book of the Bible, Genesis. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him (Genesis 4:8). Envy and jealousy were the reasons for the first sibling rivalry that resulted with Cain killing Abel with a stone.

George Orwell wrote, “The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.”[7] Hatred of truth (scientifically, biologically, mathematically, and biblically) is apparently growing in the USA as ideologies have drifted from their biblical moorings. Murder has several possible contributing causes. Here are a few:

Hatred (Numbers 35:20-21).
The Love of Money (1 Timothy 6:10).
Jealousy. (1 Samuel 19:11).
Infidelity/Adultery (2 Samuel 11-12).
Coveting a neighbor’s spouse (Genesis 20:11).
Demon Possession (Matthew 8:28-34, Luke 9:37-42).
Ideological Differences. (Jesus and John the Baptist are examples found in the Gospels).
Revenge (2 Samuel 3:30).
Christian Faith (Acts 8:1).

Each of these examples reveals the heart of the matter when it comes to murder: The Human Condition – Sin. It was sinful for the let-out-of-jail potentially demon possessed man to murder the Ukrainian woman randomly, whether he was in his right mind or not. It was wicked for the shooter to murder Charlie Kirk in cold-blood in front of all those college students. It was also sinful for the transitioning hormone-induced man to shoot all the kids at the Catholic school.

The heart is the problem. Jeremiah conveyed God’s Word about this saying, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it (Jeremiah 17:9)? Even the best of us are sinners. All the right things we can do are filthy when compared to God (Isaiah 64:6). Thank the Lord for His grace – most of us will not be murderers. The Apostle Paul wrote, But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Those who kill others for hatred, jealousy, drug-induced rampages, transitional hormone-fueled vengeance, and religious or ideological differences of opinion, or for any self-described excuse or reason, have REJECTED GOD’S GRACE. They have said “no” to God’s love and care.

The heart of our country is the problem. Ideological differences, diametrically opposed ideas, political agendas, and religious dogma are not reasons for murdering another. There are no good reasons for murder. It’s sin. God echoes this through the Old and New Testaments: “Thou shalt not murder” is number six of the Ten Commandments (Numbers 20:13).

Death is Not Really Random For Anyone

The world has been sinful since the opening pages of Scripture in Genesis chapter 3. The sin of Adam and Eve has been passed down to all of us, and the consequence of sin is deadly. The doctrine of Hamartiology is the doctrine of sin, and because of sin, humanity earns harsh judgment. Romans 2:23 explains, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. The best we can do – because of our sin nature and sinful choices is to come short of God’s glory. Heaven is only for those who have the righteousness of Jesus. We gain that right standing with God because of the sacrifice of Jesus; an individual must believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, repent of their sin of unbelief, and confess Jesus is their Savior.

It’s an individual choice to believe the Gospel, and it must be acknowledged to God and others that you believe in Jesus, because we do not know when our last breath will be. No one is certain when their last heartbeat will happen. Notice the following serious verse: And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). The only way to be ready for death and ready for eternity is to believe in Jesus only for the forgiveness of your sins and believe the Gospel, expressing to God the faith in your heart.

Death is not random, though at times of tragedy it may seem so. Death happens to all, and one must be ready to meet God. Have you believed the Gospel? Have you accepted and expressed to God that Jesus is your one and only Savior? Reach out to me today if you have questions. Read John 1:12. Believe the Gospel, receive Jesus, and you will become a son or daughter of God.

I don’t know much about Iryna Zarutska, but I do know Charlie Kirk often spoke of his Savior, Jesus Christ. Kirk wrote four days before he was assassinated, “Jesus defeated death so that you could live.” To “Defeat death” is a reference to the resurrection of Jesus. Because Jesus is alive, we can have eternal life and meet up with Jesus in Heaven one day. We just don’t know when that one day will be – so we must be ready.

Based on his profession of faith, Charlie Kirk is with Jesus – right now. To be absent from the body (for the Christian) is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8).

[1] Accessed 9.10.25. https://abcnews.go.com/US/ukrainian-woman-stabbed-death-train-attack/story?id=125360100.

[2] Accessed 9.10.25. https://www.foxnews.com/us/elon-musk-pledges-1m-murals-honoring-ukrainian-refugee-murdered-north-carolina.

[3] Accessed 9.10.25. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09/10/us/charlie-kirk-shot-utah#charlie-kirk-shooting-witnesses-utah.

[4] Accessed 9.10.25. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/south-minneapolis-incident-august-27-2025/.

[5] Accessed 9.10.25. https://people.com/sister-says-nc-train-stabbing-suspect-decarlos-brown-was-hearing-voices-11807232.

[6] Accessed 9.10.25. https://nypost.com/2025/09/08/us-news/iryna-zarutska-murder-suspect-was-free-on-cashless-bail-despite-rap-sheet/.

[7] Accessed 9.10.25. https://www.azquotes.com/author/11147-George_Orwell.