A Night at the Crucifix — How to Talk with LDS Missionaries Without Losing the Heart of Christ
History has always repeated this same pattern: when truth is spoken into a hostile world, it meets resistance. Sometimes that resistance is ridicule, sometimes censorship, and sometimes violence. But one thing never changes — the truth cannot be silenced.
Justin Martyr: A Voice Before Caesars
In the 2nd century, Justin Martyr stood before the Roman Empire’s philosophers and magistrates, defending the dangerous claim that Jesus Christ is Lord. He debated where opposition was strongest, knowing the risk. For this, he was condemned and killed. His death was supposed to silence him. Instead, his writings still strengthen Christians nearly 2,000 years later.
Oscar Romero: A Voice for the Poor
In the 20th century, Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador preached the Gospel in the face of violence and corruption. He defended the poor, pleaded with soldiers to refuse unjust orders, and proclaimed God’s love for every human life. For this, he was shot dead at the altar in 1980. His death was supposed to silence him. Instead, his voice still calls out today: “Let us not tire of preaching love; it is the force that will overcome the world.”
Silenced for Speaking Catholic Truth
I know this in my own small way. On a website with hundreds of thousands of members dedicated to “exposing” the Catholic Church, I tried to gently correct falsehoods. Immediately I was silenced, banned for weeks, and later for a month. Not because I insulted, but because I brought Catholic truth in love.
I felt what countless others have felt: the sting of being shut down, not because you are wrong, but because the truth unsettles those who do not want to hear it.
The Force on Our Campuses
This is the same force at work on America’s college campuses. I saw it when I went to school in the 1970s, and it is even stronger today.
It is the force of secular ideology — Marxist in its roots, relativistic in its reasoning, hostile to God and His truth. It does not just want to argue; it wants to indoctrinate. It insists that faith must be private, morality must be flexible, and truth is whatever the loudest voice declares it to be.
This force does not like voices like Charlie Kirk. It cannot tolerate debate grounded in faith, reason, and love of country. It fears him, because calm truth dismantles indoctrination more quickly than anger ever could.
Charlie Kirk: A Voice for God and Country
This is how I see Charlie Kirk. He stepped onto campuses — a rock of faith and love of country — not to shout, but to debate. Not to rage, but to reason. He spoke what he believed was true about God, America, and the dignity of free people. He knew the resistance he would face. He was shouted down, attacked, and finally assassinated.
Make no mistake: he was not killed for “something else.” He was killed for faith. Faith in God, faith in truth, faith in the dignity of people made in Gods image. There is not good and evil and then something else. There is only good and evil.
Like Justin Martyr, like Oscar Romero, his death was supposed to silence him. Instead, it has forced reflection in the hearts of thousands he inspired. His followers will now carry on his work, debating with calm strength, reflecting more deeply, and standing more firmly. The seed has fallen to the ground. It will bear fruit.
What Unites Them All
Justin Martyr faced Rome’s philosophers.
Oscar Romero faced bullets at the altar.
Charlie Kirk faced indoctrination and hostility on America’s campuses.
Even in my own small battles, I have faced silencing when I spoke Catholic truth online.
The battlefield is the same: truth against falsehood, light against darkness, Christ against the world’s illusions.
The pattern never changes:
Truth is proclaimed.
Truth is resisted.
The voice is silenced.
The truth grows louder.
The Final Word Belongs to Christ
The Gospel reminds us: “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven” (Luke 6:22–23).
Those who are silenced for truth stand in a long line of witnesses. From the martyrs of Rome to the prophets of El Salvador, from America’s campuses to Catholic forums online — their voices are joined to Christ Himself, who was crucified and thought silenced, but rose again.
No force on earth — not Rome, not dictators, not Marxist indoctrination, not violence — can silence Him. And if we walk with Him, neither can they silence us.
?? In Christ,
The Utah Mission