This week shattered my faith in basic decency. Two innocents—one a young Ukrainian refugee, the other a conservative campus speaker—were brutally murdered for reasons that still defy understanding. As the nation reels from these tragedies and global tensions threaten to spill over, I can’t help but ask: is humanity plunging into moral darkness?
Across Twitter and Instagram, commuters have posted photos of her empty seat and flickering candles at makeshift memorials—visual reminders that grief, unlike violence, lingers long after the headlines fade.
A Refugee’s Final Commute in Charlotte
I kept wondering what could make a man take a knife and stab an innocent woman who had closed from work and boarded a train to go home in peace. Iryna Zarutska, 23, had escaped the horrors of war in Ukraine and built a new life in Charlotte (USA). She arrived on these shores with little more than a single suitcase, her days split between English lessons at a community center and late-night shifts crafting pizzas to send money back to her family in Kyiv. After her shift at a pizza shop, she boarded the train home, settling into her seat with a book on her phone. Moments later, a stranger rose and—without any warning or provocation—stabbed her repeatedly. She turned in shock and fear, cowered into her seat, as she bled silently to death! What is even more confounding is that this stranger did not harm any of the other passengers sitting beside him (who also happened to be of his race). He immediately and calmly slipped away afterward, removing his hoodie to escape capture. In the space of seconds, her journey to safety became her final commute.
We must ask: why did no one intervene? None of the other black passengers around did anything to save this helpless lady. They just watched on as she was mercilessly killed. She died from her wounds. “’I froze,’ confessed Anna Lee, who arrived at the scene just seconds too late. ‘It was as if time slowed—every scream trapped in my throat.’”
When the news broke, the nation was shocked and greatly angered at the vicious crime. Millions called for the head of this murderer who happened to be an ex-convict. Sadly, this issue became politicized as conservatives used it as a basis to criticize the weak criminal justice system in liberal cities and liberals tried to wash down the enormity of the situation to defend their policies. Yet, an innocent soul had died! Murdered for nothing!!
Campus Debate Turned Deadly
As the nation confronted Iryna’s senseless death, another tragedy struck thousands of miles away on a college campus. Less than 24 hours later (after her video went viral), campus echoes turned lethal when Charlie Kirk a 31-year-old father of two—whose live debates on faith and politics drew thousands—was gunned down during an open forum at the University of Utah. This unfortunate incident added fuel to the already angered nation. Charlie was both loved and hated.
He had millions of followers on social media and his Turning Point USA (TPUSA) Prove Me Wrong activities drew thousands of young people audiences on college campus. He single-handedly championed Christian values among young people and challenged them to boldly live out their Christian values, politics, and views in increasingly liberal and woke communities where conservative voices were being silenced. Through his debates and sharp-witted arguments, he obtained a large following and influence and turned thousands from liberalism towards Christian values. His videos were always trending online and he appeared often on mainstream media.
Through his TPUSA group, he helped President Trump get re-elected in 2024. Hence, his death sent shockwaves through the nation. Conservatives became very angry and called for revenge while liberals celebrated his death online. Some people who celebrated his death even lost their jobs as a result. His murderer has been apprehended, and it seems his reason for killing him was because of his views against the LGBTQ+ community.
Political Firestorm and Polarization
These twin tragedies have ripped apart the center of our national conversation, leaving conservatives demanding accountability and progressives warning of dangerous scapegoating. The ruling conservatives are trying to use this event to crack down on liberals, leading to a push back and protests. For instance, the government has used crime as a reason to send immigration officers (ICE) to cities such as Washington DC, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles to combat crimes by illegal aliens. This has led to fear and apprehension among the immigrant community, with some South Koreans being detained at a Hyundai manufacturing plant in Georgia. This incident caused an uproar in South Korea and threatened to break the love and harmony existing between South Korea and the USA as these workers were treated like prisoners.
In Georgia, mothers at a Hyundai plant recounted how officers entered their halls at midnight, handcuffing Korean coworkers who had come to build American cars.
Global Flashpoints: From Caracas to Qatar
Beyond America’s borders, unilateral strikes and diplomatic breaches are ratcheting up tensions that threaten to ignite fresh conflicts. The US military carried out an air/sea strike against a Venezuelan boat in the Southern Carribean for allegedly carrying narcotics. Venezuela vehemently denies this and calls it a breach of international law and threatens to retaliate. In the Middle East, Israel also attacked Hamas leadership in a building in Doha, Qatar, while a peace effort was being mediated by Qatar. This is an unprecedented strike in Qatar as Qatar has never been attacked by Israel before; while this was condemned by the international community as a breach of Qatar’s sovereignty, Israel felt no remorse and has even threatened to strike again if the Hamas leadership are not wiped out of Qatar. These actions are making the Middle East very unstable, especially as the Gaza war is still ongoing and Israel is determined to destroy Gaza city and rid Gaza of Hamas.
Although the world has largely forgotten about the war in Gaza, it is still destroying thousands of lives through displacement, starvation, disease outbreaks, and missile strikes. Will there ever be an end to this war? Will the people of Gaza ever have peace? How long will they have to go through this war zone situation while the world looks away? How long will the people of Ukraine continue to suffer from Russian missiles? Will there ever be an end? Indeed, it seems to be escalating even across Ukrainian borders as dozens of causing drones were recently fired from Russia into Poland, a NATO member. NATO had to fly jet planes to shoot down the drones.
This marked a new escalation and caused consternation across Europe as many wondered if Russia was bringing the war to NATO and potentially starting another World War. These recent cross-border escalations came on the back of the recent 5-day border war (July 24-28, 2025) between Thailand and Cambodia in which 36-43 people died and more than 300,000 were displaced. This fear of a global conflict was further advanced when China recently showed off hundreds of different nuclear-capable war systems, weapons, machines, and soldiers for its Beijing’s Victory Day Parade.
They revealed the first-ever public nuclear triad (air, sea, and land-launched nuclear systems), a stack of hypersonic and anti-ship missiles, new drones above and below the sea, counter-drone lasers/microwaves, and next-generation ground forces. This show off was obviously made to instill pride in the citizens and stoke fear in the world that China is ready to fight any enemy that tries to stop it from its expansion aims. During his speech, surrounded by Russia (Vladimir Putin) and North Korea’s Presidents (Kim Jong Un), President Xi Jinping said the world can choose peace or war: signaling to the world to either accept China’s position or face war.
As Jesus warned, ‘And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed’ (Matthew 24:6).
Prophecies and the Need for Hope
These events, seem to be pushing the world towards a global conflict, and many people are understandably afraid. This fear is at least forcing many people in Poland to sign up for military service and turning the attention of millions more towards the Bible: particularly, when coupled with ongoing natural disasters in Afghanistan (earthquake), Iberia/Spain (wildfires), the Himalayas region, China, and Bali (flooding).
Indeed, one Pastor in South Africa () is currently making waves globally by prophesying that Jesus will return (and there will be a rapture) on September 23-24, 2025. This prophecy is causing widespread fear and apprehension globally, forcing many pastors to come out to debunk it as falsehood: indeed, even major newspapers have carried the story. I wonder if people are genuinely afraid of Christ’s second coming or they are only trying to stop the spread of falsehood. Whereas the Bible has prophesied about such international wars, and escalating violence, it has also forewarned about the rise of false prophets. Hence, all these events should be beacons to us that the world is in a precarious state and may spiral downward further if God does not intervene.
Will things get better or worse? Only God will know and can determine. We can only pray for His intervention and grace, lest we destroy ourselves as the people of Noah’s day or Lot’s day did. May Heaven have mercy on us all.
