vile or virtuous: liberal military vet + evangelical pastor speak on kirk

edited by sarina e. guerra
questions/formatting by justin orsino

Editor’s Note
This story began as a simple request for comment that became a kind of experiment both for People’s Press and for Citizen Journalism as a whole. Following the Charlie Kirk incident that took place earlier this month, People’s Press website manager, Justin Orsino, noticed that a member of the community, Sky Ainsworth, had taken to social media to express his viewpoints on the event and its surrounding issues. He was approached with a request to submit a 500 word story (as per our submission requirements), and ultimately agreed on the condition that we offer a few questions to direct his line of thinking. Justin went ahead and formulated those questions, and after some back-and-forth between him and Sky, it was suggested that the exact same questions be forwarded to another member of the community, Chris Nunn. The two gentlemen have quite opposing viewpoints, rooted in their own belief systems and experiences, and are known for debating each other in the comments sections on Facebook and the like. We were happy to hear that Chris was open to this opportunity, and Justin made sure that he was fully aware of the nature of our request.

From here, we allowed them to submit their answers in the manner most convenient to them. We obtained their responses, and from there it was up to me to handle these narratives with great care so as to not interject any outside viewpoints of any kind. I have personally committed my life to protecting and promoting Free Speech, and I believe it is not my job–or the job of any media–to “fact check” others. This may seem contradictory to the way that journalism has been conducted almost since its conception, but allow me to explain. To “fact check” someone would be to assert a certain reality as being more true than another, when often times there can be much value derived from hearing the qualitative nature of a perspective outside of what has been conventionally deemed as “fact”. As we know, and are increasingly made aware of, certain major institutions have largely been able to dominate (often times, forcefully) the narrative in terms of what is deemed “fact” either by determining what is research worthy, and also by controlling the organizations, journals, and massive for-profit corporations that then distribute it. For this reason, neither Chris’ nor Sky’s story has been fact-checked in the conventional sense. Instead, I have chosen to present their words as-is and with as little editing as possible. This introduces a high likelihood that each story contains “misinformation”, but only as it relates to a corporate standard, and is allowed on the premise of Authenticity in the highest sense.

I believe that in order for us as People to better understand the rift that has been intentionally created between political parties, we must be able to evaluate where someone stands and what the world may look like to them. This means that any hyperlinks you may find in Chris and Sky’s story are chosen not on the basis of proving or disproving fact, but rather on how well they add context to each worldview from the perspective of the writer. Where the writer has explained a concept themselves, or in the case of Chris’ story not including many outside references, hyperlinks were deemed unnecessary. This is not a personal decision, but instead one of effectiveness. Another discrepancy readers might encounter is the difference in the length of answers given by Sky and Chris. This does not show bias on behalf of myself or People’s Press, but was a natural outcome of our request. In the interest of fairness, we reached out to Chris a second time to ask if he wanted to add more to his story given Sky’s lengthier submission, to which he declined. In the future, we will implement a minimum and maximum length for answers to better account for such variables.

Here at People’s Press, we want to protect people’s rights to express themselves and be represented in a way that feels true to them. What happens after that is, in a way, out of our hands. How you perceive each set of responses will be colored by your own worldview, and since we cannot account for every single one individually, all we can do is trust that our readers are emotionally and intellectually equipped enough to derive value from the content we produce without placing blame on an external entity. I value Truth and Integrity, and my work both as a writer, editor, founder, and creative, supports this claim. At the end of the day, I hope you are able to see the manufactured divide between people as exactly that–and not as a reason to ostracize or demonize each other, but rather to invite human conversation from a place of Love and Respect for the purpose of understanding the deeper truths of this world and where they overlap.

Big Love,
Sarina E. Guerra

Sky Ainsworth

Born in Brawley, raised in Calipatria, graduate of Central Union High School, graduate of UC Santa Barbara with a B.A. in English. Boy Scout, Lifeguard (trained in Hawai’i), Army Veteran (Sergeant, non-combat), political canvasser, aspiring writer, apprentice electrician, and live-in caretaker. I am a gamer (video, table top, online, strategy, RPG) and if it involves war and destruction, I am good at it. I consider myself a nerd because I like to know the details of history, science, medicine, entertainment, and combat.

Chris Nunn

My name is Chris Nunn. I am one of the Senior Pastors of Christ Community Church of Imperial Valley, where I have pastored since 2007. I was born and raised here, and my greatest desire is to share the good news of freedom from sin that can be found through sincerely following Jesus.

Citizen Journalist

Want to support People’s Press?

💸 Help us keep going! 😊

read more from People's Press