The Evangelical Christian Faith On Display At Kirk's Memorial Shaped His Politics - Beritaja

Items are displayed successful the makeshift memorial for Charlie Kirk extracurricular the office of Turning Point USA connected Sept. 18, 2025, successful Phoenix, Arizona. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Charlie Kirk's evangelical religion was connected show astatine his memorial work this play successful Arizona.

The service, held connected a Sunday morning, felt overmuch for illustration a worship service, complete pinch prayers, songs and a telephone from Kirk's widow to "forgive" Kirk's alleged slayer "because it was what Christ did."

The arena opened pinch performances of modern Christian believe euphony and Kirk's colleagues and friends referred to him arsenic some a prophet and a martyr.

Vice President Vance said that he talked much about his religion successful the 2 week's since Kirk's assassination than he had successful his full nationalist life. He thanked Kirk for championing his governmental profession from the beginning, erstwhile he was still a long-shot campaigner for 1 of Ohio's U.S. Senate seats.

President Trump, who said last, described the arena arsenic an "old-time revival." He called Kirk, a blimpish activist, "our top evangelist for American liberty" and "a martyr now for American freedom."

Kirk's religion was cardinal some to his life and to his governmental views. He grew up attending Christian schoolhouse and, for illustration galore evangelicals, said he made a decision astatine a young property to springiness his life to Jesus.

In an question and reply six years agone pinch David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network, Kirk said his faith had deepened about the clip he sewage retired of precocious schoolhouse and founded Turning Point USA.

"I started to travel successful a overmuch person narration pinch Jesus Christ and reference my Bible much and becoming more, essentially, unapologetic about my Christianity," Kirk said. "I was fixed a choice; I could effort to descend much into this benignant of secular world, aliases reaffirm my faith, and that's precisely what I did."

After founding Turning Point USA, a governmental statement for young conservatives that describes itself arsenic training young group to beforehand ideas for illustration free markets and constricted government, Kirk later founded the much explicitly belief TPUSA Faith, whose ngo is to "eliminate wokeism from the American pulpit."

A protagonist prays astatine the makeshift memorial for Charlie Kirk extracurricular of the office of Turning Point USA connected Sept. 18, 2025 successful Phoenix, Arizona. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Kirk often referenced his Christian religion erstwhile he talked about governmental issues, specified arsenic his belief that erstwhile it comes to helping the needy, churches — not the government — should beryllium responsible.

He cited his religion successful relationship pinch galore of his about arguable ideas. He described DEI, aliases diverseness equity and inclusion, arsenic "unbiblical." He based on against abortion by saying that an embryo is "a babe made successful the image of God deserving of protection." And he described being transgender arsenic "a throbbing mediate digit to God."

Kirk appeared to acquisition a displacement successful his reasoning about the due domiciled of belief successful authorities complete the people of his nationalist life.

Earlier successful his career, he expressed the position that Christian conservatives had astatine times gone excessively acold successful trying to enforce their belief beliefs connected the remainder of nine done politics. In 2018, while talking pinch the blimpish podcaster David Rubin, he said he believed that was a mistake.

"It's the imposition of those values done authorities and authorities which is thing I don't needfully support. So I effort to ever advocator for each 1 of my governmental positions done a secular worldview," Kirk said.

At that time, Kirk went connected to opportunity that he believed successful the separation of religion and state. But he later reversed that and described the thought arsenic a "fabrication."

More recently, Kirk based on that the U.S. was set up by and for not conscionable Christians, but specifically Protestant Christians. Kirk said he didn't judge the state could usability good immoderate different way.

"The assemblage politic of America was truthful Christian and was truthful Protestant that our shape and building of authorities was built for the group that believed successful Christ our Lord," Kirk said successful 2024. "One of the reasons we're surviving done a law situation is that we nary longer person a Christian nation, but we person a Christian shape of government, and they're incompatible. So you cannot person liberty if you do not person a Christian population."

Soon aft Kirk's decease connected September 10, evangelical leaders were already labelling him a martyr. Cissie Graham Lynch, the granddaughter of the precocious evangelical leader, the Rev. Billy Graham, compared Kirk to "a modern-day Stephen", referring to the man recognized arsenic Christianity's first martyr.

Other observers are concerned by this benignant of framing. Matthew Boedy, an English professor astatine the University of North Georgia who studies Christian nationalism, warns that talk of martyrdom could lead to vulnerable and sometimes convulsive escalation.

"The logic that it's vulnerable is because we could spot passim the history of the church, utilizing 'martyrdom' often rallies group to spell aft their enemies and to perpetrate crusades of different types," Boedy recently told BERITAJA and WBUR's Here & Now.