“It’s all about Jesus,” Charlie Kirk wrote on X just weeks ago. And he believed it too, posting at the start of the week, “God, family, country. In that order.” This week, Charlie Kirk died for the things he viewed as greater than any other — God and family.
Like so many Americans who never had a chance to personally know Charlie, I’m heartbroken.
A young wife lost her husband, and two little children lost their dad. As a dad, this is my worst nightmare. Charlie was shot and killed while doing what he has done thousands of times across our country: speaking to crowds of young minds. Our country lost a winsome voice for faith, family and peaceful debate.
One doesn’t have to agree with his politics to see Charlie as a martyr of the American project. He defended free speech and open, respectful dialogue with those who disagreed with him.
Kirk didn’t start as a politician or a “family policy” guru. He worked as a conservative organizer and campus debater who, over time, found his way to share simple cultural truths with young people — that marriage steadies men, shelters women and gives kids the best chance to succeed in life. He did not cave to political correctness. Instead, he exhorted young men to “Get married, have kids and stop partying into oblivion. Leave a legacy, be courageous.”
He even encouraged the unpopular virtue of chastity on spiritual grounds, and also on important mental health grounds. That isn’t extremism. It’s the kind of practical message that is crucial. He made these points as someone who was not much further down life’s path than the typical college student.
Charlie knew that healthy marriages reduce poverty, lower crime and are fertile soil to grow kids in Christian faith. He advanced the message that healthy marriages are the cornerstones of a flourishing community and a flourishing America.
When marriages recede and collapse, so does the social fabric. When families heal, communities heal, and your kids can ride their bikes through the neighborhood without fear of violence.
For all the noise and controversy around him, the part that rang truest to ordinary dads was his joy at being met at the door by a toddler who didn’t care how many downloads his social media had — she just wanted her father.
Contrary to the modern trends of delayed marriage, Charlie married young and encouraged others to do so, remarking that meeting presidents and riding on Air Force One paled in comparison to the joy of married family life.
Some will read this and think only about Charlie’s political message. I’m actually disinterested in that right now. There are many areas of policy where honest Christians can disagree. Our country lost a voice that called people to live for Christ and live sacrificially for each other in marriage.
Young men and women need to see and hear this example and this call from people across the political spectrum, which is too frequently lacking in our culture.
However sharp our disagreements, we don’t “win” through intimidation and violence. A nation cannot call itself “free” if its citizens cannot dialogue for fear of violence. When presciently asked how he would like to be remembered if he died, Charlie replied, “For courage, for my faith.”
Charlie Kirk used his platform to tell young Americans what too few say: Serve God, build a family and be brave. Our obligation is to pick up the work he advanced on the permanent things — on faith and the family. Let’s live that message in our homes and then in public.