Charlie Kirk’s evangelical faith was on display at his memorial, where supporters remembered him as a „martyr.“ Christianity shaped Kirk’s politics and the two became more intertwined as he got older.
Charlie Kirk’s evangelical faith was on display at his memorial service this weekend in Arizona.
The service, held on a Sunday morning, felt much like a worship service, complete with prayers, songs and a call from Kirk’s widow to „forgive“ Kirk’s alleged killer „because it was what Christ did.“
The event opened with performances of contemporary Christian worship music and Kirk’s colleagues and friends referred to him as both a prophet and a martyr.
Vice President Vance said that he talked more about his faith in the two week’s since Kirk’s assassination than he had in his entire public life. He thanked Kirk for championing his political career from the beginning, when he was still a long-shot candidate for one of Ohio’s U.S. Senate seats.
President Trump, who spoke last, described the event as an „old-time revival.“ He called Kirk, a conservative activist, „our greatest evangelist for American liberty“ and „a martyr now for American freedom.“
Kirk’s faith was central both to his life and to his political views. He grew up attending Christian school and, like many evangelicals, said he made a decision at a young age to give his life to Jesus.
In an interview six years ago with David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network, Kirk said his faith had deepened around the time he got out of high school and founded Turning Point USA.
„I started to come in a much closer relationship with Jesus Christ and reading my Bible more and becoming more, essentially, unapologetic about my Christianity“, Kirk said.
