My Charlie Kirk takeaway.
A tribute to Charlie Kirk is shown on the Jumbotron before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
When Charlie Kirk was cut down two weeks ago, I mostly stayed away from the topic in my commentaries. I was so appalled – so viscerally shocked – that I kept finding myself unable to come up with anything other than what everyone else was saying. I judged, for example, that it would have shed little additional light for me to call out the revolting things being said and posted to social media by the Left, including by people in the professional pundit class – “professionals” who should in theory know when to exercise discretion and put a sock in it lest the very worst of themselves be put on vivid display.
But with some time having now passed and after watching much of that amazing memorial service last Sunday in Arizona, I have at last distilled some thoughts that I feel comfortable sharing.
My big takeaway is this.
It’s clear that to a very high and culturally significant degree, high school and college-aged kids that were exposed to Charlie Kirk’s message liked it. It’s clear that what many young people in America have been getting from their teachers in school and from their time on social media isn’t filling the cup.
Little of what Charlie Kirk professed was new. A generation or two ago, we got most of what Charlie Kirk was out there saying from the teachers in our public schools. (My elementary school put on a patriotic program that wound up going on the road to Rotary and Kiwanis club luncheons before being recorded and aired by a local TV station.)
Most kids a generation or two ago went to church on Sunday and were thus exposed to Charlie Kirk’s message of spirituality and moral rectitude by their Sunday School teachers.
This all largely worked well toward the goal of raising kids to grow up into patriotic, morally centered adults.
The big takeaway from Charlie Kirk’s seismic impact is that we are realizing anew that young people like being told that their country is great. They like being told that opportunity awaits them. They like being told that freedom is a gift from God and that it transcends politics and politicians.
They like coming to understand that they, themselves, (and not government), have sovereignty over their own lives. They like hearing that they are not helpless victims, either damned by or permanently limited by the immutable characteristics of their race and skin color.
They like the idea of a bright future, the picture of which Charlie Kirk so vividly painted.
And, as evidenced by the rise in church attendance that was already underway and has since grown following Charlie Kirk’s assassination, kids like the idea of a sovereign, powerful yet merciful God who loves them and wants the best for them.
This all stands in stark contrast to the dystopic bilge being peddled by the left. The fact that it so clearly resonates among young people is the best hope yet against the radicalism that has overtaken and now defines the Democratic Party.
Well said. I try to have as little to do with kids if that age as possible, because I don’t speak the language, but most of the time (when I’m forced to talk to one) I’m impressed with the level of sense they’re capable of. It’s bizarre, but try it sometime. The smart ones are aware that they have been targeted by a lot of malinformation, and consequently have a healthy skeptic bone. So the Interwebs ain’t all bad.
So well said, and succinctly too. Others may well have been writing your point about how we, as a country/community, not that many years ago heard Charlie’s basic message regularly in school and in Sunday School. And yes, we grew up with a sense of hope and anticipation of good things happening in our country, at least a lot of us did.
In short, it is always good to read your writings.
Spot on, and let me add an observation. The large crowds he drew were also due to validating the beliefs “already held” by our youth, who were afraid to express them openly in public schools and especially on college campuses. The intimidation by academia to profess their faith in God has been subtly discouraged by the culture on college campuses. Charlie’s message of faith drew out the younger students, and they found out they were not alone and isolated. In turn, it has prompted those not exposed to Christianity to seek more knowledge about biblical teachings. Confronting pagan ideology on College campuses was brilliant!
I believe I was in the 6th grade when they took prayer out of school and DO believe that had an impact on children whether you believe it or not. It was a ritual every morning where I went to school to say the Lord’s Prayer and the pledge to our flag. This may have been a small thing to some people, but like with Charlie Kirk, it may have turned some people around and given them hope. What we have seen more than hope coming out the removal of prayer, the Ten Commandments is the hate spewed at people who do not “think” as what was taught to these haters. Charlie brought so much to people by telling them God’s Word! Saved so many people told with LOVE for them instead of hate! We lost so much when Charlie was taken from us. But I truly believe more good will come out of this than evil!
We all see that Charlie Kirk’s influence ran far deeper than many of his own “community” even possibly realized. There was a clear message in the outpouring of grief and comments that followed his death. He was obviously doing much to “fill the hole” in the hearts of thousands of young people as he clearly spoke to the spirit and soul of those who attended his meetings. Sometimes, people like Charlie Kirk come our way. We only regret his life did not last many decades longer.
I am encouraged by the outpouring of support for TPUSA in recent days. We just MAY be able to rescue the country after all. The despicable souls that are celebrating must be dealt with accordingly. The Internet is today’s version of the Tower of Babel, in that it allows communication amongst all people and the sharing of ideals/grievances, insuring that radical thoughts receive justification and support. Individuals searching for answers can easily find them online. We have allowed machines to raise our children for too long! I agree with Linda. Bring back God and USA in our schools!
Paul, your tribute to Kirk reads like a Hallmark card for the culture wars. It’s heartfelt, but glosses over the cracks in that “seismic impact.” Kids flocking to his message? Sure, some did, drawn to the anti-victimhood pep talks. But let’s not pretend it was all sunshine: On the very day Kirk was killed (Sept. 10), a 16-year-old “radicalized” shooter at Evergreen High School in Colorado wounded two classmates before turning the gun on himself. That’s the “dystopic bilge” of gun violence hitting kids again, not some left-only fever dream. Weird how you conveniently leave that out. Kirk’s campus event at Utah Valley University could’ve been a forum to grapple with that reality; instead, his rhetoric often amplified the fear that fuels these tragedies.
And the irony of your nostalgia?
The right loves decrying “impositions” on your lifestyle (e.g., drag story hours or trans rights as existential threats), but here you are, cheering Kirk’s vision as a universal balm that imposes moral rectitude and “sovereignty from God” on everyone else’s kids. It’s the same playbook: Dictate values under the guise of freedom, just with more flags and fewer pronouns. If schools and social media aren’t “filling the cup” for youth, maybe it’s because both sides peddle dystopia, yours via endless culture war boogeymen, ours via imperfect equity pushes.
As for that “rise in church attendance already underway and… grown” post-Kirk? Temporary tragedy bumps are real (pastors report 15-30% spikes the weekend after), but 2025 Gallup and Pew data show Gen Z’s weekly attendance at all-time lows (under 20%), with “nones” surging to 28%.
Kirk’s death sparked a fleeting “effect,” sure, but calling it a revival ignores the secular tide. Kids aren’t rejecting the left’s “radicalism”. They’re ditching organized religion altogether. This is freedom for the individual to choose.
Kirk resonated because he spoke to real frustrations, but framing it as a wholesale rebuke of Democrats sells short the shared failures: A system that leaves youth feeling powerless, whether from school shootings, debt traps, or endless online outrage.
The “best hope” isn’t more Kirk clones, it’s ditching the bilge from both sides for policies that actually deliver opportunity, not just sermons.
The wisdom of Paul Gleiser resonates much with me as a conservative refugee living here in the liberal wasteland of Colorado. Were it not for kids and grandkids here, I’d move back to Texas where I once enjoyed a more balanced perspective on life. Thank you, Paul, for your continuing inspiration that lifts me out of this dystopia when I most need it.
You are very welcome. (We are ready to welcome you back home whenever you are ready!)
PLG